The thing about the truth is that sometimes it's hard tohear. There's no way around the truth. As much as we'd like toignore it, doing so often results in disastrous outcomes.

People who run or manage organizations are not immune to thetruth. The problem is too many so-called leaders still operate asif nothing is going on outside of their own four walls. These arethe same people who wonder why their companies are not growing.

They try to figure it out on their own and get no answers.They're terrified to let an objective third party take a look atthe situation. Heaven forbid, as a result of such an analysis, itmay come up that there may be some areas where improvement isdesperately needed.

There has to be some discussion about the inevitability of truthand the reality of the marketplace. I'm not talking about afleeting message heard at conferences or training sessions. I'mtalking about serious, honest-to-goodness, no-holds-barred,jaw-dropping, hair-raising discussions at the organizationallevel.

To be frank, I'm tired of listening to the same nonsense aboutthe way things used to be, people being “uncomfortable” withchange, maintaining the status quo because it's easier that way,etc. I'm exhausted with tales of CEOs being afraid to try newthings because they're afraid of losing their jobs. I'm sick ofhearing about organizations refusing to make smart, relevant, andnecessary strategic decisions because “the timing isn't right” or“a fraction of our membership won't respond to it.” I'm tired ofhearing about board members holding up progress by saying “no” tonew ideas and services because they think that if they won't usethem, nobody else will. Mobile banking comes to mind. There arestill some credit unions that are “thinking about it.” The time forthinking is over. You're either going to get the technology,because it is just expected now, or you'll be closing your doorssoon.

If we continue to ignore certain truths, things will only getworse. If we continue to accept only parts of reality instead ofthe entire reality, the things we can presently control willquickly move into the realm of that which is out of ourcontrol.

Here are some hard truths that credit unions and the people whomanage them need to face:

Credit unions must adapt to the new forces at play inthe marketplace. It's not the other way around. You mustgo to the market because the days of business just walking in thedoor are over. If your business isn't growing the way you'd like,one of the reasons might just be that your beliefs on the best waysto conduct business are no longer appropriate for the currentmarketplace. If you can't recognize that knowing everyone's nameisn't a top priority for today's consumers, you need to rethinkyour strategy or at least do some research. No one is suggestingthat you stop giving outstanding personalized service, but youdon't work at the bar Cheers. The truth is that the targetmarket of consumers (Generation X and millennials) want you tosolve their problems. If you happen to know their names,that's a bonus. But it isn't necessary.

The “good old days” are exactly that … old. Ifyour standards and methods are still anchored in the past, theyaren't doing any good and are most likely harming your enterprise.It's good that some things never change; however, there are otherthings that simply must change. The “good old days” are gone.They're never coming back. Let them go or step aside before it'stoo late.

Not all credit unions are lagging behind. Thereare some organizations doing tremendous things and making smart,strategic decisions. Unfortunately though, the hard truth is thereare still entirely too many credit unions that spend a lot of timetalking about the need to innovate and modernize but not nearlyenough time taking meaningful action. Or they're ignoring thesecritical realities altogether and hoping things will go back to theway things were.

Sometimes the truth makes us uncomfortable. If that discomfortresults in taking action to address the reality, that's not such aterrible thing, is it?

Sean McDonald is the president of Your Full Potential,LLC and the founder of ABSURD! Leadership. Hecan be reached at 201-920-9328 or [email protected].