B.C. Advisor Neil Menzies Adopts A Unique Succession Planning Role
September 21, 2012 by Simon · Leave a Comment
Here is an excerpt from the September edition of the Advocis Forum Magazine. In the article by Craig Harris, our client Neil Menzies mentions the work that we provide for Arbutus Financial.
Please click here to read the entire article; B.C. Advisor Neil Menzies Adopts A Unique Succession Planning Role
First up on Menzies’ checklist was bringing in new talent. Manulife’s associate advisor program offers recruiting and coaching services to select, train and support young advisors, while also ensuring integration with and mentoring from senior advisors.
For Menzies, the program, which was built with input from professional coach Simon Reilly, has been critical in overcoming one of the key hurdles in succession planning: finding the right kind of advisor. Reilly was instrumental in developing the use of behavioural assessments across all team members.
“I think the use of behavioural assessments has really helped us in the selection and training process,” he comments. “This has shown huge dividends in terms of aligning individuals with their skill sets. It has also allowed us to identify high-performing individuals and reassess our gut feeling about the people we may have thought were a good fit.”
Finding that fit is such a challenge in the financial advisory profession because the skill set is so diverse, Menzies observes. “Obviously, you need sales skills and the right kind of personality. But that has to be coupled with technical knowledge, especially as client expectations get higher. It is a difficult mix and a rare combination of characteristics.”
Canadian Thanksgiving Is Just Around The Corner – Give Thanks Now!
September 20, 2012 by Simon · Leave a Comment
Seize the day now and block off the weekend so that you can get some time with zero commitments to recharge your batteries. Speak with your spouse now. Let your spouse know what your plans are and ask your spouse what is going to come up this weekend that is going to get in the way of you taking some time off. This is a time to be selfish in a healthy way versus selfless and allowing everything to continue to come at you to the point where you are exhausted. Canadian Thanksgiving is just around the corner and if you don’t do it this weekend then when will you do it? The outcome of taking the weekend is a renewed joy for life and work. The consequences of not doing it are exhaustion.
Speaking from experience, from listening to clients seven hours a day and sometimes four days a week with clients sharing their joy and their pain … A lot of energy goes out and at the same time a lot of energy is absorbed. I have joked in the past, after absorbing a good dose of client challenges … “Who’s negative energy is this anyway?” There are times when I feel so heavy from having absorbed what clients experience that I can’t differentiate and separate myself from the energy. I need time off.
You Cannot Be A Success If You See Yourself, Your Business & Investments In Your Business As A Burden
May 28, 2012 by Simon · Leave a Comment
Here is a copy of an e-mail that I sent to a prospective client that told me that they did not want to burden themselves with the coaching … seems to me, the coaching would be the least of their burdens.
Dear Joe Advisor,
Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak with you about Clearing Your Roadblocks to enable you to meet and exceed your goals.
Our conversation was brought about by you checking off: Yes! Please contact me. I am ready to make changes to my business. I want to schedule an appointment with Simon Reilly.
Joe, before we go any further, this is a tough love e-mail and not intended to be mean-spirited.
If you are wondering about the value that you will receive consider the commitment, focus and energy required to write the following:
Our call was based on the following overview: we discussed your business, the improvements you want to make and the roadblocks that you are experiencing.
These are the following roadblocks that you told me you wanted to deal with that are sabotaging your success:
- Perfection
- Control
- Not following through
- Modify your beliefs
- Modify your behaviours
- Improve your disciplines
- Prioritization
- Productivity
- Time management
- Delegation
I re-explained the theory around our misunderstanding about values and unmet needs and the unmet needs are at the core of the issues that you are facing. Your needs are control, safety, worthiness, perfection, and recognition. All of these generate limiting beliefs which generate fear and this fear is blocking you even now in making a decision to once and for all clear these roadblocks. Your unmet needs of control and safety and perfection have got you in a debilitating set of behaviours that are keeping you stuck and safe at the same time doing busy work to keep you safe from the granddaddy of all unmet needs which is worthiness. I’m suggesting that with that unmet need of worthiness, generating fear and anxiety, these in turn will generate limiting beliefs that I am afraid I’m not good enough which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. You become lazy. You procrastinate doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Here is a link for more theory on values and unmet needs http://www.leadingadvisor.com/what-is-an-example-of-inspirtechnical/
Remember I told you, the very issue that you are facing will block you from doing the coaching as well. Because the need of worthiness and the fear and anxiety that goes along with it and the projected limiting belief that I am not worthy and that I am not good enough will get transferred over on to the coaching.
At the beginning of this email I said that we spoke because you checked off: Yes! Please contact me I’m ready to make changes in my business. I want to schedule an appointment with Simon Reilly.
I came to the call committed to your success. To make a difference.
When I asked you to make a decision, to make an investment in yourself, fear crept in and you started to tell me about all of your expenses to be in the business and you used the word “burden” around the investment in your coaching to break through the above list of things that have been sabotaging your business and your life for decades. We always find the money for the things that we want but not for what we really need. You are finding the money to go on the trips you are going on. While there is value in these trips there is medication in them as well so that you can get away from what you really need to do.
What is the burden?
Burden sure resonates with the unmet needs of worthiness and the limiting belief that I am not good enough to invest in because I am a burden.
Think about it. Look at the above list. Answer your own question.
What has the cost been of carrying all of that stuff internally for years?
What’s it going to continue to cost you to carry that?
You’ve got an opportunity to make a change. And I am, in fact, the one that’s carrying the risk because I’m offering you a risk-free guarantee if it doesn’t work.
Please find the following link to the testimonials of clients that have worked with me to clear their roadblocks and to get back on track to meet and exceed their goals http://www.leadingadvisor.com/financial-advisor-coaching/testimonials/
There really isn’t anything else for me to say… I am committed. Are you?
Are you ready to make a choice to break through the above list of roadblocks or are you going to continue to operate with the same system that you’ve been using for years.
The choice is yours.
Will Skype Add Value To Leading Advisor`s Coaching Process?
April 4, 2012 by Simon · Leave a Comment
I just finished a Skype call with my Virtual Assistant, Deanne McAndrews, as a test drive of Skype for our telephone coaching calls replacing the phone and getting the added v
alue of the video via Skype.
This is because one of my clients requested a coaching call on Skype to add the visual experience.
But will Skype really add value to Leading Advisor`s coaching process?
Will Skype take value away from Leading Advisor`s coaching process?
For years I`ve been using the telephone to do coaching and have racked up the best part of 30,000 hours of telephone coaching experience which has created these kinds of coaching results. About five years ago we added coaching call recordings via Audio Acrobat and we are using GoToMeeting to debrief our clients Budget Cash Flows, Hiring Assessments, Job Descriptions, Marketing Plans, One Page Business Plan, Web Sites and more.
As you know there are three primary learning styles:
- Visual – seeing and reading
- Auditory – listening and speaking
- Kinesthetic – touching and doing or physical, or tactile, or touchy-feely
It should be no surprise that my learning style is Auditory – Kinesthetic and it would make sense given the years of telephone coaching experience my coaching style is, or at least it has been, Auditory – Kinesthetic.
My Auditory – Kinesthetic coaching style means I listen to what my clients are saying, sense what they are saying and offer my thoughts.
But there is another aspect to consider.
It is said that we communicate through:
- Words
- Voice Quality
- Physiology
Words make up 7% of communication, Voice Quality make up 38% of communication and Physiology makes up 55% of communication.
It is said that people talk through their eyes, face, hands and body which means that 93% of what you communicate is non-verbal so why bother focusing on that tiny 7%?
So I am going to give the 55% + 38% a try to see how this can help with the Leading Advisor Coaching Process.
But not so fast.
In order to make this work we will use:
- Skype – for the visual
- Telephone – so that we can use Audio Acrobat for the coaching call recordings
- GoToMeeting – so we can debrief our clients Budget Cash Flows, Hiring Assessments, Job Descriptions, Marketing Plans, One Page Business Plan, Web Sites and more.
After all of this, there is still one more challenge. What I am finding is that with me looking at my client’s assignments, file and my own computer monitor, I am not looking into the camera so there isn’t really the eye contact so how much more of a coaching connection will there be.
I was just going to joke and say “stay tuned for film at 11”.
I don’t know how this will turn out but I am up for the visual challenge!
Did You Know We Write Ads For Office Space / Sharing Mutually Beneficial Relationships?
March 29, 2012 by Simon · Leave a Comment
A client asked me to write a draft ad as they are looking for a values based accountant, IIROC advisor or lawyer to lease brand new office space in same location with a view to sharing mutually beneficial relationships.
Office Space – Accountant – IIROC Advisor – Lawyer
A well established __________ financial advisor firm with the values of accountability, excellence, integrity & respect that provides financial planning that includes mutual funds & insurance is looking for a values based accountant, IIROC advisor or lawyer to lease brand new office space in same location with a view to sharing mutually beneficial relationships.
Please reply to:
A Brilliant Video To Explain WHY Clients Buy
March 5, 2012 by Simon · Leave a Comment
Michele Grassley Clarke, Executive Director of NAIFA-Iowa shared this brilliant video with me last week from Simon Sinek that clearly explains that your clients do not buy WHAT you do and HOW you do, they buy WHY.
Simon doesn’t mean “to make a profit.” That’s a result. It’s always a result. By “why,” Simon means: What’s your purpose? What’s your cause? What’s your belief? Why does your organization exist? Why do you get out of bed in the morning? And why, should anyone care?
Your WHY communicates from the inside out.
WHAT & HOW are all about the outside.
WHY is about what is inside and WHY is what connects the WHAT & HOW.
Is Your Own Radio Show Really the Answer?
March 2, 2012 by Simon · Leave a Comment
One of my client’s is running their own radio show and this Is Your Own Radio Show Really the Answer? blog by Brandon Stuerke caught my eye.
There are a lot of gems in Brandon’s blog and they include:
- What are you trying to accomplish by being on the air?
- Am I trying to create brand awareness, or am I trying to get the phone to ring?”
- The vast majority of advisors hosting radio shows do so with the intent to get the phone ringing with prospects on the line looking to talk to the “expert.”
- Running a radio show is by its very nature a long-term general brand awareness strategy.
- Just because prospects hear you on the air, doesn’t mean you’ll instantly be recognized as the expert.
There’s a lot more gems and Brandon’s blog is well worth the read and to read more click Is Your Own Radio Show Really the Answer?
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Dates for 2012 TBA - stay tuned!
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Now Reading
Planned books:
- Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
- The Book Of Air And Shadows: A Novel by Michael Gruber
Current books:
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Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Recent books:
- The Brave: A Novel by Nicholas Evans
- The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
- The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
- Shadow Of The Wind by Carlos Zafon
- The Outlander by Gil Adamson
