An interesting post on this webpage here a few days ago. It's worth posting for all to read. Thank you to the contributor:
"Ex-CEO Jim Blaine is an interesting case study in CEO retirement and succession planning. Truly fascinating. The psychology of Jim Blaine represents a strong desire to continue to maintain his stature as SECU’s leader, possibly much underestimated by the board. Blaine’s heroic view of himself and his mission is self-evident, and this leadership style can be characterized as one that places a strong sense of self-identity on both the status as a leader and the mission that it represents. Considering this psychology, it is not surprising to see the fight that is ensuing. Like many other large organizations that have had long-tenured CEOs and power struggles that result from succession planning, those ex-CEOs that fight the process must either be forced out or they maintain control until their death, in what often represents traumatic episodes for the CEO, exec leadership, board, and ultimately the organization as a whole. SECU has a critical decision to make regarding its desire for the influence and power of Jim Blaine. Some of the questions and issues brought up in his informal blog are worthy points of discussion, but the style and mannerisms are done in a way that subverts the leadership succession process—and at times the content is downright harsh and one-sided. For those that value respect one might question the integrity. However, it’s clear that if Jim Blaine does not approve of SECU leadership then he will seek to undermine them, in what appears to be for him an important extension of his life’s work and self-worth. Understanding this psychology will be important to assessing the path forward."
He will continue to seek to undermine. It is his MO. Bully until you get what you want. Also,
ReplyDeleteyou have a minority, but a vocal one, of his “faithful” still currently employed and feeding him information. So what is the path forward for any new leader with that recipe?
I am also interested in more commentary on the path forward.
Deletetl;dr
ReplyDeletethis the most chatgpt thing i ever read
ReplyDeleteI hear it's amazing when the famous purple stuffed worm in flap-jaw space with the tuning fork does a raw blink on Hara-Kiri Rock. I need scissors! 61!
ReplyDeleteLololol....what the????
DeleteCol. Campbell, is that you?
Delete3rd post with no actual content. Succession planning? Do better...
ReplyDeleteHe needs to take a chill pill, and seek medical attention
ReplyDeletesecu/the board/JH live rent free in his head
DeleteInteresting post today from Jim Blaine.
ReplyDeleteBelow is an excerpt:
“Well, before the rest of the marbles get loose, thought it might be wise to pause and publicly declare the principles underlying this blog. Might as well give those "hired guns" a better target at which to shoot!
Hope the remarks make it clear why I no longer believe that the current SECU Board understands the remarkable potential and promise of a member-owned and member-focused SECU... “
He then posted a quote from a CEO accepting an award from African American Credit Union Coalition.
Jim Blaine is saying that this message and this person’s vision for what a Credit Union should be aligns with his principles and in essence, should be what guides our leaders and the board.
What is interesting is that I believe this quoted CEO was Maurice Smith. Former leader of LGFCU and Civic. Why is that interesting? Because Civic introduced tierd based rates by credit score and business lending during Maurice Smith’s time as CEO. They also have open membership.
So Jim, have you lost your marbles or are you finally seeing the light?
Jim Blaine was the CEO who received the award from the AACUC.
DeleteMany posts are far leaning, and some telling only one side of the story. But if you can find fault with the sentiments shared when he received the award, you may need to revisit what CUs are all about.
DeleteI was wrong. My bad. Thought the remarks were from Maurice since I saw he won an award that year. No problem with what was stated in the speech or with Maurice.
DeleteThis mention of AACUC got me to thinking. One thing that I liked about Jim Hayes was his interest in diversity. Historically the C-Suite has not been very diverse, which concerned a lot of people. Jim Hayes saw this and took steps towards making the C-Suite reflect the diversity of the membership, which was a welcome change. Diversity in leadership is more than just branch managers.
DeleteYou've never "got to thinking" once in your pointless life. So some overpaid corporate wannabe shyster with a record for horrible performance can walk in for significantly more pay than they are worth, lose 3 billion in assets, make countless unnecessary changes that have added no value whatsoever, appoint a bunch of cronies of his to inexplicably high positions who then do nothing but ruin employees' lives, improve literally nothing for the membership, the list goes on and on but as long he dangles "muh diversity" out there then you clap like a damn seal? Yeah you are an idiot and most likely a racist and misandrist as well. And please elaborate on the "diversity of the membership". What does that statement mean? We are all members. That's what that whole "common bond" thing is about dumbo
Delete“…once in your pointless life”
Delete“idiot”
“dumbo”
Really hoping you’re not an employee. Anyone who addresses someone like this, no matter the forum or topic at hand, is not someone we should be placing in front of members or representing us. We get it, you’re frustrated, but this is not a good look.
Thank you, @5:48PM for this comment. Have a differing opinion and voice that, but you can't take anyone seriously who behaves that way.
Deletei see a lot of kvetching but no response to their points. hold that L i guess gg
DeleteThe anonymous comment on 7/6/23 @ 9:43am is probably ol Jim Blaine himself.
DeleteSuccession planning? What are we talking about, succession planning? We talking about succession planning. Not the tanking of a 26 billion dollar corporate credit union or Hayes’ being a poor candidate for any position at any credit union. We talking about succession planning. How silly is that? We talking about succession planning? I know, I know, senior leadership is supposed to be competent and have the business owners best interests in mind, but what are talking about, succession planning?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think this blog needs to focus on the counter arguments to Jim Blaine’s posts, calling out inaccuracies and the hypocrisy. Should also focus on how we all can move forward together.
ReplyDeleteAgree otherwise it is ineffective.
DeleteRead the post from Jim Blaine today. He is talking up the technology advancements that SECU has made. Two stuck out, Mobile App and check deposit. Those stuck out because Jim Blaine was against them being done at SECU. He preached that a mobile web version of our outdated website was enough. He is the reason we came out with a mobile app after every other FI that I know of. Was not delivered until Mike Lord was CEO. Hypocritical to praise something that you were the main roadblock from delivering.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was comical that my local CU that has $10m in assets had a mobile app before SECU.
DeleteI guess you could say Jem Haayz went from SE CU to...
ReplyDelete(•_•)
( •_•)>⌐■-■
SE See ya!
(⌐■_■)
YEEEEAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!
Mobile check deposit was rolled out around 2012 for NFCU- we were about 10 years late/ I wouldn’t brag about that..
ReplyDeleteAh nice. JB advocating the practice of a board member calling and twisting the arm of a loan officer to obtain an approval for someone in his church. How is this remotely fair? Not all borrowers have that privilege.
ReplyDelete“Mr. Wooten was particularly well-known for personal calls to staff requesting additional review of loan requests from members in his home area of Lenoir (Kinston) and Greene counties or in his congregation or his community. You might think that would cause special pressure on the staff; it never did. Going the extra mile to assure fairness in lending was a core value at SECU... in the past.”
That would 100% cause a loan officer to be more inclined to overturn the denial and approve it. This is exactly why RBL is needed. Do people really not think that each loan officer making their own decision about a loan- based on how they feel about the person and if they think they have good intentions to pay it back is ethical? Whether it’s intentional or subconscious there are too many personal biases when you let someone individually determine whether or not to approve a loan. Denied loans are reviewed but truthfully you can come up with a good reason to approve any loan- and a good reason to deny one too. We’ve seen members with 800 beacons denied and members with 500’s approved. It’s why our members would previously apply over and over for loans - waiting for a loan office who would rule in their favor. Absolutely opens SECU up for discrimination claims and other issues. There is a reason RBL is industry standard.
ReplyDeleteWait!? You mean SECU isn’t the only financial institution that utilizes risk based loan pricing? If you read Blaine’s blog you might assume that to be the case and we were renegades. The FACT is that risk based loan pricing is utilized by 95+% of all credit unions in the US, including each and every one of the top 20 credit unions by asset size in the US.
DeleteWell said. And MLRC was the equivalent of asking a group of construction workers to vote on what medical prognosis to give a patient.
ReplyDeleteMLRC = Most Likely to Repo or Charge off
ReplyDeleteI would like to declare our independence from the dictator Jim Blaine. His desire to create division amongst staff and members is holding us back. It became self evident that he does not want a unified path forward when he refused to meet with our new CEO and then boasted about it on his blog. Egomaniac. You have to ask yourself, what is his endgame and how far will he go to reset us back to where we were when he retired. Thank you Jim Blaine for your many years of service to SECU. We will take it from here.
ReplyDeleteAnother hypocritical post from Jim Blaine today. “It is only error, not truth, that shrinks from inquiry”. Jim, you do not allow any opposing views on your blog. You did not allow for debate when you were CEO. You ask the new leadership to meet with the advisory boards to discuss changes before they are implemented. You never did this during your reign. With you, it was your way or the highway with every decision.
ReplyDeleteSpot on!
DeleteSo much truth here…
DeleteWORD
ReplyDeleteCorrect me if this line of thinking is incorrect. Jim Blaine introduced tiered based insurance products at SECU. How dare him for charging a higher life insurance premium to an 85 year old with a history of heart disease, cancer, and habit of smoking 2 packs a day. Why should they pay more than a healthy 25 year old.
ReplyDeleteFor auto insurance, why should a 16 year old be charged a higher premium than a 40 year old with a spotless record. I demand equal premiums for all. Stop the injustice! Imagine if we did offer a set premium for all auto and life products , regardless of health or history. We would of course have to price it a little higher than competitors that offer tiered based premiums. Our own employees would rarely use the products and those members with better health for life insurance, and better driving history for auto, would begin going to go to competitors for better rates. Over time, we would attract individuals with a much higher chance of filing claims. We would then have to price this risk into our flat premiums, which would make us even less competitive. Does this whole scenario ring any bells?
Couldn't have said it better myself. Literally every other financial institution in this country (including credit unions) uses risk-based lending, and nobody bats an eye. And contrary to what Jim Blaine posts, low credit score people are not the same as low income people. As someone who has been writing loans for over 15 years now I've seen plenty of six figure income people with horrible credit, and plenty of hourly blue collar workers with stellar credit. They are not one in the same, and Blaine knows this too. He's just being disingenuous as he always has been.
DeleteJim, Did you know that credit history is one of the factors used for calculating auto insurance premiums/rates? How could you roll out a financial product that prices based on credit history? Oh the hypocrisy
ReplyDeleteJim Blaine has proved to be there most hypocritical person I’ve heard of. What a double standard.
ReplyDelete“ "When surveyed, business operaters indicated they needed far more than just a checking account or occasional loan; they needed payment processing, payroll and tax help, cash and coin, and accounting support."
ReplyDeletewell that eliminates us, we can't even do taxes ONCE a year for the members” - this kills me. I’m glad some folks like preparing taxes- I actually think when given the opportunity to do them again- less than 1/4 of employees would want to. We WERE NOT adequate in tax preparation. The stress it created was unreal. Many people did not choose to prepare taxes but were forced if they want to be able to advance. Same with all the licenses- hence why all of that got re-organized. There should not be a 4 month period each year that employees dread. Also hey! There are other vita volunteer tax locations- join one and let the members know where to meet you. Betcha won’t!
God, I hated VITA. What a terrible pain in the ass it was when I worked at SECU. Hope you didn't want a car loan or a new account, because you were going to wait forever while we filled out someone's taxes! And I never felt like I was adequately prepared to be a tax preparer. That was not in our wheelhouse, and it never should have been attempted.
DeleteSo in Jim’s post today, he openly admitted to investigating offering business services on multiple occasions.
ReplyDelete“The topic was well-researched and presented to the full Board on several occasions.” He went on to say “Impartial, arm's-length analyses found that SECU could not provide business/commercial services of higher quality, nor at lower costs than the banking industry.” Jim, analyses is based on data and data changes over time, correct? You left over 7 years ago. Is it possible that things have changed since you retired. Did we offer all of the same products that we have today when we were founded over 85 years ago? Or did we do analysis periodically of our services and rolled out new services as the data and technology changed? It seems that you want to reset us back to where we were when you left. Well, times have changed, technology has changed, and the needs and expectations of our members have changed. We have to change as well or we will become irrelevant.
As usual, Blaine’s post is making claims that are simply false. Despite directives from the Board to investigate business services for members, no substantive investigation was ever conducted. Blaine would promise to investigate and then shelve it and then people forgot. It would come up again and Blaine would pull the same trick so that it never went anywhere. Under Mike Lord, there was some investigation, but the conclusion was that SECU couldn’t offer those services because our antiquated systems were incapable of providing business services. All this despite the fact that members across the state continually express frustration that they can’t get simple, small business services from SECU.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that Blaine carved out a reputation of fighting the evil banking industry, yet he has been more than happy to tell members they can go to banks (or other credit unions) for business services or to get a better loan rate.
The current state of SECU is purely the result of Jim Blaine’s lack of planning. Their core system is from the 80’s and not one single current fintech supports integration. He failed to set in motion the transfer of power and linear succession plan to eliminate any questions on the next person up (beyond Mike Lord). Risk Based Lending isn’t the devil he makes it out to be - but he also has NO answer to why SECU members borrowed $47 Billion outside of the SECU compared to the $7 Billion they borrowed from SECU BEFORE RBL was even in place. Jim Blaine might be the dumbest smart person I’ve ever met in my life.
ReplyDeleteOne of Jim’s posts talked about integrity and being transparent with everyone. Then, Jim published a letter from a former SVP who was ‘well respected’ and adored within the SECU halls. This is the same SVP who left his wife for one of his VP’s and the credit union did NOTHING to this SVP for having a workplace romance and affair with his subordinate. This has happened many, MANY times under Jim’s watch over the years. For a man who preached integrity, he didn’t hold many accountable to this standard.
ReplyDelete