I admit I chuckled when I heard some grumbling early on.
Apparently some attendees of CUES Symposium: A CEO/Chairman Exchange, held two weeks back in Phoenix, thought the optional afternoon Build-a-Bike charity event would be simply about using wrenches to assemble bikes for underprivileged kids.
Turns out, Build-a-Bike event participants had to pass teamwork and leadership challenges to earn their seats and handlebars.
The challenges included guiding a blindfolded teammate through a lawn minefield using only voice directions, and assembling a shape puzzle without talking. There was lots of smiling and good feeling as work continued.
Participants passed the challenges with flying colors, arriving back at the bike assembly station long before the estimated time.
As the bikes went together and were tested (yup, right there in the hotel ballroom), teams started celebrating their accomplishments.
But perhaps the biggest cheer went up when the full group stood behind the four bikes they had built and learned about how their efforts would help children from an economically challenged part of Phoenix get themselves to the Boys and Girls Club center.
"I have been telling every CEO I can find about how good that event was," says CUES member Kent Oram, CSE, CCE, president/CEO of $887 million Idaho Central Credit Union, Pocatello, Idaho. "I hope CUES continues to provide opportunities for community service."
CUES intends to do just that. And another CUES member (who's also a member of the CUES Board of Directors) was inspired by this event to pay it forward.
President/CEO of Vantage West Credit Union, Tucson, Ariz., Bob Ramirez, CCE (right), says he hopes to have Build-a-Bike be the entertainment at the next holiday party for his CU's staff.
I say way cool. Build a bike, build a team. Do some kids a good turn. Isn't people helping people what it's all about?
Lisa Hochgraf is a CUES editor.
Read more from CUES Symposium here, here and here.
