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Hosted by Financial Advisor Coach, Ray Sclafani, "Building The Billion Dollar Business" is the ultimate podcast for financial advisors seeking to elevate their practice. Each episode features deep dives into actionable advice and exclusive interviews with top professionals in the financial services industry. Tune in to unlock your potential and build a successful, enduring financial advisory practice.
Welcome to Building the Billion Dollar Business, the podcast where we dive deep into the strategies, insights, and stories behind the world's most successful financial advisors and introduce content and actionable ideas to fuel your growth. Together, we'll unlock the methods, tactics, and mindset shifts that set the top 1 % apart from the rest. I'm Ray Sclafani and I'll be your host. 75 % of executives attribute their success
to mentors. The right mentor at the right time can accelerate your thinking, open new paths, and challenge you in ways no book or podcast ever could. But here's the reality most leaders miss. Not all mentors are meant to stay with you forever. Some relationships evolve. Others complete their purpose. So ask yourself, are your current mentors aligned with where you're going or where you've already been?
know, entrepreneurs in wealth management industry, they don't lack intelligence or ambition, at least the folks that we're coaching here at ClientWise. What they often lack is perspective from someone who's been further down the road. I'm really surprised how many top advisors I've asked to come up with a list of mentors that are active, that they're engaged in collaborating with, and what they're seeking to learn. And how many executives have said to me,
Ray, I haven't dusted off my mentor list in quite some time. Yet according to a 2023 Harvard Business Review study, over 75 % of professionals believe mentoring is crucial. Fewer than 40 % actively maintain a mentoring relationship. So this is not just related to financial services and wealth management. This is industry-wide for entrepreneurs, especially those who have grown firms beyond a billion in AUM.
Ray Sclafani (01:58.818)
The assumption is that mentorship is something you provide, not something you need. And I believe that assumption is wrong. The most successful leaders keep learning. They seek out those who've built what they now face, navigated transitions, scaled operations, or let go when it was time. Mentors aren't just about support, they're accelerants. Let's be clear, mentors are also not life coaches.
They're not emotional support animals. They're not celebrities you follow on LinkedIn. A real mentor does three things. First, brings pattern recognition from direct experience. Two, asks better questions than you're asking yourself. And three, shares lessons from failure, not just success. This is not about asking Jim Collins what he'd do. This is about finding someone who's been where you're trying to go, who will tell you the truth.
not just cheer you on and not every mentor is right for every season. Here's how to choose with intention. Three things first, start with your current learning gap. What are you working on? Succession, scaling, stepping back, professionalizing your organization, restacking your capital in your organization. Look for someone with relevant scars and wins. That's the second point here. They've made the hard calls. They've sat in the seat you're in now.
And third, test for alignment. Do they challenge your assumptions? Do they ask the questions that make you pause and think? And most importantly, be clear about why you're choosing them. You don't want to say, admire your success. Rather, you've built a multi-generational firm with strong culture. I'm navigating how to do that right now. I'd value two short conversations this year to learn from you.
Clarity earns respect and vagueness gets ignored. It's also critical to understand this. A mentor is not a coach. Mentors offer personal experience and situational insight and coaches, a good International Coach Federation credentialed coach, well, they're trained to help you uncover your own thinking and shift behaviors. They're your thinking partner. Both are valuable, but they're not interchangeable.
Ray Sclafani (04:22.658)
You bring different expectations, different structures and different asks to each. Your coach is your mirror, your mentor just may be that compass. And here's the part most miss. Mentorship isn't measured by time, it's measured by relevance and readiness. A powerful mentor relationship might consist of two 20 minute conversations a year, a quarterly article you send with a thoughtful question, a specific dilemma where their insight
helps you navigate complexity. So think about structuring it this way. Be direct in your ask. What insight do you seek? Come prepared not to waste their time with updates. Just get to the question and follow up. Let them know what you did with their advice, even if you went in a different direction. This last point really matters most. Mentorship is not blind obedience. It's perspective. You don't owe action, but you do owe reflection.
Before you reach out, ask yourself, what specifically am I trying to learn or solve? Why do I believe this person is equipped to help me? Am I ready to act on their input or will it just collect dust and will I do nothing with it? Then you want to ask your mentor, have you mentored others through similar situations? What's the best way to engage with you that respects your time? And would this be something you'd be open to once or twice a year for 20 minutes at a time?
Most successful people want to share what they've learned, but only when it's clear you'll do something with the information that they're sharing with you. This is the discipline most leaders neglect. Each year you want to review what mentors do I currently have? Are they still aligned with the growth I'm pursuing? And where do I need fresh input or a new perspective? Some mentors will stay with you for decades. Others will serve as a powerful purpose
for a season and you want to honor both and don't confuse history with relevance. Be willing to recalibrate. Your business evolves, your leadership challenges change and your support system should too. Each year I take time between Thanksgiving and the end of the year to recalibrate my list of mentors. And each year there's usually a couple that stay and a few that drop off.
Ray Sclafani (06:46.71)
and a few new ones that get added. And I don't ask a lot of my mentors, just simply twice a year, can you take 20 to 30 minutes and meet with me via Zoom or a cup of coffee, or if we happen to be at a conference together, why don't we meet up? And in some cases that works out really easy. And if it's not easy, well, then we just skip it. I want to end with this. You also don't have to agree with your mentor. You're not looking for someone to make decisions for you.
You're looking for someone who makes your thinking sharper. If a mentor's input helps you pause, reconsider, adjust course, or even gain conviction in the path you've already chosen, that's a win. And when it's helpful, tell them, show the impact. That's how you built the kind of relationship that earns you the right to return with a new challenge in the future. As an entrepreneurial leader, you don't just need a business plan.
You want to develop your own personal learning plan. Mentorship is not a favor, it's a strategy. So ask yourself, are your current mentors still relevant to the leader you're becoming? And if not, it's time to recalibrate. With each episode, I generally want to provide a few coaching questions, and today there's only two. Number one, which aspect of your leadership growth, strategy, people, capital, or scale
needs the most outside perspective right now and who has already walked that road? Second, what's one mentoring relationship you need to refresh, repurpose or release in order to make room for the guidance you need next? Thanks so much for listening. And if you enjoyed today's episode, please share it with your leadership team or a friend in the business or perhaps even your mentor. Well, thanks for tuning in and that's a wrap.
Until next time, this is Ray Sclafani Keep building, growing, and striving for greatness. Together, we'll redefine what's possible in the world of wealth management. Be sure to check back for our latest episode and article.