When one is running their own business, it can be easy to try something, and if it works, then great; if it doesn’t, then you simply move on to the next thing.

How to overcome obstacles when your firm is growing too fast and bringing in too much business?

I just completed a coaching call with an advisor I have worked with for many years. In his honor, I will profile a bit of the journey we’ve had together to illustrate how every advisor (yes, every single one) can learn how to sell effectively and do so in a comfortable manner.

Is it possible to run a firm with someone you don’t like?

Now that our merger is taking place and we have a clear set of steps to take, six people who were not involved in the decision-making process are pushing back on everything.

I’ve been through several excellent management training courses and seminars during my 25+-year career serving the advisory profession. But I always walk away with the feeling that I’m too nice.

How can we ensure cultural fit when bringing on a junior advisor to help with succession planning?

Using time in all the best ways possible should be a lifelong goal and something you want to encourage your clients to think about too.

I cannot get away from the feeling of guilt that I am sacrificing time with my children to run this business.

This week’s column shares some ideas around the importance of a unique learning environment and gives you some insight for your professionals to improve their skills and reach higher levels of excellence.

“Sometimes I don’t even know why I am invited to the meeting, and even after it ends I don’t know why I was there!”

I want to hear from you whether it is wrong to believe that numbers matter most and not everyone should try to be a psychologist with their clients.

Here are seven ways to be great at sales for those who don’t consider themselves “salesy.”

I’m running a large firm, but one of my weaker members is my son.

As the year starts off in full force, I am already getting multiple requests to work with managers and help them develop their leadership skills.

I’m going to ask about a hot topic but also a touchy one: diversity.

What if I like running my practice the way we are right now?

I’ll share my top 10 areas of focus where I see advisors receive the highest gain for achieving success and potential ideas for you and your team this coming year.

Our support team – assistants, ops and general relationship-management support – does not share in the overall comp of the firm.

How do we best go about a celebration and do planning so our team doesn’t think we are all about what’s next?

What is the best way to go into performance-review discussions so team members share their experiences and are not worried about their futures?

I enjoy my work under normal circumstances, and I appreciate my clients. But this year faking happiness over material things isn’t in my DNA.

What are some of the more unique gifts or events advisors are doing for clients?

How do I instill strong management skills in my next-level management team?

I’ll share some important insights gleaned from many decades of working in the advisory profession and being both an insider and an outsider.

Is there a graceful way to explain to clients I’m not the person making these decisions, and that I understand the impact, without betraying my firm and aligning fully with clients?

Here are my seven keys to emerging as a leader.

What’s hard for me is how often my wealthy clients don’t want to spend at all.

I have a client who is 79 years old. He is on his third marriage to a woman who is 40 years old.

One of the most frustrating things I encounter in working with prospects for our advisory firm is the lack of response.

We have been given the mandate to show our capabilities by growing our books of business to “earn the right” to work with clients.

I’m finding it hard to reconcile this.

Let me share some reminders about what needs to be in place for team members to thrive and stay inspired.

I lost my dad, Alfred Munro Flaxington, this past weekend.

Why is it so hard to gain the confidence with my existing clients that I have with prospects and raise their fees?

A marketing firm is helping us rewrite our copy on the website and producing some marketing materials. But the question coming up from my team is, “How do we turn this into an elevator pitch?

I’ll share some of the insights my team has gathered in 2023.

I’m having a hard time helping the senior advisor see that I have insights and ideas.

It would seem I would wake up every day excited and ready to greet the day. But instead, I find I am dragging myself out of bed dreading what’s to come.

This column is devoted to what to do when striving to be a better communicator with a focus on how people inadvertently send the wrong message.

When they tell me that “balance” is working 14-16 hours every day and being available for the clients and the firms all weekend, every weekend, I have an issue.

I’m always stunned by how very smart people can struggle with ways to communicate clearly and effectively so the audience knows what’s being shared.

No one listens to me outside of those in the operations department.

We need help in collaboration and being honest with one another.

In the last couple of weeks, I have had numerous requests to facilitate discussions for large and small teams. Here are my best practices.

Advisors are picking sides and staying in their silos. It’s creating havoc.

Let’s change the language for how we help employees make behavioral shifts.

Without understanding people – how they think and act, and what they believe – you can’t effectively help them, no matter how good you are at planning or asset allocation.

I am struggling with best ways to organize my thoughts and prepare something our advisors will validate and be willing to send.

I’m tired of working for someone who is always angry. Nothing we do is good enough.