Managing Your Management and Quashing Cliques

Dear Advisor,

Your note reminds me again why I am passionate about teaching next-generation leaders about leading effectively and managing well. My inbox and voicemail fill up every week with comments, observations and questions along these lines. Often in the coaching I do, I am asked to work with an advisor. I frequently find the advisor to be completely frustrated with the support (or lack thereof) they receive from their management (in larger firms, not in RIAs).

Unfortunately, in most cases, the person in management also doesn’t receive much support and direction, so they try to figure it out on their own. Where I teach, there is a program designed for people who get into management roles but have never been given the skills to manage effectively. It’s common across industries.

I had a boss years ago who used to tell us that no one gets up in the morning, looks in the mirror and says, “You are going to do the worst job possible today and make everyone around you miserable!”

His point was that even when people aren’t doing a good job, or seem to be messing up, the underlying problem is not that they want to do this. They simply don’t know how to manage differently (yet).

To avoid frustration on your part and that of the team, try to remember your new management team is just that – new. They are also trying to navigate, learn how to perform well and succeed within the environment. They are likely worried about their jobs and want to make a good impression and show value.

We could agree they aren’t going about it the right way to isolate you and your team. However, we need to acknowledge it wouldn’t be their intention – because it doesn’t benefit them – to annoy and frustrate you!

Perhaps you could help guide them a bit about what is useful and what is not useful. Don’t expect them to know, as assumptions are dangerous. Maybe you could give examples in which previous leaders were helpful and supportive – with good results – and from other situations where things didn’t work so well. Be as specific as possible.

I’m not suggesting this will change them entirely, but it might help them work with and interact with your team more effectively.

Dear Bev,

We have a firm of 19 people, and there are definitely cliques within the firm. We are moving to a new location. I’ve been asked by a team member to organize desk placements such that people who like each other can sit together. This is not by job design. This is by “I like you better than I like that other person.” Have you ever seen a firm do anything like this?

I’m inclined to say no, but I’m not sure if I am missing something with back-to-the-office requests and considerations. We want everyone in five days a week.

H.S.

Dear H.S.,

My favorite thing about doing this work is that there is always something new that I’ve not heard about before. This one fits that bill. No, I have never heard of a team allowing people to work together because they are in a certain clique and they like each other. Some concerns I would have:

What happens if there is a falling out, someone decides they don’t like their particular clique anymore and they want to be with other people? Do you move people around every time they change allegiances?

How do you build a team environment when some people are sitting in one place, and others somewhere else, and they don’t interact unless they have to?

Why are the relationships within the firm so divided? I understand there are cliques – I have liked some of my team members more than others in different scenarios over the years. But at no point did I say I didn’t want to be near someone. There must be some underlying issue to create this bifurcation. Exploring what this is might be useful for the whole team.

How would people in similar roles interact if they weren’t sitting by department or role function? If a support person, for example, sits mostly with operations people but one of the operations associates sits with the rest of the support people, do they exchange desks from time to time for team meetings?

I honestly don’t mean to be sarcastic with any of these questions, but the design you are contemplating (or that your team members are asking for) is ripe with problems. I don’t actually see anything good that could come out of it.

Assuming someone is posing this in a serious manner, and you are considering it in a serious manner, I agree with your instinctive response. Just say, “No.”

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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