What Makes Merger Conversations Succeed?

Three ways to support good dialog about a possible combination.

By Deedee Myers, Ph.D., MSC, PCC

Merger conversations are not rocket science! Yet, there is an art to a having a successful conversation about a combination wherein all participants feel dignity and like they were heard, and the overall membership is considered. Here are three ways to make it more likely your merger conversation will effective:

1.  Put the membership first. A clear organizing principle, deeply embedded in the key decision-makers, is whether membership will benefit from the merger. When board members declare, in the first 10 minutes of conversation, their credit union name will be the surviving name and their CEO will be the surviving CEO, there's a good chance the merger conversation has stopped.

2.  Gather leaders to have an exploratory conversation early on. Use a facilitator skilled in deliberate dialog to support such a conversation. A trained subject matter expert guides discussion, uncovers potential, and sees possibilities through objective listening. Mergers are only successful if participants strategically collaborate to build trust, dive into the conversations and authentically express their visions and concerns.

3. Understand the boards’ conditions of success up front. What does the board want? How will directors know when they get it? What are they willing to compromise? What is the CEO's vision? Does the CEO's vision align with the one the board holds? Who should the merger benefit? And how will we get there? What is the board willing to let go of to create enhanced value for the membership? Too often, an entrenched board derails merger conversations with unspoken expectations and unclear conditions of success. The merger will break down if the board is not aligned on what they want and does not effectively communicate those expectations to the CEO.

Deedee Myers, Ph.D., MSC, PCC, is CEO of CUES Supplier member and strategic provider DDJ Myers, Ltd., Phoenix. Learn more about DDJ Myers' offerings with CUES. DDJ Myers sponsors the CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec challenge.