Food for Thought

By Erin Templer

I am a self-proclaimed foodie. I love to try new restaurants, love to cook, love to eat and I love to watch television shows about food. If you’re talking about food, I’m listening.

Last week I caught the 100th episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel Channel. Bourdain, a chef, author and world traveler, and his crew visited Paris for the second time to experience the new revolution in French cuisine—casual fine-dining.

At the start of the show Bourdain and Eric Ripert, a widely respected French chef whose restaurant Le Bernardin in New York holds three Michelin stars, dined with young French culinarians to discuss the democratization of food. This new generation of chefs in Paris are making carefully concepted, skillfully prepared, sinfully delicious dishes more accessible to everyone.

The young chefs explained that they are not striving for Michelin stars and do not want to cater only to the elite. They want everyone to, regardless of their income, be able to enjoy a spectacular meal. 

While I could write about the obvious parallels to the credit union industry—serving the under-served, providing great service and quality to all customers, giving people an experience they enjoy so much that they return time and time again—I’m not going to.

Instead, I want to talk about how the opposite side of the revolution—the traditionalists. While conversing with young Parisian chefs, Ripert defended the beliefs and ideals that he was brought up with against those who now question the same principles. What he had worked so hard to achieve all his years in the kitchen, the new generation was now choosing to disregard and instead use a different ruler to measure their success.

Contrary to the natural aversion to change many of us experience when our beliefs are questioned, Ripert didn’t argue against this revolution. He explained his logic, asked a lot of questions and was genuinely open to learning from the younger generation. He wasn’t campaigning to end this revolution; he was searching for inspiration, coexistence and mutual appreciation.

I think many industries, including ours, can learn from this. Often times you’ll hear that those younger generations feel the need to rebel. That they don’t think their voices are being heard or taken seriously, while the older generations may not feel respected for their experience and principles.

Truth be told, we can all learn from one another if we open ourselves up to new possibilities. This is one of the reasons I think CUES’ CEO/Executive Team Network is so important in 2010. The six Regional Finalists from the Next Top Credit Union Exec challenge, each under 35 years old, will be on hand to present the projects they’ve been working hard on for the last several months. It’s the perfect opportunity to for credit union leaders, regardless of experience, to network and gain new perspectives.

If you can't attend the conference in person, you'll still have the chance to watch the Finalists' presentations online and vote for your favorite at www.NextTopCreditUnionExec.com.