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Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
Dear Readers,
It’s always an honor for me to both attend and speak at the Barron’s conference., https://www.barrons.com/advisor/summits/all/teams. In thinking about this column, I am recalling many of the amazing presentations, great insights and fabulous speakers I heard. I’ll summarize some important points that underscore much of what I work on with my advisors and their teams, and hopefully something here will resonate for you over the next week.
1. Even with everything AI is going to be able to do to transform your business, there is no replacement for the “human factor.” Continuing to deepen interpersonal skills such as asking great open-ended questions, staying focused, not getting distracted and practicing active and reflective listening are key areas.
No matter how good of a “people person” you may be, the business is demanding and our lives are full. Continuing to hone these skills takes practice and focus. Not sure which area is most important for you? Ask others around you and stay open to what they say so you can learn and improve.
2. The biggest challenge in any firm or team is keeping people organized, working together toward a common goal and engaged with one another. It’s so easy to go into silos because there is just so much work to do and so many pressures on time. Knowing your colleagues are also doing what they need to do can be a comfort. However, it doesn’t automatically mean the collaboration and communication are sufficient.
Although most people who work long hours don’t necessarily want to spend more time with workmates, it is nonetheless important. Find those pockets — be it once a quarter or just twice a year — where everyone goes offsite and has time together to learn, talk and grow from sharing ideas. It won’t happen if it doesn’t get scheduled, so plan it, schedule it and hold people accountable for attending.
3. In the day-to-day, meetings and discussions can always be improved. Be honest and take that step back to see what you might need to do to make your communication stronger. Do the meetings have a desired outcome? An agenda? A note taker? A set of next steps? When people communicate through email or voicemail, are they succinct and to the point? Is it clear what’s needed and when? At least once a year look together at your communication practices and make sure you are giving everyone the best opportunity to learn.
4. Say “thank you.” Make sure you are also acknowledging from time to time the important roles each person is playing on the team. If you are the kind of person who can write a nice email or handwritten note or even a text outlining what, exactly, you appreciate about a team member, that is always the best. But if you don’t have the words or don’t know how to do this authentically, at least find one person a day you can thank for a specific activity and contribution.
5. Practice giving feedback in a way that doesn’t feel like confrontation. Be curious and inquisitive. One of the speakers at the conference talked about “skill, will and the hill.” Has the person been taught what they need to know to be successful (skill)? Do they care about the role, have intrinsic motivation and want to succeed (will)? Is what’s been asked of them just too much, given other things on their plate or the infrastructure within the team or firm (hill)? Don’t make assumptions — seek to understand and learn about what else you can do to help facilitate success.
6. Enjoy the journey. This can be a very fulfilling career, and it can be especially stressful and difficult when things aren’t going well — as evidenced by the last week’s market gyrations. Markets don’t like uncertainty, and unfortunately neither do human beings. But we have to live with it each and every day.
Instead of looking to the “end goal,” focus on the small wins and the learnings that come out of everything you do. You are transforming people’s lives and giving them gifts they might not otherwise have. Our minds tend to focus on the negatives—that one complaining client or the fund that is underperforming in the portfolios. It’s important to try and fix what’s wrong, but don’t get fixated on it. Lift up your head and be thankful for what you can offer and the chance to bring your skills to people who need it.
There were so many other insights, but these six resonated with the work I do each and every day. Consider where you are and what you might want to focus on for the coming week. I hope you find something here that serves you and give it a try!
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry, in 1995. The firm also founded and manages the Advisors Sales Academy. The firm has won the Wealthbriefing WealthTech award for Best Training Solution for 2022, 2023 and 2024. Beverly is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate and graduate students Entrepreneurship and Leading Teams. She is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Values Analyst (CPVA).
She has spent over 25 years in the investment industry and has been featured in Selling Power Magazine and quoted in hundreds of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC.com, Investment News and Solutions Magazine for the FPA. She speaks frequently at investment industry conferences and is a speaker for the CFA Institute.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
