Reflection (#226)

“When someone joins an organization, you're not just buying into the work; you're buying into the leader too.” - Jilly Nowacki

Welcome to episode 225 of The CUInsight Experience podcast with your hosts, Randy Smith, co-founder of CUInsight, and Jilly Nowacki, President and CEO of Humanidei.

This episode is sponsored by Alacriti, a leading payments fintech helping credit unions modernize money movement. Alacriti enables real-time money movement experiences for loan payments, A2A transfers, digital disbursements, and bill pay. Through a single cloud-native platform that connects to RTP, FedNow, Fedwire, ACH, Visa Direct, and Zelle, credit unions can progressively modernize without overhauling legacy systems. Learn more at alacriti.com

In this new 2026 season, Jilly and I will have conversations centered around leadership, credit unions, and living our best lives. We will have some of the most respected leaders from around credit unions who we are grateful to call friends join us in the discussion from time to time too.

Following up on the first episode of the new 2026 season, we reflect on what leadership really looks like when you’re living it and not just reading about it. Early on for both of us, building something from nothing made every decision very personal. People weren’t just joining a company; they were trusting in us and the vision that we brought, and Jilly shares her own experience founding Humanidei and leading leagues, and we both explore the idea that when you hire someone, they’re buying into more than just the work; they’re buying into you as a leader and the philosophy that you bring. That alignment, we have found, can make all the difference in long-term growth and culture.

We talk about the joy and the challenge of watching people grow. From employees stepping into new roles, achieving personal milestones, or moving on to other leadership positions, seeing that impact has been one of the most rewarding parts of our careers, yet it’s easy to overlook these moments in the day-to-day hustle, and we explore why it’s so important to recognize and nurture those “rock stars” and high-potential performers while gracefully letting go of those who unfortunately are not fully invested.

We also dive into the weight of leadership, the balance between people and numbers, and how survival phases can make it especially difficult to hold onto joy. Both of us share personal lessons about the seasons of leadership and how knowing where to contribute at your highest value and building meaningful relationships inside and outside the organization can sustain inspiration over the long haul.

By the end of our discussion, we land on one key truth: leadership isn’t measured by metrics alone. It’s measured by the people whose lives you have touched and the culture that you have fostered. We encourage leaders, whether you’re a year into the role or decades in, to pause and ask yourself: who has grown because of your leadership? For us, that reflection is often the most rewarding part - and the part that makes us smile!

Find the full show notes on cuinsight.com.
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