Newsletter
President’s pen article
“Fear cannot be banished, but it can be calm and without panic; it can be mitigated by reason and evaluation”
Vannevar Bush, American scientist
(1890 – 1974)
I am doing my absolute best not to get caught up in the financial fear and panic mindset occurring on Wall Street and throughout our nation. However, regardless of how many times I think and say, “I choose not to participate” the fact is that it is not realistic to ignore the forces driving our economy. So the question…is the fear and panic counterproductive? Counterproductive or not, it’s real. It’s how people feel and markets are made up of how people feel. They buy, borrow or sell based on their emotions.
Two words worth examining, especially during these uncertain economic times are fear and panic. While close in definition, the impact and subsequent result of these emotions are vastly different. Fear is defined as “a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger.” It is a productive emotion, bolting us to action to protect ourselves. Panic, on the other hand, is defined as a “sudden overwhelming fear, with or without cause, that produces hysterical or irrational behavior, and that often spreads quickly through a group of persons or animals.”
As business managers, husbands, wives, parents, etc., we all have a responsibility to ourselves and our loved ones to not panic and act irrationally, because like a virus, panic is damaging and it spreads. It is important, however, to feel the fear, be OK with the fear and act with sensible and deliberate precision. If we can accomplish a state of control within our organizations and homes—be calm within the storm—it will not go unnoticed. Credit Union members will sense safety and will continue to entrust business with you. Our clients will sense safety and continue to trust us work for them. Families will sleep easier at night. While it may get rocky, just take a deep breath and trust that this too, shall pass.
Mark Staley
President
