The CUInsight Experience podcast: Victor Corro – It’s doable (#90)

Thank you for tuning in to episode 90 of The CUInsight Experience podcast with your host, Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight.com. This episode is brought to you by our friends at PSCU. As the nation’s premier payments CUSO, PSCU proudly supports the success of more than 1,500 credit unions.

My guest today is Victor Corro, President and CEO of Coopera and one of the CU DEI Collective founding members. We talk a ton about credit unions and their challenges with all the disruption going on, why diversity, equity, and inclusion are so important, and how credit unions can be the leader in this space. Victor also shared his path to where he is today and the leadership lessons he’s picked up along the way, plus much more on this episode of the show.

Victor discusses why diversity, equity, and inclusion are important across the board, not just in credit unions, and how the DEI Collective got started. He also speaks about how important it is to have a strategic plan at the C-Suite level to bring diversity into their hiring practices, the changes he has seen in credit unions since the start of the pandemic, and what he will be most proud to have accomplished a year from now.

In the leadership portion, Victor shares what inspired him to take the position and Coopera, the years it took him to cultivate the ability to make hard decisions and a mistake he made early in his career. Travel is how Victor recharges, and to date, he has been to 90 countries. I’m 40 behind him. Need to get traveling again to catch-up.

In the rapid-fire questions, we learned that Victor learned to speak English from U2’s Joshua Tree album, and his most memorable trouble was when he parked his dad’s jeep on the beach during low tide and found it floating during high tide. I enjoyed this conversation and hope you do as well.

Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher 

Books mentioned on The CUInsight Experience podcast: Book List 

How to find Victor:
Victor Corro, President and CEO of Coopera
victor.corro@cooperaconsulting.com
www.cooperaconsulting.com
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook 

Show notes from this episode:
A big shout-out to our friends at PSCU, an amazing sponsor of The CUInsight Experience podcast. Thank you!
Check out all the outstanding work that Victor and his teams at Coopera and the CU DEI Collective are doing.
Shout-out: Pat Jury
Shout-out: Victor’s father, mother, brother and sister.
Shout-out: Jill Nowacki
Shout-out: Maurice Smith
Shout-out: ACCOSCA
Shout-out: George Ombado
Shout-out: Maria Martinez
Album mentioned: Joshua Tree by U2
Previous guests mentioned in this episode: Maurice Smith, George Ombado, Maria Martinez, Jill Nowacki (episodes 4, 18, 37, 64 & 82) 

In This Episode:
[01:56] – Welcome to the show, Victor!
[03:29] – Victor shares why DEI is so important not only in the credit union industry but across the board.
[04:15] – He speaks about the DEI Collective and how it got started.
[07:34] – Victor discusses how necessary a strategic plan is at the C-Suite level for bringing diversity to their hiring practices.
[10:01] – What changes have you seen in credit unions since the pandemic started?
[12:40] – Victor shares how his leadership style has changed since the global health crisis.
[14:19] – Victor will be proud a year from now about how they focus on inclusivity.
[16:42] – What inspired you to take the position at Coopera?
[18:04] – Victor shares how the inspiration has changed with time on the job.
[21:26] – It’s doable is something that Victor says all the time.
[22:02] – Victor speaks about the years it took to cultivate the ability to make hard decisions.
[22:51] – You should know it all, you have all the answers. It is a myth about leaders that Victory wants to debunk.
[23:59] – Victor discusses a mistake he made early in his career.
[24:57] – The advice that he was given years ago that he still uses today is Pause.
[26:34] – Victor shares about his mentor and how good it is to have that kind of relationship.
[27:33] – Victor travels to recharge and has been to 90 countries.
[30:23] – Victor shares what he was like in high school, and the first time he got into memorable trouble.
[31:46] – A pilot is what Victor wanted to be when he grew up.
[32:12] – Victor speaks about how important coffee is to his morning routine and how he brings coffee back from all of his travels.
[33:20] – What is the best album of all time?
[34:43] – Do you have a book you think everyone should read?
[35:33] – A connection with the family has become more important, and what people think of him has become less important.
[36:35] – Victor’s dad comes to mind when he hears the word success.
[38:03] – Victor shares some final thoughts.
[39:15] – Thank you for being on the show!