Leadership Readiness in an Era of Permanent Disruption

Credit unions are no longer navigating incremental cycles of change; they are operating in a state of permanent disruption where multiple forces converge at once.

Artificial intelligence, digital assets, and stablecoins, along with accelerating merger activity, regulatory complexity, and rapidly evolving member expectations, are simultaneously reshaping the competitive landscape. For credit union executives, the leadership imperative has shifted: success no longer depends on reacting well, but on building organizations capable of continuous adaptation without sacrificing performance, trust, or culture.

For many leaders, “being prepared” has traditionally meant strong financial stewardship, sound risk management, regulatory compliance, and reliable member service. These remain essential—but they are no longer sufficient. Leadership readiness today must also encompass organizational adaptability, decision quality under uncertainty, and repeated execution in the face of rapid change.

A recent PwC Global CEO Survey found that nearly 45% of CEOs believe their organization will not be viable over the next decade if it continues on its current path—a sharp indicator of how leaders across industries are sensing the urgency of transformative change.

Building Readiness into the Organization

In the past, readiness was often treated as episodic: annual plans, strategic plan refreshes, or responses to singular disruptions. Today, the pace, scale, and overlap of change mean that episodic preparedness is no longer effective. Credit union leaders must internalize readiness as a foundational capability—built into how they make decisions, develop talent, manage risk, and allocate resources every day.

Permanent disruption requires a mindset shift. Rather than planning for isolated moments, leaders must design systems and cultures that can continually absorb and redirect change. This involves a blend of strategic foresight and operational discipline:

• Strategic foresight to anticipate trends without becoming distracted by noise.
• Operational discipline to ensure reliable execution while experimenting and learning.
• Adaptive leadership that balances urgency with intentionality.
   

The Hidden Risk of Reactive Capacity

A familiar pattern among credit unions is the tendency to react to disruptions individually—adopting new digital tools here, responding to member feedback there, pursuing mergers opportunistically. Each of these actions may be justified on its own, but together they can stretch leadership bandwidth, blur decision rights, and pressure organizational culture.

Consider this scenario, common across the industry:

A credit union implements an AI-driven decision support tool to improve underwriting efficiency. At the same time, it’s integrating a recent merger while also launching new digital payment features to meet member expectations. Each initiative promises value. But without clarity around leadership roles, decision authority, and accountability, the combined complexity creates bottlenecks. Leaders spend more time firefighting than enabling, and teams become reactive rather than proactive.

The risk is not about change itself; it’s about asking leaders to absorb continuous disruption without building the capacity to do so confidently and consistently.

Questions Leaders Must Ask Differently Today

Actual readiness shows up in the questions leaders consistently ask. The most forward-looking credit union executives are no longer focused on whether a strategy is good, but on whether the organization can execute, adjust, and iterate that strategy as conditions evolve.

Consider these questions that separate future-ready leaders from reactive ones:

• Do we have leadership depth on the bench beyond a few key individuals?
• Are our managers equipped to lead through ambiguity, not just execution?
• Does our culture reward learning and experimentation?
• Are we building organizational muscle, or simply reacting faster than last time?
   

These questions get to the heart of readiness: not only what we plan to do, but how we, as leaders, approach challenges and opportunities.

Designing for Continuous Evolution

To institutionalize readiness, credit union leaders must think beyond traditional planning cycles. This means:

• Developing adaptable leadership competencies that emphasize judgment, learning agility, and cross-functional thinking.
• Clarifying decision and accountability structures so that decision-making scales with complexity.
• Embedding learning into performance systems so that the organization continuously improves rather than merely adjusts.
• Aligning talent development with strategic priorities instead of treating it as a separate HR function.
   

Boards must also play a role by setting expectations for leadership development and holding executives accountable for capability growth, but the primary responsibility for building readiness rests with executive management.

The Future of Credit Union Leadership

In an era defined by overlapping disruptions, the strongest credit unions will not be those with the most detailed strategic plans. They will be those with leaders capable of interpreting ambiguity, making disciplined choices, and mobilizing their organizations to adapt over time.

Readiness is no longer about anticipating the next disruption. It’s about building a leadership framework that ensures the organization can continually become what the future demands.

Watch for the next article in the series on Developing Future-Focused Leaders.

As SVP/ Chief Administrative Officer, Jerry Saalsaa is a visionary, results-driven steward leader with deep marketplace knowledge. A 26-year veteran of the credit union industry, he has been a champion and active contributor to its advancement. His North Star is to “leave the credit union system and the people within it better than today.”