What Every Leader Should Understand

1. Be willing to self reflect. In the Executive MBA class I teach on the Leadership Opportunity, the students complete a profile outlining behavior style, values and their rating on Emotional Intelligence. Then they have to complete a 360 review wherein they ask several colleagues to rate them. They compile all of this information, along with the class learnings, and reflect on what they do well as leaders and where they need to improve. This sounds very simple, but in my professional experience the leader’s hubris can hamper their ability to stay open to listening and learning from the team. The best leader is a continual learner. You might not want to hear the problems and challenges, but if you don’t stay open to what could be changed and to new ideas, you will not only miss out on opportunities – you will stifle your team and shut down their willingness to come forward.
2. Timely, effective, and open feedback to team members is crucial. I often share a quote from a well-known consultant, Marcus Buckingham. He said that most people don’t really want feedback. When they hear the word, they know bad news is coming and there is something wrong with what they are doing. People don’t enjoy being fixed. A good leader understands each individual’s core strengths and builds upon those strengths. They don’t keep trying to put in something that was never there and never will be. When they do give feedback, they give both positive and constructive comments about what’s working, and also negative constructive comments about what could be changed. If feedback is open and often, team members won’t dread when the leader says, “Can I give you some feedback?”
3. Just because you know the goals and how things are going doesn’t mean your team members do. This one seems so simple on the face of it, but in most advisory firms and teams I work with, the goals are not clearly communicated and understood by all. It’s hard to hold your team members accountable to something when they don’t know where they are headed and what success looks like. Setting a goal at January 1 and then never revisiting it doesn’t work either. Team members should be kept updated about where you are on goal, and where off. Most importantly, they should understand how their role fits into the overall goals and objectives. Make sure goals are not just quantitative. Include some qualitative objectives such as becoming more efficient in your client onboarding process, improving your overall client experience or incorporating more work/life balance into your culture. With qualitative goals it is important to assess where you are, and what you want to have it look like when you get to the goal. This can be a great team discussion and can encourage everyone to be a part of both the goal setting and goal achievement.
4. Listen. Listen. Listen. Don’t just say you listen. Really focus on what team members are telling you and why. Most people don’t complain just to complain; there is often something lurking underneath the complaint or objection that you want to know about. Treat your team members the way you would treat a huge prospect: ask open-ended questions, ask the “why” question and listen for what they are not telling you. Too often leaders assume they know their team members and understand what they are going to say before they say it. I worked with one client where when we would raise something the team collectively wanted the leader to hear, the leader would ask “Who said this?” We later learned that depending on the source, the leader would discount or appreciate the input. There was a preconceived notion about whose opinion mattered. This can be very dangerous for a leader, because they end up surrounding themselves with “yes” people and losing touch with things that might be hard to hear – but that they need to hear.
5. Don’t assume you know it all just because you have the fanciest office. No good leader gets to the ultimate seat and then decides they are done because they got there. It is a process of consistent learning and exploration. Most great leaders enjoy learning because it is another growth opportunity for them, even if they have to examine some failure or an opportunity gone awry. Stay open. Be curious and interested. Your team can learn from you, and they want to do so. But you can also learn from them. When it comes to leadership, it is truly a journey and not a destination.

Beverly Flaxington co-founded The Collaborative, a consulting firm devoted to business building for the financial services industry, in 1995. The firm also founded and manages the Advisors Sales Academy. The firm has won the Wealthbriefing WealthTech award for Best Training Solution for 2022, 2023 and 2024. Beverly is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate and graduate students Entrepreneurship and Leading Teams. She 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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