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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.
Ray Sclafani (00:00.334)
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 Schlaffani, and I'll be your host.
So in today's episode, I'd like to provide a blueprint for high-performing teams. We've observed there are six key components of extraordinary success in financial advisory firms. So let's get into it. In our client-wise team coaching program for financial advisory firms, we define a true team as a group of people fully committed to the mutually defined success that's extraordinary, not only of the group as a unit,
but they hold themselves mutually accountable for the achievement of that success, as well as the methods by which that success is achieved. Success in financial advisory firms hinges on the skills of individual contributors and on the ability of teams to work cohesively, creatively, and effectively. A high-performing team is one of the most valuable assets any organization can have.
Yet achieving this level of collaboration requires intentional effort and alignment. So what makes a team truly exceptional? Well, I want to explore these six components in particular and offer practical steps for aligning your team with a shared vision of extraordinary success. Inspiration for this episode comes from Captain David Marquette. He wrote a book called Turn the Ship Around.
His emphasis on distributed leadership and empowering teams to design and own their own processes underscores the value of collaboration and shared accountability in achieving extraordinary success. If you haven't read Turn the Ship Around, I would actually encourage the Audible book. It is actually one of the very best leadership books focused on empowering teams that I've ever listened and read. And Captain David Marquette is actually the
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the reader of the book himself. So it's an excellent read for teams and an excellent audible book if you're interested in those as well. Okay, so let's get into this definition. So I shared with you right up front what the definition of a true team is, at least the client-wise definition. And a true team is not just a group of people working together. In fact, we call that a client-wise, a work group. A true team is cohesive. It's a unit with shared commitment to a clear vision that everybody on the team embraces.
It begins with a group. It's this group of individuals united by a common purpose. Unlike a work group, which may consist of individuals working independently towards separate and individual goals, a true team operates with interconnected roles and a shared vision. For example, a financial advisory team might align around a common purpose of delivering exceptional client service while collectively achieving business growth, reflecting on what binds your team together
shared objectives, trust, values, mutual reliance, all of this ensures that you function as a cohesive unit rather than merely a collection of individuals. The second part of the definition is this idea of fully committed. What does it mean to be fully committed? Well, true teams require full commitment from every team member, but this commitment may differ depending upon each person's role or ownership level within the team. For example,
Entrepreneurs may demonstrate their commitment through strategic leadership and long-term planning, while service advisors might focus their efforts on client relationships and operational excellence. Regardless of the role, the team should clearly and collectively define what full commitment means for each member, ensuring alignment and mutual understanding. Collaboration falters without this level of commitment, and the team's potential becomes diminished.
Okay, number three part of the definition is this mutually defined success. The word mutual is a very powerful word. In traditional structures, those at the top often define success with team leaders seeking quote, buy-in from others to achieve their goals and vision. I actually think of the term buy-in as perhaps two of the dirtiest words in corporate America. It means some leader at the top is selling the team member on
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his or her vision as opposed to one that's been co-created. A more modern approach eliminates the need for buy-in. You see, when a team co-creates what mutually defined success looks like, that means every member of the team has ownership in the vision, ensuring alignment and a more substantial commitment to achieving extraordinary outcomes. This collaborative approach minimizes misunderstandings about priorities, objectives,
and achievement metrics and creates a foundation where everyone wins. The fourth part of the definition is extraordinary success. Well, great teams aim higher than mediocrity. In fact, when I hear somebody say best practices, well, best practices is kind of what the middle looks like. The best in the business strive for extraordinary results that set them apart in their field. You want to get known as an expert with a specialty.
you're going to have to define success as extraordinary. In financial advising context, this might mean achieving 95 % client retention rate, serving four generations of families, or establishing a reputation as the go-to firm for specialized services. Well, this commitment to excellence inspires innovation and resilience and a focus on exceeding expectations. The fifth part of the definition is this mutual accountability. There's that mutual word again.
At ClientWise, we think of this as total team leadership. That's defined as a leader and a team who engage in the exchange of leadership among themselves in a way that evokes meaningful contributions from every member of the team, showcases individual strengths, and fosters consistent, effective group decision-making. Accountability is not centralized with one leader. It's shared across the team. That's the mutuality.
Total Team Leadership is about the interdependence of one another in creating those outcomes and leadership from all. This mutuality, well, each team member takes responsibility for outcomes, speaks honestly about their efforts and abilities, especially in meeting team deadlines, and supports each other in achieving collective goals, which fosters this environment of shared leadership and ownership. That's the mutual accountability piece. And then last, the sixth part,
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of the definition, which is a real secret sauce to this blueprint for high performing and extraordinary teams is the accountability for the methods. Teams must take responsibility for the results and for how those results are actually achieved. You see, by co-creating processes and methods, teams really understand how they built the team, how they built the methods and the processes.
So when something sort of falters or breaks apart or isn't working anymore, well, they know how to rearrange and rebuild it. Things like performance reviews, how do we conduct those? How are clients advised? How do we align around our client segmentation strategy? How do we look at the profitability of the firm? Well, this collaborative approach must be built by the team if you want a high performing team that fosters ownership and adaptability and entrepreneurship with a team.
If you're seeking to develop your next generation set of leaders, this simple six-part definition of what it takes to be an extraordinary success as an advisory firm will actually help provide a bit of a roadmap around coalescing and aligning around these components will help drive the success of your next generation leaders. Building a true team that embodies these six components is more than just an exercise in organizational development.
it's a strategic imperative. When your team operates with clarity, accountability, and a commitment to extraordinary outcomes, you create an environment where innovation thrives. Trust among the team members deepens, and long-term success becomes sustainable. Use these components as a blueprint to fully realize your own team's potential. With each of the episodes, we provide a series of coaching questions
that are really designed as thought-provoking questions in order to explore what each member of the team might have learned in listening to the episode. Each team member should be able to voice their perspective and contribute to shaping the team's future. So the questions I'm going to share with you are intended to be discussion topics that encourage reflection and candid dialogue. Avoid the temptation to gloss over these questions, assuming everything works perfectly. Instead,
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Use this opportunity to explore new ways of achieving exceptional growth. One of my favorite books, Radical Candor, emphasizes that honest and open conversations are key to fostering trust and driving improvement. The most effective teams continually seek to improve by identifying fresh approaches and challenging the status quo. Use these questions to spark meaningful dialogue and uncover actionable insights that can strengthen your team.
The first, ask your team what binds us together beyond our goals and objectives and how do these shared bonds influence how we work together? Second question, how aligned are we on a mutually defined vision of success and where do we see opportunities to refine or strengthen that alignment? Number three, what specific actions can we take to enhance accountability for our results?
and the methods we use to achieve them? Number four, what is full commitment to our team success look like for each member? And how can we support one another in achieving it? And the fifth question, what bold, innovative steps can we take to achieve extraordinary outcomes that set us apart in our field and inspire us as a team? Approach these questions with openness, curiosity, and a commitment to growth.
ensuring that every voice is heard and valued as part of the process. Investing in this collaborative process will enhance trust and communication among team members, yielding more extraordinary results within the team and your financial advisory firm. We've successfully helped financial advising firms transform their teams into high-performing units that deliver exceptional results. If this resonates with you, let's have a larger conversation about how we can support your team's growth.
Well, thanks for tuning in. And that's a wrap. Until next time, this is Ray Sglafani. 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 articles.