In an industry built on trust, transformation, and service, the greatest threat to progress may be hiding in plain sight—inside the executive suite. While financial institutions obsess over fraud detection, compliance risk, and cyberattacks, too many ignore the subtler danger of leadership blind spots.
These aren’t just harmless oversights. They’re silent saboteurs. They stall growth, stifle innovation, dull your edge, and quietly erode your culture. Worse? They’re usually invisible to the very leaders charged with spotting them.
Blind spots don’t always look like bad leadership. In fact, they often masquerade as “success.” A CEO who’s proud of stable asset growth but unaware the team is burned out. A leadership team known for harmony but allergic to dissent. A Board that praises continuity but fails to challenge outdated thinking.
These aren’t flaws in character; they’re flaws in awareness. And if left unexamined, they become cracks in the foundation of long-term performance.
Three Common Leadership Blind Spots in Credit Unions
1. Confusing Busyness with Boldness
Many leaders equate a packed calendar with productivity. Meetings, reports, committee reviews, strategic check-ins; it all feels important. But motion isn’t momentum. One 10X credit union realized that its executives were collectively spending more than 40% of their week reporting on the plan rather than advancing it. The fix? Simplify reporting, trust the team, and focus on actions that deliver growth. Result: A $100M uptick in loan production within a year.
2. Tolerating “Nice” Over Necessary
Credit unions value collegiality. That’s part of the magic. But when teams become too polite to challenge each other, mediocrity sneaks in. Strategic decisions get watered down. Innovation stalls. Culture becomes safe, but stagnant. Strong leadership creates space for respectful friction. Without tension, there is no transformation.
3. Underinvesting in the Leadership Bench
You wouldn’t let your loan portfolio grow without analysis. So why let your future leaders “develop” by chance? Many financial institutions still see leadership development as a reward for tenure rather than a mandate for growth. That’s not just a retention risk; it’s a relevance risk. Every institution wants the next visionary CEO. Few are building the bench to get there.
Five Actions to Illuminate—and Eliminate—Blind Spots
1. Hold a Leadership Audit (and Mean It)
Ask: What assumptions do we make that no longer serve us? Where are we overconfident? Where are we stuck in tradition masked as wisdom? Use an outside advisor, internal think tank, or bold team members to challenge the status quo. A 10X Credit Union knows that “safe” leadership often produces predictable—and average—results. Don’t aim for average.
2. Give Data a Seat at the Executive Table
Blind spots often persist because leaders rely too heavily on anecdotes and legacy practices. Instead, empower data to tell the truth. Use predictive analytics, employee engagement metrics, and cultural dashboards to confront reality—before it confronts you.
3. Reward Candor, Not Just Compliance
Most leaders say they want honest feedback. Few create a culture where it’s safe to give it. Encourage pushback. Spotlight the team member who questions the norm. Promote the manager who challenges groupthink. Make it known: leadership isn’t about comfort, it’s about courage.
4. Reframe Leadership Development as Strategic Infrastructure
Stop treating training as a checkbox. Elevate it to a top-tier initiative with C-Suite visibility. Build learning into the job—not as an escape from it. Create cross-functional teams, peer coaching circles, and stretch assignments that expose hidden talent and cultivate real growth.
5. Ask the “Culture Cost” of Every Strategic Decision
Every choice your executive team makes either strengthens or weakens your culture. Expanding into new markets? Great—how are you aligning that with your values? Cutting expenses? Fine—but are you also cutting trust? Smart leaders don’t just ask, “What will this do to the bottom line?” They also ask, “What will this do to the soul of our institution?”
See the Whole Picture or Risk the Whole Future
Leadership blind spots aren’t a sign of failure; they’re a signal that it’s time to recalibrate. The highest-performing financial institutions aren’t just good at strategy. They’re relentless in reflecting on how they lead, grow, and serve.
That’s the power of the 10X Credit Union system—seeing the patterns that drive performance, the behaviors that fuel culture, and the decisions that scale value across time. It’s not just about going bigger. It’s about leading better, with clarity and courage.
So, before your next planning retreat or performance review, ask yourself:
What’s the one blind spot we’re not seeing—and who has the guts to call it out?Jeff Rendel, CSP, works with credit unions that want entrepreneurial results in leadership, strategy, and financial performance. His 10X Credit Union System helps institutions grow leaders, sales, and service for extraordinary impact. Reach him at jeff@jeffrendel.com, 951.310.7275, or www.jeffrendel.com