Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here.
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
Dear Bev,
My team shuts their doors all day long. I’m a very social person and as leader of the firm I want to engage and have discussions about what’s working and what’s not. Even if I have impromptu meetings to discuss things, they will rarely participate unless directly asked for their opinion. This communicates disinterest and an unwillingness to be part of the firm. Is there a way to drive more engagement – do I insist they leave their doors open or give them homework in advance of meetings so they come prepared to talk?
M.W.
Dear M.W.,
Differences in behavioral and communication style are at work here! I’ve written about this quite a bit. But it is so fundamental and can be so divisive when it is not understood that it bears repeating in response to your question.
You have a key phrase in your question: “This communicates a disinterest….” This is exactly how behavioral style works. These advisors have not said they are disinterested; they have not told you they are unwilling to be active members of the firm. In fact, do you know what they are doing behind those closed doors? Are they working hard on client accounts? Are they reading investment journals and watching market activity? Are they researching something important for your portfolios or your clients? They might think, by their actions, they are extremely interested and willing to participate.
This is how behavioral style works – it isn’t what we say, it’s how we act and how others “read” our behavior. They are most likely very low on the scale of people interaction, verbal acuity and desire to talk things out. Many advisors choose this profession because they enjoy the numbers and the research, and they see talking about unrelated topics an unnecessary waste of time. “Judge me on what I do, not what I say” could be their mantra.
You are likely a high-interaction person. You enjoy verbalizing in order to learn and make decisions. You communicate this lack of engagement as a negative reflection of commitment and interest in your firm. People who prefer interaction and verbalizing often have the mantra, “let’s talk it out” or “I need to talk to think about what to do.” It’s just a difference in communication styles. But when we read into others’ behaviors and judge what they do based on our own lens, or our own comfort level, we are often wrong about our assumptions.
They likely don’t see a reason for having to meet and discuss. They would prefer to talk when something is of importance to them, but not waste time talking if it isn’t.
Seek them out as individuals. Ask them directly what sort of communication would work best for them. Explain to them your need for engagement and the importance of having a firm where individuals get together to discuss important issues. They might not like it, but if they understand it’s a commitment they need to make, they may go along with it more readily.
In addition, make sure you are holding efficient meetings. Provide agendas in advance. Show advisors where you expect their participation – pose questions you want to answer. Ask one of them to research something in advance of the meeting and have them present at the meeting. Don’t “force” engagement; find ways to make it natural for them.
Many people who are quiet and introverted get frustrated when there is a lot of talking that doesn’t seem important. It’s meaningless chatter to them. For this reason, make sure you are focusing on specific outcomes and are succinct and specific.
If your meetings seem useful and productive, they are much more likely to be part of them. Don’t interpret their behavior as negative. It’s just a different style, a different way of working and a different emphasis on how to get the work done.
It can be aggravating, I will grant you, but it isn’t necessarily wrong.
Dear Bev,
We just finished a big rebranding project. We hired a firm to help us with messaging, a new logo, new colors and a redo of our website and brochures. We have some old letterhead and old business cards that are perfectly good but don’t have the new logo and colors we adopted.
As the CFO, I have to watch our budget and this exercise was very expensive. I don’t think many people pay attention to business cards since most of our communication is via email. I can’t see the value in throwing out thousands of dollars in existing materials to make sure the brand matches.
We agreed to ask you for your input in order to make a decision on what we should do.
E.T.
Dear E.T.,
As the CFO, you are definitely not going to like my answer!
I’m a strong environmentalist, recycler, “waste not, want not” type of person. So it pains me to recommend you discard thousands of dollars of paper – not just for the money, but for the waste factor. Please take that into account when you hear my answer.
You have invested all of this money in a rebrand. I’m assuming (hopefully correctly) that everyone agreed upon the final logo, colors and message and that the firm is energized and excited about the new look and feel. If you made the commitment to this direction, you have to be fully committed to it. You want clients, COIs and the like to recognize who you are with every communication you send. You want them to know your new look and feel and associate you with it.
For this reason, you can’t mix and match your branding. If, for example, clients are introduced to your new logo on statements, but they recommend you to one of your friends and you offer your old business cards when you meet the referral, the firm won’t look the same! There will be confusion on the part of the client and the friend they referred.
Firms invest in branding for recognition. You want people to know, based on seeing a logo or colors or reading a few words, who you are and what you represent. You never want to purposely create confusion. Be consistent.
My answer is “yes,” you need to discard those old business cards and letterhead and invest in new ones to create that consistency across all materials.
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.
Read more articles by Beverly Flaxington
Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here. 
