Bringing the Branch Into the Boardroom

For years, I sat in boardrooms and executive offices shaping marketing ideas we believed would resonate with members. The thinking was strategic. The intentions were good. The data supported the direction.

Then I went back to the front lines.

Being inside a branch again changed my perspective in ways no dashboard ever could. Real conversations at the teller line. Subtle hesitation during account openings. The questions members actually ask, not the ones we assume they will. The emotional weight frontline teams carry every day. You only fully understand those things when you are present.

It is not that leadership ideas are wrong. It is that distance quietly reshapes how we define what works.

Some of the campaigns I once believed would encourage meaningful conversations with members became something else entirely at the branch level. They turned into props. Materials to manage. Products to explain. One more thing layered onto an already full day.

The intention was to help. The reality was load.

Frontline teams are balancing real time member needs, operational pressure, and emotional labor. When campaigns are created without their input, even good ideas can create friction. What feels like enablement from afar can feel like overwhelm up close.

That experience changed how I think about ownership.

The front line should not simply execute strategy. They should help define it. They are closest to what members need, how they ask for it, and when they are actually ready to hear it. They see patterns early. They feel resistance immediately. They know when something resonates and when it is politely ignored.

When frontline insight dictates how we approach each interaction, marketing becomes lighter, not heavier. More human. More effective.

Data still matters. Analytics still matter. AI and optimization still matter. But they are strongest when paired with proximity. Data can tell you what is happening. Frontline experience tells you why.

I know I will sit in the boardroom again. That part of my career is not behind me. What is different now is what I will carry with me when I get there.

This time, strategy will be shaped by lived experience, not just analysis. The branch will not be an abstraction. It will be present in the room.

Leadership is strongest when it stays close to the work. Sometimes the clearest vision does not come from being higher up. It comes from being closer in.