All work and no play makes Mort a dull alien.
It’s true. As engrossed as I am in the credit union mortgage business, even I need a break. Thank the stars for the experts and culture of myCUmortgage. While they work tirelessly to help your members with homeownership through the life of those loans, they also practice great emotional intelligence and know when to instill a bit of fun into the mix.
Over the last several weeks, I’ve been enlightened by an outdoor game they played during lunchtime called cornhole where two two-person teams face off by tossing beanbags onto wooden boards set at an angle. Points are scored by landing beanbags onto the board and getting them through the hole toward the top of the board. Fascinating.
Always on the watch for opportunities to add knowledge to my cranium – particularly as it concerns Earth ways and culture – I logged into my ship’s data server and researched cornhole. Its origins extend back to the late 1800s as an indoor alternative to Parlor Quoits (a.k.a., horseshoes). It gained popularity in the late 1970s in Chicagoland as a game called Sacks but didn’t arrive in its current version until the 1980s in Cincinnati. There are even professional leagues and tournaments as well as the American Cornhole Association.
But this post isn’t about the game of cornhole itself but rather a tournament held by the myCU experts. It was your basic tournament set up: 16-team single elimination with 30-minute time limits per match. Scheduling was approached very carefully, as we didn’t want to impact our five-star partner- and member-focused service. The only issue I personally saw in all of this was the timing: All matches were held in August under the sweltering summer sun.
If you read my previous post, Get Amped Up This Fall, you’ll recall the obstacle summer weather creates for me. However, after hearing about the tournament, I just had to find a way to watch. Apparently, we can now add five-star vehicle service to the list, as I was offered to relax in an air-conditioned car parked near the matches.
The players didn’t have the luxury of air conditioning or, for that matter, any shade from the sun. Yet, in true myCUmortgage fashion, they persevered and didn’t allow negative circumstances or heat indexes near 100⁰ Fahrenheit prohibit the completion of their matches. Teams were thrilled with their accomplishments and helped each other through every match.
This made me think of our challenges and opportunities in the mortgage world. Right now, the real estate industry is providing credit union mortgage lenders with plenty of obstacles and less than ideal circumstances. While it would be easy to pack up our boards and beanbags and call it a day, that’s not how we’re wired.
Now more than ever, we must embrace teamwork and withstand the mortgage industry elements together. When we do that, all the players in each match win: the credit union, myCUmortgage, the Realtor, various vendor partners and, most importantly, the member. And the best part? The member gets the ultimate trophy: A HOME!
Don’t give in to the heat bearing down on us from our current challenging market. Together, we can win the homeownership tournament. And to celebrate, I strongly suggest a friendly game of cornhole on the member’s new lawn… with their permission, of course!