“The Type 2 Fun is where all the stories come from.” – Randy Smith

This episode is sponsored by The Sheeter Group, a leading executive benefits firm that meets your retention and succession needs. This includes non-qualified benefit plans, short and long-term incentive plans, compensation studies, scorecard design, performance evaluation, and more. Learn more at sheetergroup.com.

In this season, Jill and I will have conversations centered around leadership, credit unions, and living our best lives. We will have some of the most respected leaders from around credit unions who we are grateful to call friends join us in the discussion from time to time too.

In this episode, we are talking about Type 2 Fun—experiences which feel miserable in the moment but become cherished memories later on—and we share some personal stories that, while difficult at the time, ultimately led to growth and incredibly meaningful connections!

We explore why discomfort is necessary for personal and professional development—without facing challenges and pushing past our comfort zones, we can't build the necessary resilience to take on challenges in the future. We highlight the importance of leaders normalizing discomfort in the workplace and celebrating the accomplishments that come from it, ultimately supporting their teams through the difficult moments.

Our conversation also touches upon building a culture that embraces growth via challenges. We discuss strategies for hiring and retaining team members who are willing to step outside their comfort zones, as well as the pitfalls of trying to create an environment of constant "Type 1 Fun." We ultimately come to the conclusion that the stories and memories we cherish most often come from those Type 2 Fun experiences—the ones that push us to our limits but leave us stronger and more connected on the other side.

We encourage you to reflect on your own Type 2 Fun moments, recognize the value in the discomfort, and build teams and organizations that can navigate those growth-inducing challenges together. We hope that you enjoy our conversation!

Find the full show notes on cuinsight.com.
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Books mentioned on The CUInsight Experience podcast: Book List
Previous guest mentioned in this episode: Mike Valentine (episodes 128 & 204)