The Growth Mindset

PART ONELeadership Makes a Difference in Wealth Management

Leadership is the buzzword of the twenty‐first century. Who is a leader? What qualities do the best leaders have? Are leaders born or made? It's a bull market for leadership books, and that should not surprise us. Because of the increasing rate of change in the marketplace we are looking for ways to adapt, improve, and increase performance. With over 20,000 books on leadership available, it's difficult to come across a new idea that the great thinkers and philosophers have not written about in the past 2,400 years. Therefore, I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel; I'm simply trying to share the proven leadership strategies that achieve business results. These strategies are based on research and my own experience over the past 34 years. These ideas are not based on consulting assignments; they are based on my street‐tested strategies and tactics working side by side with advisors, managers, and clients.

Within the wealth management industry, these questions about leadership are critically important as the industry overall is undergoing a revolution. In situations where advisors traditionally make recommendations and act (or not) based on their clients' responses, today's successful wealth management requires strong leadership to build client relationships and construct full wealth management plans to achieve the life goals of clients. Today, an advisor must be a leader. It is nonnegotiable.

Let's look at it from the ...