PALM BEACH, Fla. — When Fred Johnson, CEO of CUES for the last23 years, says he’s going to retire at year-end he means it. Andhe’s going to enjoy the life of a kept man.

Johnson’s wife of six years, Mary, manages a diamond store,which she plans to continue doing into his retirement. “I can cook.I can clean–not to her standards,” he quipped during an interviewat CUES’ CEO Executive Team Network celebrating the organization’s50th Anniversary.

For Johnson, who’s 70 and worked since the age of 13, he’s goingto live a life of leisure, dabbling in watercolors and strengthenhis German and French. He reminisced about his parents waltzing tothe music at the emperor’s ball in Vienna as it filtered throughtheir television set. It’s an event that he’s always wanted toattend. He and Mary enjoy taking ballroom dancing lessons.

“I won’t say I was selfless, but I had two wives with terminalillnesses and I had to take care of the home and that stuff,”Johnson explained. “I have hobbies, and I hate to say this becauseit sounds selfish, but I want to dig into those.”

Johnson also wants to devote time to the game that everybusinessman curses: golf. He made a deal with his wife for a condoat Lake Geneva, Wis., overlooking a green so he can practicechipping and putting.

He also plans to spend some time with his four sons, all of whomhave served in the military, and three granddaughters–but not toomuch. One of the great joys with grandchildren is handing themback, Johnson added. He doesn’t intend on being anybody’s day care.There’s too much to cross off the bucket list.

“I suppose it’s my Army background, but when you changecommands, you walk away,” Johnson said. The outgoing CEO clarifiedhe would always answer the phone if his successor called, but he’snot going to be calling him.

Johnson added that he wouldn’t rule out serving on a creditunion board at the right credit union. His introduction to creditunions was when he was recruited to volunteer at West Point FederalCredit Union, which was in dire straights at the time. Long storyshort, he paid attention to certain details, attention that hadbeen lacking, and routed out fraud at the credit union.

In addition to credit unions, Johnson’s real passion was raisingfunds to support a lung cancer research center after the death ofhis second wife of 22 years who’d never smoked a day in her life.Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer in women, hepointed out. Since then he’s read reports out of the center thathave detected the cellular development that leads to lungcancer.

Within his role at the helm of CUES there were plenty ofaccomplishments under Johnson’s tenure as well. Internally at CUES,he said he was very pleased with the great staff he hired andstarting Versatime, which allowed employees to work from home atleast once a week. He smiled and said whether that program wouldcontinue was the first question out of CUES’ staffers when theorganization announced its new CEO, Chuck Fagan, executive vicepresident of PSCU.

For CUES members, however, Johnson said he “couldn’t be prouder”of the CEO Institute, which launched at University ofCalifornia-Berkley Haas Business School in 1995. The programexpanded to Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania in 1996and Darden School of Business, University of Virginia in 1997.

A couple of years ago, CUES also restructured its entiremembership basis tiered not only to asset size of the credit unionbut also by where credit union professionals were in their careers.As a result, CUES membership grew as the number of credit unionsdeclined.

And last but not least was the inauguration of CCUBE, the Centerfor Credit Union Board Excellence. “Directors are at once ourgreatest strength and at once our greatest weakness,” Johnsonstated. Credit unions’ volunteer board members are great, when theykeep up with what’s going on around them. “I have been hard oneducation because this stuff changes all the time. Justunderstanding what’s going on in the fraud business, paymentssystems–they’re changing all the time.”

That also means that CUES has had to keep up with the times.Johnson recalled that when he joined CUES, there was about onecomputer to every two or three employees. He explained that he wascomfortable with technology because the Army had been the test bedfor Windows, which he said crashed all the time. As a grandparentnow, he swears the iPad was made for his generation. “As distant asfamilies get, that’s the glue that can really hold you together,”he said.

“Now look at the hand held,” Johnson marveled. “We’ve got awhole demographic of young people who don’t want to do anythingwithout their hand held…Technology is a force multiplier, as wecalled it in the Army.”

But one of the things that has made credit union executives’lives more difficult throughout time is compliance. “Those guys inWashington create these laws, and they don’t care what size youare,” he sputtered incredulously. Compliance, Johnson asserted,repeals good that technology does.

Other than sticking a toe in with the technological advances atthe time, Johnson lectured on leadership. “Education: it’s aboutleadership. In this day and age, people don’t think it’s importantand it is. Managers don’t lead, they manage.”

Part of real leadership is developing people or products andthen being able to let them go. Johnson cited studies, which havefound that, “Entrepreneurs grow a firm and if they don’t sell it,they destroy it because of the control.” Bring in great people andyou train them; be sad when they leave but you certainly can’t holdit against them, he said.

That’s not only true within his organization, but also all themembers who’ve come through CUES. “What’s been so great for me inthis job is people coming by and telling us how much affect ourprogram has been on them,” Johnson said.

As a leader you also need to know when to compromise. Takethings to your board and get unanimous or near-unanimous consent,Johnson advised. If your project is not going to reach thatthreshold, then find out the objections, modify it and raise itagain. If you have two to three dissenters, they can make itdifficult to get anything else done. Compromise is key, Johnsonsaid.