By Greg Michlig
Thursday was simulation day, with Nicole Adams Kraus of Decision Strategies International and Jaap Kap, president of Business Compass, LLC, leading the activities. Both the morning and afternoon flew by as three-person teams worked through various scenarios in known, then unknown, financial and regulatory environments. The practical application of taking a fictitious credit union (with a well explained back-story) and applying specific strategies to attempt to positively impact performance was a winner with the class. Physically weary and anxious to see my family, yet intellectually stimulated and professionally energized, I boarded my flight home from Philadelphia shortly after 4 p.m. Eastern on Friday afternoon. My week at the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) for CEO Institute I was complete, and I thought to myself: "We did not let me down."
For many years, both as a CUES employee and also as an industry supplier, I have sung the praises of the great executive education CUES offers in general, and CEO Institute, in particular. Now as CUES' director of member relations, I find CEO Institute to be a key component of many discussions I have with our members. In the past I could only speak in secondhand terms, referencing positive comments from past participants. Still, I had the utmost confidence that the high praise I put on the program was a true reflection of its worth. And now I was going to experience it myself.
Leading up to my trip to Philadelphia, I was anxious with anticipation, especially knowing there would be a handful of executives there who I had influenced to participate. I hoped that, at the end of the week, their perception of what they had experienced would match the value I had conveyed to them. Through conversations at the graduation dinner on Thursday evening, post-dinner festivities at a nearby watering hole, throughout the final morning, in the cab on the way to the airport and at the airport, I heard only words of enthusiasm and genuine fulfillment to confirm this had been the case.
Through my own personal sense of accomplishment and understanding that my classmates felt the same satisfaction, I knew that we… CUES, the instructors, the Aresty Institute of Executive Education staff and all others involved … had delivered. And, although I had no doubt going in, I also know that we tend to be hardest on ourselves. I felt galvanized as my mind confirmed: “We did not let me down.”
But don't just take it from me. During the week's sessions, CEO Institute alumnus David Snodgrass, CCE, president/CEO of $1.5 billion Lake Trust Credit Union in Lansing, Mich., shared a case study of how he and his former team at Affinity Federal Credit Union, Basking Ridge, N.J., successfully implemented the strategic planning approach taught at CEO Institute I. Having Dave there to provide a credit union-specific account of how this program helped keep Affinity CU strong during questionable times resonated with the group. I heard countless comments on how this relatively brief segment of the day drove home many of the points that had been made throughout the week.
At the end, handshakes, waves and hugs were plentiful. Some stayed for a final lunch as others continued the exodus. Another year of CEO Institute was in the books. It was a wonderful experience … I am grateful for the opportunity to participate.
Greg Michlig is senior director of member relations.
Read other posts on this blog about CEO Institute, including "CEO Institute's Between-Segments Projects Underscore Learning," and "I Think I Can" (which features a video from the 2010 CEO Institute III).
Learn more about CUES’ CEO Institute, a three-segment program offered at top U.S. business schools.
