Builders, bankers and risk

Our last article, titled “Builders and Bankers,” highlighted the difference in leadership style between builders and bankers, using the analogy of building a hot fire in a wood stove vs. banking the coals to keep the heat constant through a chilly night. Builders can...

Builders and bankers

Are you a builder, or a banker? No, we’re not talking about construction here. Nor would I label a credit union person with “the b-word.” About five years ago, I heard an excellent presentation on leadership by T.D. Jakes. In it, he said that there are two kinds of...

What’s behind your walls?

Do you ever stop to consider what’s behind your walls? No, I’m not talking about spiders, bugs or ghosts… I’m talking about all of the “stuff” that has to work in order for your house to function well. I don’t think about it much either — until recently. I began the...

Twas the night before New Year’s

‘Twas the night before New Year’s, two-thousand-fifteen, A most interesting year on the ERM scene. Consumers were vulnerable to hackers’ reaches, As merchants were “Targets” of broad data breaches. Emerging technologies came every day: EMV, CurrentC, and ApplePay....

When good is bad

The latest home price numbers (through May, according to S&P/Case-Shiller) looked pretty solid: the benchmark 20-City Composite measure was up 9.3% year-over-year (YOY).  All 20 markets posted gains on an unadjusted basis, though 14 showed YOY declines when...