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,
I enjoyed hearing you speak this week. You had several good insights on leadership and how to improve as a leader.
When does someone tell the team they should step up? How come the focus is always on the leader and never on the team members getting on board and playing their part? And yes, I am a “high D.” I like to get stuff done and I rely on my team to do what’s needed. I am tired of hearing how it is all about my leadership and not about the team’s engagement and responsibility.
M.K.
Dear M.K.
When I teach my graduate class on leading teams, I spend 70% of the time on how to be a great team member and 30% talking about how to lead. For most people, they will be on a team, not leading a team. The presentation I made this week was for the top leaders, the best of the best. I focused my comments on the audience. If it were members of a team, I’d have spent much more time talking about how to manage up and be a contributing team member!
Your question raises an important point – the trickiest part of leading is when you become the focal point, it all rests on your shoulders. All the coaches around are going to try and “fix” you rather than leave you alone.
Before you react to this, let’s look at a few important elements:
- The leader does set the tone and the culture for the team. The leader’s style – be it direct, passive-aggressive, non-confrontational or any combination thereof – will have a lot to do with how team members react and respond. Even if it is not the leader’s intent, they control the message for what works and what doesn’t within the team. I talk about “culture by design” because leaders need to choose what they want as a culture and implement it with thoughtful proactivity.
- The leader is the boss! Your team members could come to you with ideas, solutions, ways to change things and they likely do so. But ultimately, if cost or significant change is involved, the leader of the team will have to make the final decision. Your team should be inspired and encouraged to bring their ideas forward, but consciously or subconsciously they also know that you are the ultimate arbiter if there is a disagreement about what to do or not do, and what you decide will be the final answer.
- The leader has more exposure and experience to know how to work with people. You get to a senior position and there are deep resources for you to learn – the conference I attended this week was a great example. You can discuss things with peers, receive support from the greater organization, leverage tools and resources from outside vendors and so on. Your team often doesn’t have the exposure or opportunity to learn. They are looking to you for the answers and for guidance. Leaders lose sight of this sometimes, but it is an important dynamic to remember. You have a support group; your team often only has you.
- You can interact with the team in ways that bring about accountability and responsibility. I spoke this week of the “SHIFT” process, which I’ve written about before and won’t repeat. But helping your team to define outcomes, highlighting obstacles and helping them leverage the tools that are available to them, and creating a plan, often gets you better results. Team members need support and direction. You don’t have to tell them what to do; you can provide a framework to guide them.
At one point in my career journey, I was put in charge of a group with hundreds of people reporting to me. I thought, “Is this a reward? Is this what I get for doing a great job?” I said those things because I had previously underestimated just how hard it is to be in charge of people’s careers and lives and make serious, far-reaching decisions every single day. I respect and understand your view. But leadership is an important responsibility with significant impact unlike being an individual contributor.
Dear Bev,
I’ve been running a team of FAs for several years and am looking to retire. I am struggling with my next phase. At 61-years old, I’m not ready to stop working entirely – one can only play so much golf. I’m thinking about making a career transition into coaching and using my skills outside of the org to help FAs succeed. What do I need to think about for this?
K.P.
Dear K.P.,
Coaching can be a very fulfilling career – let me start there. I love seeing people make shifts and achieve goals. Knowing I helped them in some small way is what keeps me going every day!
There are things to consider in making a transition like this:
- Align with an organization that is already doing coaching and/or training. Being a solo practitioner is tough. You have to deliver, focus on new business development, get your invoices out on time and do collections. It can also be lonely if you’ve spent time (as you have) working with others on a team. Depending on your personality, some people who enjoy the engagement piece get a bit depressed on their own without other professionals to bounce ideas with. Of course, you can always join coaching groups, make plans with colleagues and go to networking events. But I think starting out, you are better off within a team.
- Coaching is not telling people what to do. It would be such an easy job if you could simply give someone the roadmap and tell them, “Go do it.” Or, like with HNW clients, you could get to know them and then just work behind the scenes to accomplish goals. In coaching you have to be an active and engaged participant. You have to listen and understand and be empathic to the person you are coaching. It isn’t about telling and doing, it is about collaborating and supporting. I have seen where successful professionals struggle with this transition.
- Walk your talk. I was doing a presentation this week and my client commented on how “tailored” my comments were to the audience. I responded that I would not be very credible had I not spent time getting to understand their needs, then figuring out which elements of what I could share would be most helpful to that specific group. I share this because I see so many coaches who “teach” something but don’t do it in their own lives or practice. Make sure you are implementing what you expect someone else to do.
It could be a very good transition career for you. Make sure you are thoughtful about how you do it and seek input and resources from people you trust.
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. 