I like to say that the surest way to make this editor be without words is to stand her up in front of a group of people and ask her to speak. But in recent history, I found another: Make much of the news be so compelling, so dramatic, so bad, that everything else you could write about pales by comparison.
I posted nothing on this blog from March 11 until last week's "Our Web Site = Us" not because I don't like blogging anymore, but because the stories I was working on for CUES' magazine about the down economy, failures of corporates and the various bailout plans were overwhelmingly important. Even the "good news" stories about CUs helping members acknowledged that times were tough everywhere. Posting about "Our Web Site = Us" or some other "light" topic in the midst of all that seemed somehow petty, small, unthinkable.
But I'm back. I'm inspired by the leadership wisdom of down times as covered in our June theme issue, which focuses, ironically enough on growth: Don't stop acting strategically now--it'll only make your life more difficult when the economy starts to come back up. In that light, I've got posts to write. We have lots of work to do as an industry to be ready to thrive when things start bouncing back.
P.S. If you want to see some of what we CUES editors were working on in response to the economic and corproate crises, check out these March, April and May 2009 Credit Union Management articles:
- Keep the Lights on (about collections),
- 2009: Planning in Chaos (about reaching for opportunity in a tanking economy)
- Wake-up Call (about how boards are dealing with leadership in these times),
- CFO Focus: Pay Now or Pay Later? (about handling corporate bailout accounting),
- Responsible Debt Relief (about a mathematical way to help members and avoid charge-offs)
- Rising From Ashes (about CUs helping members with personal finance in tough times), and
- Layoffs on the Rise? (about CUs that have had to cut staff).
