Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
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Dear Bev,
Would you say it is more important for an advisor who leads a firm to spend time with clients or with staff? We have an ongoing argument here and would appreciate your opinion.
Lloyd S.
Dear Lloyd,
This is certainly one of the more loaded inquiries I have received. Of course, I wish I knew whether you were the leader of the firm or whether you are trying to get fodder to make your point to the leader!
It’s also a loaded question because I can’t help by defaulting to the non-direct, “it depends”. There are so many variables in this situation (as well in as most situations where human behavior is involved!) Here are the questions I need answered:
Are clients at risk? Does the leader need to be in contact because clients know the leader and would feel vulnerable without that one-on-one connection?
What exactly do employees need from the leader? Is it moral support, or are they lacking in some skill that the leader needs to provide?
Are there opportunities for the leader to manage his or her time differently so that the choice is not so black and white but rather allows for focus on both of these areas?
Where does the “argument” part come into play? Why is there tension over where the leader is spending their time?
It seems to me that there is a lot more underneath this question than can be addressed in this column. In general, many firm leaders do spend a great deal of time with clients. This can be okay as long as they are also spending the time necessary to manage their teams and run their firms. However, some advisors bring in a chief operating officer or some partner to divvy up responsibilities and have specific areas of focus.
It might make sense to get your whole team in a room, with the leader, and talk about the current obstacles. What’s missing? What’s not happening now that needs to happen? What struggles does the leader have that might be getting overlooked?
This could be a great opportunity to pull the team closer together if, instead of finger-pointing and arguing, you could use this as a chance to strengthen communication throughout the firm.
Dear Bev,
What do you do when you work for a large firm that has a number of people all doing the same thing, and there aren’t clear guidelines about how to be most successful? My boss is a “just do it” type of person who doesn’t want to address inconsistencies, because of the politics involved, and so the people who are trying to succeed don’t have anywhere to go to get real answers that can be used.
Bob L.
Dear Bob,
I sense some pain here in this question! Not to state the obvious, but this is a very complex issue and has many different pieces to it. I think many times in large organizations, the boss just doesn’t know what to do, and that’s why they adopt a “just do it” attitude. I have held very senior roles in my own career, and sometimes I was stymied about how to make change happen because the problems were so complex.
That said, I do believe that in every situation we have more control than we are sometimes willing to assume. While you can’t fix the bigger problems, you can be an agent for change or adapt more effectively in your current role.
Here are some suggestions for you, or your peers, to deal with this situation:
Get good at self-promotion. You may not know what you are being measured on, but you do know what you are doing well. Be sure to publicize your contributions and accomplishments to those that matter.
Establish measurements and goals, rather than waiting for them to be set. Tell your boss or others what you are working on and give guidelines for what success looks like for your project or your role. Don’t do this in a pushy way but rather by saying, “I thought it might be helpful…”
Make positive and practical suggestions for overcoming obstacles. Focus on those things that you or your colleagues can control or influence. Be a problem-solver.
Stay positive. It sounds silly and can be challenging in an environment such as you describe, but you don’t want to become disgruntled and let it affect your attitude. Unfortunately, the senior folks don’t see the problem, they just see your attitude! Be sure to complain at home and be positive at work.
Adopt one of my favorite mantras – “this too shall pass.” Most organizations can’t sustain the dysfunction you describe forever (although it can last for many years). Either something will shift in the company, or you will find a better place to go. Try to see it as a temporary stop along your career path. It can help to mitigate the frustration if it feels more temporary.
Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry in 1995; in 2008 she co-founded Advisors Trusted Advisor to offer dedicated practice management resources to advisors, planners and wealth managers. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate students Leadership & Social Responsibility. Beverly 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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