The Key Components for Effective Change

Dear T.F.,

You have a couple of my favorite topics in your note — finding efficiencies and dealing with the next generation. I, too, believe the next generation gets a bad rap, and it isn’t as though they are unmotivated or unwilling to pitch in and work. It’s that we don’t give them adequate direction and don’t set expectations for exactly what’s expected, when and how.

Most of us grew up in an era in which you simply had to figure out things on your own, but that’s no longer how it works in business today. The stakes are higher, the competition is more fierce and things are changing too quickly to sit back and hope someone steps up.

To get the best out of your people, there are a few recommendations I often make:

1. Be sure you are clear about expectations — not just a job description. This is probably the number one place leaders and team members have differences of opinion. If you are operating off a job description but you are expecting people to go above and beyond to prove their commitment, it is a recipe for failure.

I’m not saying some people don’t go above and beyond with the hopes they will be recognized and promoted. However, to expect someone to do something you haven’t told them they need to do can cause frustration on both sides. If there are ways for each team member to prove their worth and play a more prominent role in the firm, be clear with them what that is and how it is defined.

2. Help guide problem-solving. Many people are not taught how to problem-solve on their own, or they’ve learned to look to leadership to solve problems and wait for leaders to bring about any necessary change. I often write about the SHIFT® process to help a manager guide a team member to solve something on their own.

First, start by asking them to (S) specify the desired outcome. You need clarity about what you want before you can begin. Then have them (H) highlight and categorize the obstacles. What’s getting in the way? What can they control? Influence? What’s out of their control? Ask them to (I) identify the human factor. Are the right people working on the problem? Does the team need more support or guidance or education? Who is doing what and what do they need to succeed?

Then you can work together to (F) find alternatives. What options are there? What can the team member take responsibility for? What is most important in terms of criteria for deciding what to do? Lastly, help them (T) take disciplined action by creating a plan of who, what, when, how and how much. Once you have guided team members a couple of times on this process, they should be able to carry it forward for the next time there is a change that needs to happen or a problem to be solved.

3. Have a conversation about expectations along with measurements and timelines. This underlines the importance of coaching. Accountability is key. In my coaching work I often hear from clients who are making progress simply because they have someone to check in with who expects to hear from them about what they’ve done and how it worked.

Checkpoints matter. You can say your next gens are professionals who shouldn’t need to have check-ins, but everyone needs them. We get busy, we are focused on other things and we often choose to do the things that are easiest for us rather than what we really need to do. Help your team by providing a safe place to keep on track.

4. Lastly — and I can’t underscore this one enough — learn to be a good coach. I hear that your partners don’t like to engage in any negativity, but the best coaches catch people doing things right and help them to make the adjustments necessary to get better and better. If you don’t tell your staff where they need to improve, how will they ever improve? It’s like waiting for a pot to boil without ever lighting the burner underneath it!

Help them. Guide them. Give them positive feedback and areas for improvement in terms of criticism. If you show you care, it might make them care a bit more too.

I hope this all helps, and I’m sure you might be doing some of these things. That said, if you want to get the most out of your team members, you need to be doing all of it.

Dear Bev,

When you are the lowest person in the firm in terms of tenure and experience but you see things that need to be changed for improvement, how long do you need to wait until you can speak up?

B.H.

Dear B.H.,

You can be a leader in any situation without having the title or the years of experience. Make sure you are organized in your thoughts and how you present new ideas.

1. Show the problem with as much detail as possible — facts and data matter.
2. Identify impact — why is this problem hurting the team or firm?
3. Outline ways to solve for the problem — what could be done? What pros and cons are connected to each option?
4. Show costs and timelines. Depending on which option is chosen, what is necessary to implement it?
5. What is your willingness to get involved? Is this someone else’s problem, or will you be a driver or team member to see that change happens?

Put all of this together in a formal approach, like a presentation of slides with bullet points to walk through the problem with your leadership. Be careful not to be accusatory or insulting in your approach; don’t say things like “I don’t know why we are doing it this way, but here’s the problem…” It’s astonishing to me how often people will want to help make change happen but disrespect the way it’s always been (which was invariably someone else’s idea about what would work)!

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, 2024 and 2025. 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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