The CUInsight Experience podcast: Trust (#208)

Welcome to episode 208 of The CUInsight Experience podcast with your hosts, Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight.com, and Jill Nowacki, President and CEO of Humanidei.

This episode is sponsored by Alacriti—a leading payments fintech helping credit unions compete with challenger banks and digital wallets. Alacriti delivers seamless, real-time money movement experiences for loan payments, A2A transfers, digital disbursements, and bill pay. With a single, cloud-native platform that connects to The Clearing House, Fedwire, ACH, and FedNow, credit unions can modernize without overhauling legacy infrastructure. Learn more at Alacriti.com.

In this season, Jill and I will have conversations centered around leadership, credit unions, and living our best lives. We will have some of the most respected leaders from around credit unions who we are grateful to call friends join us in the discussion from time to time too.

In this episode, we discuss a simple but incredibly important topic: the importance of trust. We don’t talk about it just as a buzzword but as something absolutely critical to being a good, effective leader. Sharing real stories from the credit union world, we closely examine the different layers of trust, from keeping members’ data safe to creating spaces where people feel seen, heard, and safe.

We also talk openly about the disconnect between intention and perception and how even well-meaning leaders can unintentionally erode trust via missteps, unintentional favoritism, and/or inconsistency. Jill shares her own mental model of a “trust pyramid,” applying it to both member and employee expectations, and I reflect on moments in my own leadership journey where trust may have faltered and what it takes to earn it back.

Whether you are a leader yourself who is trying to build a more cohesive team or someone rethinking your organization’s promises to the communities that you serve, please join us because this conversation will challenge you to reflect on what trust truly requires!

[00:58] – Trust isn’t just built through technology, it’s earned through transparency, inclusion, and community.
[03:38] – In a fast-paced world, trust helps people decide quickly who’s both caring and capable.
[05:07] – Members expect seamless, secure service; money means everything, whether it’s $10 or $10 million.
[06:31] – People first crave safety but ultimately seek organizations that act in their best interest.
[08:13] – Credit unions build trust by valuing members over profits, even when it costs them.
[11:03] – Trust hinges on how we respond to failure, not just how we try to prevent it.
[13:27] – Owning mistakes—especially with employees—is crucial to rebuilding trust.
[15:05] – Even well-intentioned policies can erode trust if they reinforce systemic inequality or contradict core values.
[18:59] – When actions seem unfair, even good intentions can’t prevent trust from breaking down.
[22:11] – Saying that you value openness means nothing if your actions don’t consistently reflect it.
[25:12] – Reliability in small commitments builds more trust than vague promises left unfulfilled.
[27:17] – Trust forms when people reliably respond in expected ways.
[29:33] – Being transparent about limitations and consistently delivering builds authentic trust.
[30:51] – Trust ultimately begins with leaders owning up to mistakes, communicating clearly, and following through on promises.
[32:42] – Be transparent, consistent, and accountable.
[33:44] – Trust is not optional—it is a core strategic asset that defines credit unions’ value!