Is Your Financial Institution Happy?

As Americans focus more on the ingredients of living a long and happy life, why can’t we also think of our businesses as people and whether or not those are happy? Your brand attributes are the personality of your business, and you need the same love and attention and care as a person, so it only makes sense that we would be as diligent about the happiness of our businesses as we are as individuals.

A recent article I read titled “10 Life Lessons to Excel inYour 30s” made me start taking stock of my own personal and financial health. The article includes things that people in their 30s and beyond must focus on in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle such as paying off all debt, saving as much as they can for retirement, limiting interactions with negative people and more. However, there were three profound pieces of advice the author imparted that I think apply to the “happiness” level of credit unions and community banks (and really any business) as well:

“You can’t have everything; focus on doing a few things really well.” I want to write a best-selling novel, have my own cooking show, and design shoes…but that’s not feasible or realistic. In fact, too many big goals will only make me overwhelmed, unhappy and probably give me an identity crisis. Why don’t we treat our businesses with the same care? Why are we trying to be all things to all people? If we try to be good at everything, then we are limited in getting really good at something, ultimately stretching us too thin and making us set unrealistic goals for our organizations. This can lead to employee burnout and flat growth among many other things.

“Don’t be afraid of taking risks, you can still change.” In the financial world, when margins get tighter, we tend to shrink back, cut budgets, and wait for the storm to pass. But this actually sets in motion a dangerous trend. When we get to a spot where we are running our businesses reactively instead of proactively, it means we aren’t taking risks. And without those risks, we aren’t receiving the rewards in the form of growth and awareness and staff engagement. You can still change. Ask your staff members for their ideas (yes, they have many), study what is working in other industries, and do something daring. “With great risk comes great reward.” -Thomas Jefferson

“You must continue to grow and develop yourself.” Last week as I was swimming laps, I kept thinking about how some people and businesses dangerously like to think they have made it to success if they are experiencing it for a given time. There is a huge difference between those two statements. Experiencing success is great because it is a result of hard work, but once you think you have “made it,” you are not only vastly limiting your future, but you are most likely also killing your business by doing so.

We are never “there” as people or as businesses. Like this article says, we need to continue to develop ourselves. This has a couple of different applications for businesses:

The talent on your teams. Whether it is through continued education or letting them try new things (and yes – sometimes failing!), this is the most important and valuable thing we can do as leaders is watch the people we lead fly and blossom. As they grow and develop, so, too, will your financial institution.

Your business. Growing is not only seen in numbers, but it is also seen in the number of times you try new things and step outside of your comfort zone. “The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.” – Goethe

Once we get too comfortable with being comfortable, the competition starts quietly passing us by without us even realizing it. Go forth and conquer, my financial institution friends! Strive for happiness and you will reach success.

Amanda

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