C. Manager Management

 I empower my manager to manage me well.

 I keep my manager fully informed, especially bad news.

 I have weekly meetings with my manager to report/learn.

 I relate to my manager as more of a great coach.

 I state absolute requirements of my manager so I produce well.

 I don’t compete or react to my manager. We’re “equals.”

 I immediately give my manager problems I cannot solve.

 I brief my manager well: data, options, recommendations.

 I put myself in my manager’s shoes & manage from there.

 Regardless, I always stay in full communication with my manager.

SURVEY INSTRUCTIONS

There are 4 steps to completing the Leading Advisor Business and Practice Planning Survey.

Step 1

Answer each question. If the statement is true, check the square. If not, leave it blank until you’ve done what it takes for it to be checked. Be a hard grader.

Step 2

Summarize each section. Add up the number of squares for each of the sections and write those amounts where indicated.

Where are the Opportunities for Improvement?

Step 3

Identify key issues or opportunities that influenced your assessment.

Step 4

Brainstorm actions that can be taken to improve low ratings or maintain high ratings.

 

B. Empowered Planning, Strategies & Communication

 Quarterly planning sessions conducted with managers and staff.

 I have outlined each person’s job and how often they report to me. (Reporting form done, too.)

 I know how much I am going to do and how much I am going to delegate

 I am unconditionally constructive whenever I speak.

 I remain criticism-free even when I correct others.

 I have tremendous amounts of compassion for others.

 I don’t gossip. Period.

 I always come from a positive place, solution-oriented.

 I am direct, yet not obnoxious, in my speaking style.

 Respect: I honor people, their unique contribution, I include them in decisions. My staff are my customers.

SURVEY INSTRUCTIONS

There are 4 steps to completing the Leading Advisor Business and Practice Planning Survey.

Step 1

Answer each question. If the statement is true, check the square. If not, leave it blank until you’ve done what it takes for it to be checked. Be a hard grader.

Step 2

Summarize each section. Add up the number of squares for each of the sections and write those amounts where indicated.

Where are the Opportunities for Improvement?

Step 3

Identify key issues or opportunities that influenced your assessment.

Step 4

Brainstorm actions that can be taken to improve low ratings or maintain high ratings.

 

A. Empowered Leadership

 CEO has a strong vision and others have bought in.

 Firm has a simple mission statement.

 The firm’s culture is cooperative vs. adversarial.

 The firm has very large goals and everyone is excited about reaching these goals.

 The CEO frequently interacts with employees at all levels.

 CEO initiates huge requirements.

 CEO is developing leaders, not just managers.

 Staff is proud of the high quality work they do.

 Firm is customer-sensitive and customer-driven.

 Staff is proud of their role in the success of the firm.

SURVEY INSTRUCTIONS

There are 4 steps to completing the Leading Advisor Business and Practice Planning Survey.

Step 1

Answer each question. If the statement is true, check the square. If not, leave it blank until you’ve done what it takes for it to be checked. Be a hard grader.

Step 2

Summarize each section. Add up the number of squares for each of the sections and write those amounts where indicated.

Where are the Opportunities for Improvement?

Step 3

Identify key issues or opportunities that influenced your assessment.

Step 4

Brainstorm actions that can be taken to improve low ratings or maintain high ratings.

 

Sometimes they work with us to search out their candidates, sometimes they do it themselves and sometimes they use an agency.

Here is an e-mail that I sent to my client who is not getting high caliber candidates from the agency that they are working with.

Dear Elite Advisor,

I believe that you should change agencies … in fact, why not work with more than one. I believe that a good agency should have had an inventory of candidates to put in front of you.

In my mind, given the agency is in a large metropolitan area, they should have provided more candidates.

At the same time, the agency does not understand you as a client.

In my mind, your firm is not just another financial advisor firm – your firm, everyone in it, the marketing actions you are taking and the clients that you deal with are elite and you are looking for better than average.

To screen out unqualified candidates, it is my belief that the person that you are looking for should be a quick start & study, have a high degree of inner strength & self esteem, be able to take instructions quickly from assertive people and follow through without needing a lot of hand holding and step by step supervision.

Please note that I have written the above characteristics to set the standard so to speak.

This standard is also defined so that the candidate will be able to run with the team that you have versus be eaten alive ( in the candidates mind ).

Here are some questions that will help to confirm that the person is NOT the person that you are looking for.

My approach here could seem too analytical … my outcome is to prevent having to do the hiring again in 4 months from now.

You should have the candidates answer these questions by e-mail before they do an assessment.

You can get a sense of the candidate without spending a lot of your time.

Regards,

Simon

• Give a specific example of how you have worked independently and under pressure to get the job done and meet a deadline.
• In a situation when your manager is unavailable, how have you proceeded with a project when all the information is not readily available to you.
• Provide me with an example of where you have had to isolate yourself from co-workers in the office to focus and complete a project with a deadline.
• Explain the benefits of working independently, or working collectively as a team. What situation do you prefer and why?
• What role do you play in ensuring a smooth working environment when your boss is away?
• How do you handle conflict?
• Sometimes it is difficult to know when to quit. Describe an experience in which you were too persistent / not persistent enough. What happened?
• What was the most difficult interpersonal situation you encountered in this position? How did you handle this?
• Think of a recent decision you made that was good and one that wasn’t as good. What did you do differently in making these decisions?
• How have you reacted to criticism from your manager? Give an example.
• How have you reacted to customers’ criticism of your products or services? Give an example.

 

(www.bodyandsoul.com.au)

When do you need to get motivated?

When you are happy?

When you are unhappy?

Not when you are happy. And only if you are afraid your happiness isn’t going to last, so you better stay motivated.

Rather than motivation, understand why you are unhappy versus investing your time in getting motivated because eventually, you will wind up feeling unhappy and needing motivation once again.

 

I delivered The Six Degrees Of Life Insurance Connection a number of times back in 2009 and 2010.

Like The Edge who is the guitarist from U2 who has to relearn the cords to U2’s songs every time they go out on tour, I have to relearn The Six Degrees Of Life Insurance Connection PowerPoint as I have not delivered it in a while.

Thank goodness for Buffer Days!

At the same time, I have developed some new insights that are included in my newer PowerPoint presentations and I want to integrate these into The Six Degrees Of Life Insurance Connection.

So what to do?

Use the SimpleMind+ App and my iPad2 to create a side by side mind map of both presentations to get a very big picture view of components of both presentations so that I can do the integration.

 

They lay it on with the smiles and comments like:

• How’s business?

• Does it bother you that clients stand you up for an appointment?

• Aren’t you tired of dealing with those same old clients?

• Let’s get together.

I’m reminded of some psychological warfare that I observed back in the 80’s when a competitor invited an associate of our company for a series of lunches and drinks to talk about businesses which eventually lead into what wasn’t working with our company. The next thing you know, the competitor had convinced the associate that was with our company that there was a job waiting for them at their company and that they should go and talk to the President. So the associate made an appointment with the President to talk about the job opportunity. The President said; “what job opportunity”.

In 1983, Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled wrote a book called People of the Lie: The Hope For Healing Human Evil. Peck describes the stories of several people who came to him whom he found particularly resistant to any form of help. He came to think of them as evil and goes on to describe the characteristics of evil in psychological terms, proposing that it could become a psychiatric diagnosis.

I can share the remedy for this through this storey about The Scorpion and the Frog.

One day, a scorpion looked around at the mountain where he lived and decided that he wanted a change. So he set out on a journey through the forests and hills. He climbed over rocks and under vines and kept going until he reached a river.

The river was wide and swift, and the scorpion stopped to reconsider the situation. He couldn’t see any way across. So he ran upriver and then checked downriver, all the while thinking that he might have to turn back.

Suddenly, he saw a frog sitting in the rushes by the bank of the stream on the other side of the river. He decided to ask the frog for help getting across the stream.

“Hellooo Mr. Frog!” called the scorpion across the water, “Would you be so kind as to give me a ride on your back across the river?”

“Well now, Mr. Scorpion! How do I know that if I try to help you, you won’t try to kill me?” asked the frog hesitantly.

“Because,” the scorpion replied, “If I try to kill you, then I would die too, for you see I cannot swim!”

Now this seemed to make sense to the frog. But he asked. “What about when I get close to the bank? You could still try to kill me and get back to the shore!”

“This is true,” agreed the scorpion, “But then I wouldn’t be able to get to the other side of the river!”

“Alright then…how do I know you won’t just wait till we get to the other side and THEN kill me?” said the frog.

“Ahh…,” crooned the scorpion, “Because you see, once you’ve taken me to the other side of this river, I will be so grateful for your help, that it would hardly be fair to reward you with death, now would it?!”

So the frog agreed to take the scorpion across the river. He swam over to the bank and settled himself near the mud to pick up his passenger. The scorpion crawled onto the frog’s back, his sharp claws prickling into the frog’s soft hide, and the frog slid into the river. The muddy water swirled around them, but the frog stayed near the surface so the scorpion would not drown. He kicked strongly through the first half of the stream, his flippers paddling wildly against the current.

Halfway across the river, the frog suddenly felt a sharp sting in his back and, out of the corner of his eye, saw the scorpion remove his stinger from the frog’s back. A deadening numbness began to creep into his limbs.

“You fool!” croaked the frog, “Now we shall both die! Why on earth did you do that?”

The scorpion shrugged, and did a little jig on the drowning frog’s back.

“I could not help myself. It is my nature.”

Then they both sank into the muddy waters of the swiftly flowing river.

Self destruction – “It’s my Nature”, said the Scorpion…