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,
My boss overcommits. She is very smart and extremely high-energy. We are in a sales-support function for a fairly large firm. The sales team tells us they need something and next thing we know, she is saying we’ll do it. Our team is comprised of just three people and one is part-time. We have Excel spreadsheets all over the place outlining our commitments, when they are due and to whom. No matter how many times we get them finalized, she adds something that creates an uproar and we have to redo the whole plan.
We get the fact that we are a cost center and need to justify our existence – this is the line she gives us every time we push back on her. But at a certain point there is simply too much to do and too little time. I love my job but when the weeks get extended from a normal of 55 hours to 75 and 80 hours and I’m not seeing my friends and family I wonder why I am doing this. Is there a way to help her see the impact on us of her constantly “yes, yes, yes!”?
Y.M.
Dear Y.M.,
The mantra of too much to do with not enough time to do it is a constant refrain among the firms I work with. Many larger firms have cut staff but have increased workload. I understand your frustration in trying to manage this and come up with a working plan!
You are describing a clear disconnect in behavioral style, which I see in many situations where groups are the “get it done” people. Your boss likely has a people-oriented style where she is upbeat, positive, and gregarious and she gets into situations with the sales team (who are often also wired this same way) and they probably generate great ideas and then she brings them back to expect the same enthusiasm from her group. You folks are likely more the “get it done” and have an organized process for doing so type of people. You need a plan, time to process new priorities and a clear schedule to accomplish everything you are assigned.
When you push back, she doesn’t hear your struggle and frustration around what, when and how are we going to do this? She hears “no!” And being a people-person, she likely doesn’t want to go back to the sales team and say she made a mistake in being so optimistic and hopeful because she would worry they will be upset with her and devalue her.
This cycle is so typical in many firms. It is often the sales team pushing on support groups, or an entrepreneurial, people-person leader pushing things down to the staff for implementation. The people who can get things done are good at this precisely because they do operate with a plan and priorities and process. The entrepreneurial types who are creative and invent new things are able to do so precisely because they operate without worrying who, what, when and how! So there is an inherent disconnect.
What does your team do about this? You can’t change the behavioral DNA that has each of us acting in a certain way. But you can find ways to show your boss the impact of her behavior on the team. Have a meeting with her where you outline, in a clear and understandable manner what is on the plate and what’s required to get it done. Hint: no Excel spreadsheets, which could be confusing if she hasn’t been involved in creating them!
If you can show her what needs to be accomplished and in what timeframe, and then ask her for input on how she wants to resource this, what priorities could shift if need be, and what things are non-negotiable and must get done, you can have an open dialogue and help her see the real-world application of what she’s asking for.
Be careful you are not all culpable too in the dynamic. If you are “doer” types of people we often, in our consulting practice, give them the saying “I’ll get that done for you” because you can tend to accommodate and want to take on the work even though it will be stressful and not allow you downtime to think about things. You might have to check your own responses and take opportunities to step back and work on saying, “This probably isn’t doable right now. What priorities would you like us to shift?”
Dear Bev,
Much of the talk in our industry is about the relationship aspect with clients. We are getting far too touchy-feely and moving away from the core characteristics that make our industry strong: the numbers. I worked for 15 years on the institutional side of the business and moved into advisory first in a sub-advisory capacity and am now running a firm. I enjoy working with the clients, but I believe my value is in understanding how to provide the best investment advice possible. Maybe I am a dinosaur, but I think there is a danger in devaluing this intellectual aspect of what we do.
K.J.
Dear K.J.,
This is a difficult transition in our industry. I agree that historically it was all about the numbers and we have moved to where most advisors would do well by having a psychology degree alongside the CFP® or CFA credential! It is a result of the different expectations of clients – culturally we view money very differently now than we did say 20 or 30 years ago. Money was kept so separate from the rest of a person’s life. Now it is considered the fundamental center-point with all of its emotional connections. I am oversimplifying, but I have been in the business a long time and have watched this transition happen. I don’t believe it means we are disregarding or devaluing the intellectual piece. In the advisory space, to consumers, we have recognized there is a human being behind that portfolio and its best to take their needs, fears, concerns and wants into the dialogue!
In some of the workshops I run discussing deepening client relationships, we have a debate about the technical versus the relational importance of the business. It’s always fun to watch how the different groups implement their “side” and it is hard to pick one over the other because both are important.
Examine your own resistance, or concern, to this change. There is a deeper issue for many advisors in that their self-worth and value is tied to the intellectual piece, being the smart investment/financial guru has a cache to it that just being a nice relationship guy or gal does not. It’s not that easy to bucket the two and say one is more important, or more worthy than another but it is what investment people think about.
You are offering a highly technical and intelligent service, to a human being who wants you to understand them and what they need at a deeper level. The two come together and are both necessary to be successful and develop long-lasting relationships.
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. She is currently an adjunct professor at Suffolk University teaching undergraduate and graduate students Entrepreneurship and Leading Teams. 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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Beverly Flaxington is a practice management consultant. She answers questions from advisors facing human resource issues. To submit yours, email us here. 
