Welcome Alumni

Hear what our Lead Adviser coaches have to say about their areas of expertise and what you can be considering right now to assist you in furthering your own business growth journey.

Scott Fitzpatrick, Founding Lead Adviser & Coach

“What do you need to let go of, to get what you really want?” ~ Scott Fitzpatrick

It’s good to look at your existing service offering and it’s good to look at future service offerings of a Lead Adviser and ask yourself “How do I price appropriately for all of the non-FSR work that I am doing?” Being a Lead Adviser is about project managing across a range of different topics and issues that clients face and ultimately being their Risk Manager. In my mind, clients pay a retainer fee monthly, reviewed at the end of 12 months for this role.

1. In terms of commoditisation of professional services, assess your current and future services to clients.

2. Review your current service offering and see if it’s future proofed.

3. Look at what clients value (page 4 Lead Adviser handbook) once again – it’s a good overlay to look at your client base and think “Am I providing this service to clients and am I charging appropriately for it?”

John Woodley, Founder & Advanced Business Strategy Coach

“Strategy is not the consequence of planning, but the opposite: it’s the starting point.”
– Henry Mintzberg

When global leaders were asked in hindsight what they would have changed to make a bigger difference many said “make more time for strategic thinking”. Interestingly, it wasn’t about better strategy, but more time on strategy. It stands to reason that more time on strategy will lead to better strategy.

1. This is the perfect time of year to set aside an annual diary event with reference to Strategy. Without thinking about the strategy documents, workshops, or the needs of the business. This is pure thinking time away from the noise so you can connect with what’s important to you.

2. Think about the small number of things that act like the initial dominos in a long line of dominos. Think of these as the catalysts that will move many other things and act as leverage for business or personal change.

3. It will depend on each business and the individual leader but to give an example of what an annual personal strategic routine could look like:

• 2 Full Days at the start of the year
• 1 Full day each quarter
• .5 day each month
• 2 hours each week

Personally, I lock strategy dates in so I can concentrate on other jobs at hand, confident in the knowing time has been set aside for important strategic focus away from usual distractions.

Brian Fitzpatrick, Emotional Intelligence & High-Performance Coach

“Too many times advisers play head-to-head with clients, completely in the world of intellect. The better advisers also work in the world of relationships going heart to heart.”
– Brian Fitzpatrick

Learning to separate content from context is important for articulating the value you bring to clients. When working with your clients, context is what you listen out for. It’s their side of the story and your joint search for meaning, which adds relevance to the content, and demonstrates to the client you know them in a deeper manner. Content is the technical skills and offerings we have in our tool kit, e.g., estate planning, asset protection, cashflow, debt, tax, and so on. Without the context, content has no meaning, so always start with context.

1. Beware of being arrogant and thinking that you know what the plans means for the client. Don’t assume context, uncover it afresh.

2. The Ten Years part of the 10-3-Now process is how you do that.

3. And you do that by using the 4 L’s exercise: Live – Love – Learn – Legacy.

Terri Reid, Lead Adviser Partnership Coach

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”
-John C. Maxwell

As advisers, we have an important role: we can demonstrate to our clients what it’s like to live a truly enriching life; not only from a material perspective or by telling them, but by living it.

This is about quality but it doesn’t just refer to what we do in terms of productivity and the technical proficiency of our outputs. It’s about bringing more focus on what we put in to the advice and work we do, and observing how we do it. For example, taking all the care in the world but without seeking perfection or rushing. Choosing to focus on our strengths so that it feels simple. Furthermore, ‘enrichment’ and ‘quality’ should extend to the quality of our business, our relationships, our wellbeing and ultimately, our life. If one area is compromised for too long, it will impact all the others.

1. Bring your smarts with heart and aim to understand the whole person by uncovering the technical, emotional and practical challenges they are facing.

2. Respond to clients in the moment and resist the urge to overwhelm them with unnecessary detail. Ask yourself, am I sharing this for their sake or to justify my intelligence/worth?

3. 100% live the advice you are sharing. Have your own financial and business plan, preferably one you have engaged a professional to help you (and your business/life partner) to create. Without this, how can you understand the value you bring and the challenges that may arise?

Paul Crane, Lead Adviser Coach & Advanced Business Strategy

“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowchart. It’s about one life influencing another.”
-John Maxwell

The holy grail for advisers on the Lead Adviser journey is to become that true business owner, mastering commercialism and culture so that your clients and your team are emotionally, versus just rationally engaged. In the Lead Adviser training program we aim to inspire and coach this approach using simple frameworks in three key areas:

1. LEADERSHIP V MANAGEMENT – Leadership is about inspiring, providing direction, growing your team and ideal client base. Management is about implementation. It takes courage to lead, so ask the bold questions of yourself, your team and your clients. Now has never been a more critical time to step up – do you have the support you need and are you ready?

2. BUSINESS PLAN & STRATEGY – Can you stay in context? Ensure you have a clear value proposition and align all aspects of your business including an inspiring vision? Apply context to yourself as well as your clients. Take the financial planning hat off to move into areas such as succession, estate planning, family values and living a life on purpose.

3. CULTURE – Create a creative culture that moves people from rationally engaged “WIIFM” to emotionally engaged “How can I help?”. You cannot manage time, but you can manage energy, learn to manage yours; schedule your year, month and week to allow time to energise and tickle your spirit! It may be exercise, time with loved ones, hobbies, time to reflect & breathe. This is your context, help your staff and clients do the same. Don’t do busy, instead demonstrate living the ideal life.

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View Issue 2 Newsletter – February 2022