Credit Union Leaders, Let’s Do Fewer Transactions

That’s not a typo. It does say fewer transactions. I hope you’ll let me explain.

by. Matt Monge, Mazuma Credit Union & The Mojo Company

That’s not a typo. It does say fewer transactions. I hope you’ll let me explain.

Some leaders have this certain something. They’re not perfect, but somehow that’s part of their charm. They possess the ability to motivate people, but it’s often not in the traditional ways.

They talk a little differently about organizational life. They appear to cling to this unflappable belief in the potential of people of all sorts to do amazing things together.

We’re drawn to folks like this precisely because they’re different than what you might normally picture in your mind when someone uses the word manager or executive. To say they inspire us sounds to dreadfully cliché, but they do appeal to different parts of our hearts and minds than the “typical” leader.

If we wanted to get all fancypants about it, we would say we’re talking about transformational leadership as opposed to transactional leadership. What’s the difference?

Self-Interest vs Group Gain

Transactional leaders appeal mainly to employees’ self-interest. “If you do this, you’ll get this good thing. If you don’t do this, you’ll get this bad thing.”

Transformational leaders help employees connect to each other and the organization’s mission, and the good of the team takes priority.

Culture is Static vs Culture Constantly Evolves

Transactional leaders are largely content to work within established culture and norms, rarely seeing a need for change.

Transformational leaders believe that culture is constantly evolving; and its evolution is propelled by the growth, ideas, and accomplishments of people who are developing not only as professionals, but also as human beings.

Responsive vs Proactive

Transactional leaders don’t really push the envelope. They don’t try things. They rarely mess up big-time because they don’t attempt anything big.

Transformational leaders feel a burn to effect positive change on both human and organizational levels, and are always looking for ways to make that happen.

What’s Wrong vs What’s Right

Transactional leaders focus far more time on locating problems, finding faults, measuring all deviations, and completely eliminating each of those things.

Transformational leaders are generally more concerned with building on an organization’s unique identity and strengths. That’s not to say they ignore operational or cultural deficiencies; they just focus more of their energy on really tapping into their organization’s mojo.

React to the Future vs Shape the Future

Transactional leaders take the hand they’re dealt.

Transformational leaders want to deal the cards.

Promoting Sense of Panic vs Providing a Sense of Purpose

Transactional leaders often incite panic and demand fervent activity as a sign of improvement.

Transformational leaders work to inspire passion and provide a greater context and purpose for performance.

Theory X vs Theory (wh)Y

Transactional leaders tend to buy into Theory X, which is the assumption that people will do everything they can to avoid working hard. To oversimplify it, they believe that without their transactional style, nothing will get done.

Transformational leaders more often than not subscribe to something more like Theory Y. Theory Y essentially postulates that people inherently want to do good and meaningful work, and are likely to do so given the right conditions.

So what’s the point? As credit unions, we keep an eye on the amount of transactions that take place. Perhaps we should push for more transformation as well.