Jan-Feb2020

Moving Forward Leading Change Must Inform Your Strategy By Steve Irwin, President, NRMLA “Walk on air against your better judgement…” — Seamus Heaney, Irish poet AS 2019 FADES into the rearview mirror, we will all get consumed with annual performance reviews and annual meeting post-mortems. We’ll evaluate the headwinds that were adeptly navigated and the landmines we were able to avoid. We will ask ourselves if we met our goals, both individually and as an organization. Were those projects completed on time and on budget? Yes, we will become consumed with self-reflection and evaluation. As we look back, however, we must not forget to also quickly turn our attention to what lies ahead. How nimble will we be when facing the industry changes that 2020 presents to all of us? The seemingly never-ending whirlpool of change is by no means unique to the reverse mortgage ecosystem. Each and every business sector must face change and uncertainty. How an industry responds to such change and uncertainty, however, can determine how that industry survives in the long term. There are always dangers with nostalgia and rigidity getting intertwined with the mindset of an industry. This inertia is a pervasive business problem and a possible explanation of why more than half of the companies that appeared on the 1980 Fortune 500 list no longer exist. Trying to continually circle the wagons and protecting what was great and inspiring in the past is not what will lead our industry forward and allow us to effectively serve the growing and changing needs of the senior population. Pivoting to, and falling back on, long-held approaches to all of our workflows will not move us forward. The challenge facing us all at this moment is this: How do you lead the market rather than respond to it? One of former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros’s greatest management insights is that “steady-state management doesn’t work anymore.” Customers expect service firms to anticipate their needs and to deliver to those changing needs more than ever. Managing to the steady-state exposes you to the danger of becoming irrelevant as product offerings become more commoditized. Anticipation and leading change are what must inform your strategy. This is what will give you competitive advantage and improve your ability to attract the best and brightest talent, investors and, therefore, more customers. The opportunity to embrace change is presenting itself to us, again. We must collaborate, open chains of communication, try new approaches and be bold. Now is the time to walk on air. Steve Irwin “The seemingly never-ending whirlpool of change is by no means unique to the reverse mortgage ecosystem. Each and every business sector must face change and uncertainty.” REVERSE MORTGAGE / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2020 5