In the fourth episode of the CUNA News Podcast, Erin Mendez, president/CEO of $5.1 billion asset Patelco Credit Union in Pleasanton, Calif., stresses the importance of leaders setting high expectations.

Doing so expresses a belief in your employees’ abilities—and sets a standard that inspires high performance, according to Mendez, a CUNA CEO Council executive committee member.

“I think setting high expectations is an issue of saying, ‘I believe in you—and I believe in you so much that I know you can achieve this,’” she says. “I think that’s incredibly powerful.”

Mendez has spent more than 25 years in the financial services industry, starting when a friend’s mom helped her land a job as a part-time bank teller to pay her way through college. She has led Patelco since August 2013, overseeing a period of massive growth driven in part by a decision to slash nearly $1 million in fees to stimulate greater member engagement.

Later in the episode, CUNA Mutual Group’s Corrin Maier, vice president of partner management, explores millennials’ diversity of behavior and variety of needs, as revealed by her organization’s What Matters Now research.

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