Last time https://www.t-cnews.com/industry-focus/start-at-the-inside-and-work-your-way-out/ I shared with you the importance of once and for all getting your ‘house’ in order and focusing on the eight key principle areas of your business! So, I am going to assume – as I know how wonderfully organised you all are – that you are well and truly under way with the revolution that I know will have such an amazing and profound impact on your business.
So, now what? Surely, she can’t be expecting us to do more, I hear you ask…? Well, if you want to literally smash it out of the park then I am afraid you are going to have to put in the hard yards! But I promise, this one is super fun and involves your whole team.
Let’s do a quick business recap…you have a healthy-looking balance sheet, your assets under management are building nicely, you have successfully weathered the COVID storm, the team seem happy and you’ve not lost a single client in years – but is that enough?
a real impact; an impact that really makes a difference; an impact that will live on long after you?
Many would say ‘what else matters?!’ and I get it, but I’ve met a lot of people who tick all of these boxes and yet are still not happy, are still not fulfilled in their work. Why? Well, I believe it’s a question of impact.
I am yet to find a planner or even a business owner who didn’t come into our magical profession to make a difference, to change lives, to help those who appear to need it the most – and if along the way they are financially rewarded for their efforts, then it’s a win/win.
It is true – and many of you I chat with agree – that you can earn very good money in financial services/financial advice without being that amazing. It’s a fruitful profession which means that, once you have put in the hard yards, you can sit very comfortably on the recurring income which comes trickling in each month. For the record, I would say – and so you should!
But is that enough? I’m not talking about enough money. I’m talking about are you making enough of an impact: a real impact; an impact that really makes a difference; an impact that will live on long after you?
Throughout the last year, we took a long hard look at the impact that WE were making as a business and as a team. We concluded that as the only standards, training and consultancy business in the sector, we have a lifetime of work if we are to truly change the world, one financial adviser at a time! Add to this that we all know that running a business is not easy, and I have no doubt that each of you will have, and still are, making many personal sacrifices on a day-to-day basis – many with irreversible consequences. So, my question is: Is the impact you are having worth the sacrifices that you are making?
Only you can answer that question honestly; however, I think the only solution to all of this is to be clear about what impact you are trying to make in the first place.
Your commitment
If you could define your commitment statement and, as a whole team, hang your hat on one promise, what would that be?
As individuals, and collectively as a team, ours is a commitment to excellence. It forms the basis of everything that we do: how we hire, how we choose our clients, how we select the opportunities to explore and how we say no to the many opportunities that cross our path.
At our core sits Our Commitment to Excellence Policy. It stands proud in our office and on our website. It takes centre stage on the home page of our intranet and will soon form the basis of our team’s one-to-one appraisals and development plans.
So, now let’s talk about the impact. During the review of our 2030 vision and the defining of our 2020/21 goals, we focused on the impact that we were committed to making and we are thrilled with what we have designed.
But what about you? I encourage you to sit down with your whole team (and yes, I mean all of them! – and yes, you can do this remotely!) and ask the following question:
‘By 2030* what impact will we have made?’
Get the flip chart ready or the whiteboard loaded and capture it all. Write everything down: the crazy, the creative and the constructive. If you have the right team in place, they will get what you are trying to do and will totally buy in – it will be one of the best team meetings you have ever run!
As it has with us – it will excite you all. It will sharpen your focus on what really matters. It will drive activity and release a passion for the job that you have probably never seen before. And by far the best thing about it is, if you can really nail this and do it right, everyone wins!
*You can pick whatever year you like – but make it far enough away that it is slightly scary!
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