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 Readers,
This week I had a conversation with one of my long time (and most favorite) colleagues, Michelle Smith of New York City-based Source FA about coaching and feedback. Michelle gave me the title for this article, and I have to give credit where it is due. We were talking about the importance of providing direct and clear feedback to team members, but the struggle most advisors have to do this – and many employees have to accept it.
Michelle likens the process to any professional coaching arrangement in sports. If you think about the best of the best, the greatest of all time (GOATs) they continually take feedback and want it from their coaches. There is neither an assumption made that they have reached the pinnacle nor that there is no room for improvement. Professional sports figures strive for continuous improvement and also to understand where they are lacking and what small or big shifts will make the difference for them.
These are professional athletes making millions of dollars and often their names are associated with everything from sports drinks to sneakers. They are famous and they are rich and yet they want input about what they need to enhance, change, shift or do differently. It shouldn’t be any different in business. Talented, technical, credentialed people are smart and good at their jobs but don’t they also need and deserve consistent feedback to help them get better? And feedback can be positive, too.
Some things to consider to incorporate feedback more consistently into your daily practice with all of your team members:
1. Establish how success is measured and be clear with your team members about this. Do they know what you are expecting both quantitative and qualitative measurements? The clearer you are, the more your team members will catch themselves needing to shift something or make a change. Review success outcomes on a periodic basis. It should not be once at year end, and then once again when performance reviews roll around.
2. Be direct. This is not easy for many advisors. I teach a graduate class on managerial skills and we spend a great deal of time on direct feedback because it is tough for most managers to give – especially advisors. Advisors tell me they don’t want to de-motivate someone, they aren’t comfortable with conflict, they don’t know how to share their insights appropriately. This all overlooks the important premise – to be a G.O.A.T. you need to receive and incorporate feedback. You, as advisor, are limiting your team member’s ability to grow and improve. What does it mean to be direct – it doesn’t mean be angry, or accusatory or overly forceful. It means to calmly point out where the person is doing well, a “win,” and where they could benefit from a shift in their approach. It means to be objective, non-judgmental, clear and fair. Not only is it not a negative thing, it helps the employee improve. It gives them the information they need to do better. It is actually the kindest thing you can do.
3. Seek to understand. In one of the trainings I deliver to teach advisors how to coach effectively, I talk about the importance of moving from autocratic – telling them what to do – to Socratic – inquiring with questions. Ask them what they believe worked well and what didn’t. Find out how they view their own performance. When the professional quarterback throws a lousy pass, he probably knows it. When the professional soccer player kicks so her teammate can’t reach it, she recognizes her technique is off. Your team members likely recognize things but aren’t comfortable bringing them up. By questioning and seeking to understand, you show them you know they have answers. It is another form of respect and support.
4. See the world from their seat. In a training today we talked about listening with empathy and one advisor described it as thinking about what they would do in the client’s shoes. That is admirable but it isn’t really empathy. Empathy is trying to understand from the other person’s seat as much as possible. You have a lot of experience, you came up the ranks a certain way, you have knowledge and expertise that your team member does not. Don’t expect them to do things the way you would. Seeking to understand means viewing their lens and working to help them modify or improve in a manner that fits them.
5. Care about developing GOATs. People want to succeed. They want to be the best, or the top of the game at what they do. They crave input and feedback and ways to get better. They also want to know when they are doing well and how to build on their strengths. You want to be sure you are not trying to fix someone, but rather play to their existing strengths. If the pitcher in professional baseball throws well and helps to get the wins, you wouldn’t move him out to centerfield just to expand his horizons and hope he can hone additional skills! Find what your team members do well, and be sure they are placed in the right roles for their skill set and areas of interest. People can learn new things and many want to expand what they know how to do, but don’t keep criticizing someone who doesn’t possess the skill and doesn’t have the interest to learn something new.
To develop GOATs on your team, you have to be the GOAT yourself. You have to care about feedback, care about being clear and direct and spend the hours it takes to help your team members become the best they can be. Is this a great deal of extra work along with everything else you have in the day-to-day? Yes, it is, when done well. But what greater asset do you have than your people?
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.
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.
