The Playbook: What’s NEXT for Talent Leadership?

Successful credit unions have long adapted to market conditions.

As interest rates have changed, they’ve re-examined their loan portfolio concentrations. As new players have come into the market, they’ve introduced new, competitive products and doubled down on deepening their relationships with their members. As regulations have shifted, they have risen to meet the challenge of becoming compliant.

A common theme through all of this is that credit unions’ talent has been at the heart of every successful adaptation. Helping talent reach its full potential in every situation to date has relied on credit union talent leaders having the right vision, skills and tools to pave the way.

But that was then, and this is the pandemic now. The vision, skills and tools that worked for talent leaders in the past will likely no longer apply—at least not fully. How will today’s talent leaders develop the right vision, skills and tools to help their teams adapt effectively to the challenges ahead?

They’ll do so by honing their ability to anticipate new situations, not just react to them. They will work to become skilled at recognizing what risks are worth taking on. They’ll continue to study and implement best practices for talent development leaders, including shifting from “succession planning” to “succession development.” They’ll become amazing creators and users of HR analytics. And they’ll develop every member of their teams—including themselves.

What does it take to become a talent leader skilled in adaptation?

The Harvard Business Review article, “5 Principles to Guide Adaptive Leadership,” identifies as its fifth principle the idea that adaptive leadership will work best in a collaborative environment—where people share ideas, information and best practices across organizations and industries. “Such interactions enrich debate, are inclusive and improve ownership of decisions,” the authors write.

That’s why I’d like to invite your credit union’s top talent development leaders to attend TalentNEXT in May in Austin, Texas. This first-of-its-kind industry event, solely focused on talent development, will bring together CEOs with their chief HR, talent development or people officers, and other executive team members, to do a deep dive—together—into “people strategy.” Participants will leave with renewed vision, skills and tools in talent leadership that will help them pave the way to team and organizational success. I hope to see you there.

Since joining CUES in March 2013, John Pembroke has played a leadership role in developing and launching a new direction in CUES’ strategy, branding and culture. Under his guidance, CUES has revamped its membership structure and launched new institutes. Additionally, CUES has expanded its market further into Canada and the Caribbean. Pembroke’s experience includes 25 years in financial services, marketing and e-commerce. He also has served as chief marketing officer at PSCU Financial Services, St. Petersburg, Florida. Pembroke holds a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in Marketing and Policy Studies from the Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago.