PURPOSE & PEOPLE OVER PROFITS

Colleen, our Practice Manager, has struggled for months managing her 1st Grader's online school and her very demanding job.  She had a complex network of help.  This day was dad, that day was the grandparents, the other was her sister and Friday was all on her.

We rearranged my work schedule to avoid any client meetings on Fridays so that she wouldn't have to be prepping and dealing with follow-up on Fridays.  She was able to use Fridays to get caught up as her day allowed and be available for her son .

A couple of weeks ago, her son went back to in-person school.  Despite the hesitation that every parents feels right now, she was relieved to be able to get back to work. She made it through the tough part!

Then, only a week later, after dismantling her network of support, she got the call.  A sick mom sent her kid to school and exposed her son's entire class!  Two week quarantine, here we go! 

Fortunately, her kiddo wasn't sick, but now her work life was thrown into utter disarray again.  Being a conscientious employee, she let me know and was apologizing profusely for the hassle and inevitable reduction in productivity.

After being justifiably annoyed at the irresponsible mother who knew she was sick and sent her kid to school, I told her that I believe that it is a measure of our success that we CAN weather these storms together.

Our practice has been UNBELIEVEABLY SUCCESSFUL this year!

-We moved everyone to work from home status early without a hitch.

-Every person on the team has juggled online school for their children along with the work load.

-We have stayed responsive and available to our clients the entire time.

As a business owner, I have to think of the purpose of our business.  First and foremost, it must take care of my family.  If we aren't financially viable, then there is no business in the long-run. 

Next, it must take care of our team.  Without them, we can't serve and grow our community of clients.  And finally, it has to serve our clients well.  In that order!

This year has reinforced the idea that Simon Sinek shares in his book The Infinite Game. Success is measured by profit only after two other criteria are met.

As business must:

1. Advance a purpose.
2. Protect people.
3. Generate profit.

We need a reason to go to work.  As Simon calls it, a Just Cause that will inspire our team and attract the right clients.  We need to protect the people who work for us and the environments we operate in.  And we need to earn a profit to allow us to continue to advance the first two priorities. 

Once again, by this measure, our business has been unbelievably successful this year!

Our purpose is to help our clients live more secure, free and meaningful lives and we have done that this year!  We have protected our team financially and given them the flexibility to work the way they needed to in this incredibly stressful time.  And, interestingly enough, our revenues have actually grown by over 10% this year!

I am not saying this has been an easy year, it hasn't.  But it has been an incredibly meaningful year and successful by every measure that matters to us! 

And honestly, even if we hadn't grown our revenues and profitability this year, I still would have deemed it a success because we have been able to serve our clients and protect our team!  We have the reserves to stay financially viable if the profits didn't come this year.

How are you measuring success this year?

If you, like me, are playing the "infinite game", I give you permission to put purpose and people above profit this year.  The irony is, when you do that, the profits usually end up falling into place in the end!

With Purpose,

-Lucila

Being a successful advisor isn't just about attracting and serving clients. It's about having a business owner mind-set and building systems and processes to support your work with clients.

We spend all this time learning about product and planning.  Where are you getting your training to be a better business owner?

The IMPLEMENTATION Monthly Mastermind is our group coaching program for financial advisors who want to build a profitable, purpose-driven practice!  It is the perfect place to come together with like-minded advisors who are all playing the "infinite game".

I would like to invite you to take advantage of a free trial month.  You will get access to our monthly live group coaching call and the entire IMM Archives full of past trainings.  Click the link below to activate your free trial.

IMPLEMENTATION Monthly Mastermind