2021 AC&E: Dr. Samuel Jones Simplifies the Shift

On Tuesday morning, Dr. Samuel Jones opened his keynote speech, “Simplifying the Shift: How to Reinvent Behavior, Brand and Business During Times of Uncertainty,” with a brief history of his own life, growing up in Mississippi, in order to frame his life with the constant reminder of where he came from and the struggles he’s overcome to “simplify the shift” in life to break cycles, reclaim the power, renew our mindset and rejuvenate our performance.

Reclaiming Your Power
The principle of reclaiming your power, Jones said, is taking 100% responsibility for your life. “Sometimes when things get beyond our control, we lose control of ourselves,” Jones said. The power for credit unions, he continued, is making sure their employees are properly prepared and trained. In other words, take responsibility for your team’s failures and reflect on how you could have prevented them, rather than how your team members could have.

The shift needs to come from how you respond. The responses we can control, Jones said, are our behavior, thoughts and beliefs and the images we hold on to.

Renew Your Mind
To renew your mindset, Jones gave attendees “5 ways to remove the lid.” This means credit unions need to practice gratitude routinely, create ownership and make that responsibility known, elevate a purpose to perform, expose and eliminate boundaries and create a sense of urgency.

Through these five ways, Jones stressed that we can put ourselves in the best possible position to shift our mindset — we can be prepared for hurdles, such as COVID-19, and also keep from getting stuck in a mindset that keeps us from evolving.

Rejuvenate Your Performance
Jones’ first step of rejuvenation was to minimize the moment. In other words, our devotion needs to be bigger than the distractions. So, our dedication to helping members needs to be greater than COVID-19, he said.

The next step is to maximize the momentum, which means being vocal about the value credit unions provide. According to Jones, you need to know what you are, know why you are what you are, identify your obstacles, identify your resources, be flexible and, most importantly, you need to start. After that, Jones said, rinse and repeat.

Read more about Jones here.