High-performing teams donât happen by chance; they are a result of strong leadership and management.
What if you donât want to lead or manage?
Many advisory firm founders and partners are de facto leaders and managers but arenât doing the job (or donât want to do it). If this is you, there are three options:
- Donât do anything about it and deal with the challenges of little or no leadership and management (not ideal).
- Find or promote someone who can and will lead and manage. Are there any employees or next-generation leaders on your team who have the will and skill to step into a leadership or manager role? If so, empower and support them to step into an expanded role, and get out of the way.
- Commit to leading and/or managing
Strong leadership in action
Chris Cousins is the President and Cofounder of Financial Architects, a more than 20-person RIA firm in Farmington Hills, MI. Chris knew that heâd eventually build his own RIA, but on July 13, 2021, he found out that due to a fundamental change to one of their key partners, they had to make the transition to RIA a lot more quickly than they expected. They had 27 days to move over 700 accounts to their RIA!
Howâd they do it? As Chris shared, âIt's a story of teamwork. The team saw that I was completely distressed, and they rallied and said, âLet's do this.â And so we started. It happened because of a team effort.â
What they accomplished is incredible, and I believe the teamâs response and collaborative effort is a result of a high-performing team and leader.
I asked Chris for key lessons over their transition to RIAâwhat he shared is a masterclass in leadership,
âI learned to pay more attention to the pressure that our people are going through. That's a big takeaway for me that I've really just got to keep that in my mind for the rest of the time I'm helping to run this company.â
He continued to share sage advice as it relates to navigating change and moving your business forward, âIs your direction clear? Do you have a vision for the business? And can you clearly articulate it to your team? Because they're about to go through a lot of changes that they don't really want to do. And can you articulate that direction to get them through the forest?â
Throughout the transition to RIA, Chris understood his role as the leader, and he led. If you want to be a leader like Chris, it starts with the decision to lead. Leadership is a skill. If youâre looking to develop this skill, check out the book Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute, highly recommended by Chris. He credits it to positioning his mind to understand, âhow to lead and really get people to where you need them to do.â
Strong management in action
What about strong management? In a recent advisor breakout, I presented âScaling with Talent: The Building Blocks of a High Performing Team.â During the session, an advisor in the audience asked, âOnce I onboard staff, how often should I meet with them to make sure they are on track?â The heart of the question was, âHow do I manage my team? Do meetings matter?â Of course. However, if you want to lay the foundation of strong management before throwing a team or individual check-in on the calendar, start here:
- Clearly communicate (ideally in writing) your expectations for the team and individuals
- Understand an individualâs professional aspirations and goals (what matters to them? How do they prioritize what matters? For example, compensation, flexibility, growth, title, or something else? Guide that not everything can be a top priority.)
- Let everyone know how you will have important conversations such as their performance, development, and compensation (ad hoc, twice a year, once a year, etc.)
Based on my experience working with advisory firms for many years, these are best practices that Iâve observed from high-performing teams:
- They meet as a team weekly (and the meetings are highly structured and productive, not a round-the-table check-in)
- Have at least once-a-year individual performance reviews based on understood success metrics, which inform incentive compensation and promotion opportunities
- Managers check in with their direct reports regularly (such as bi-weekly or weekly)
- Performance issues donât linger, they are dealt with quickly and directly
- They respect and trust each other at all levels, which contributes to more productive conflict, collaboration, and adaptability
- Individuals and leaders are held accountable
- Individuals and the team get acknowledgment for a job well done
- Managers strive to achieve win-wins between individuals and the business
If you have a team, congratulations! Youâve likely done a lot right to grow your business to require staff. Providing leadership and management can turn a group of individuals into a high-performing team. Leadership and management are skills that anyone can developâand the impact can be compounding.