If you're building a team, you want players who are humble, hungry and people-smart. Zachary Churchill says this is not his idea—it's from Patrick Lencioni, founder of The Table Group—but Churchill seems not only to espouse it but embody it.
The winner of the 2022 CUES Emerge competition, Churchill is not afraid to say he previously entered the competition in 2013 and didn't advance. So that's pretty humble.
“For me, ego is the obstacle to personal progress,” says Churchill, CUDE, CMA, CFE, CCM, in the show. “I tend to think my way is good enough, so why change? But the truth is, we’re not going to change unless we want something bad enough or the pain of doing things the way it is now, that status quo, hurts enough. ... I desperately wanted to do a great job in this year’s competition. And that meant I had to let go of my ego ... and just do things the way that the experts advised me.”
Churchill is hungry, too, interested in learning and growing—to the point where he would like to become a credit union CEO one day. He's already been sharing everything he learns about leadership with other leaders and staffers at his credit union.
As for people smart? There are lots of examples of this in the show, including how Churchill showed how his business case about building an analytics team was really all about people.
“A key learning that I took away from the CUES Emerge program came from one of our speakers who said, ‘Humans are wired for story,’” he says. “... as someone on the finance side of the business, I just figured that data and facts will win the day. ... But that just isn’t how we're hardwired as a species. And so, if telling stories matters, then we need to find the story. ... And so, I really had to think about, ‘How could I translate this sort of abstract concept into something concrete?’
“I'm like, ‘How do I bring this alive?’ ... And then finally, I stumbled across the example of our member, Mrs. Rose ... the idea of her situation and how we could help her ... What is more powerful, if I said, ‘There's strong financial and member benefits to implementing my proposal,’ or ‘We can transform the lives of our members through data? Let me tell you about Mrs. Rose’?”
Churchill gets into lots of other great topics in this episode, including his experience with the CUES Emerge program; a sketch of his CUES Emerge business case; advice for writing a solid business case and building a winning online presentation; ideas on how to be more receptive to feedback.
He also offers advice for up-and-coming credit union leaders.
“I’d say step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself. ... The great things in life, they just don’t come easy. And you don't know how much potential you have until you test yourself and see what are you capable of. What are your limits? So, give things a shot, try and get involved.”
Links for this show:
If you're building a team, you want players who are humble, hungry and people-smart. Zachary Churchill says this is not his idea—it's from Patrick Lencioni, founder of The Table Group—but Churchill seems not only to espouse it but embody it.
The winner of the 2022 CUES Emerge competition, Churchill is not afraid to say he previously entered the competition in 2013 and didn't advance. So that's pretty humble.
“For me, ego is the obstacle to personal progress,” says Churchill, CUDE, CMA, CFE, CCM, in the show. “I tend to think my way is good enough, so why change? But the truth is, we’re not going to change unless we want something bad enough or the pain of doing things the way it is now, that status quo, hurts enough. ... I desperately wanted to do a great job in this year’s competition. And that meant I had to let go of my ego ... and just do things the way that the experts advised me.”
Churchill is hungry, too, interested in learning and growing—to the point where he would like to become a credit union CEO one day. He's already been sharing everything he learns about leadership with other leaders and staffers at his credit union.
As for people smart? There are lots of examples of this in the show, including how Churchill showed how his business case about building an analytics team was really all about people.
“A key learning that I took away from the CUES Emerge program came from one of our speakers who said, ‘Humans are wired for story,’” he says. “... as someone on the finance side of the business, I just figured that data and facts will win the day. ... But that just isn’t how we're hardwired as a species. And so, if telling stories matters, then we need to find the story. ... And so, I really had to think about, ‘How could I translate this sort of abstract concept into something concrete?’
“I'm like, ‘How do I bring this alive?’ ... And then finally, I stumbled across the example of our member, Mrs. Rose ... the idea of her situation and how we could help her ... What is more powerful, if I said, ‘There's strong financial and member benefits to implementing my proposal,’ or ‘We can transform the lives of our members through data? Let me tell you about Mrs. Rose’?”
Churchill gets into lots of other great topics in this episode, including his experience with the CUES Emerge program; a sketch of his CUES Emerge business case; advice for writing a solid business case and building a winning online presentation; ideas on how to be more receptive to feedback.
He also offers advice for up-and-coming credit union leaders.
“I’d say step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself. ... The great things in life, they just don’t come easy. And you don't know how much potential you have until you test yourself and see what are you capable of. What are your limits? So, give things a shot, try and get involved.”
Links for this show: