Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
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 (00:00.142)
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.
Too often, firms wait until just before the moment of succession to ask, are they ready? The worst time to evaluate leadership is when you need it most. Leadership readiness doesn't emerge overnight. It's built over time through real-world responsibility, thoughtful risk, and opportunities to rise or stumble and grow. In other words, the only way to honestly know if someone can lead is to give them the chance.
And that's where performative opportunities come in, structured, real world leadership roles that act as proving grounds for the next generation of leaders. With more founders eyeing succession and a surge in next generation advisors stepping up, the industry's real challenge isn't identifying future leaders, it's giving them the space to lead before the title arrives. Performative opportunities are more than these one-off assignments.
They are intentional, strategic projects designed to test leadership ability in real time. Whether leading a client segmentation initiative, heading a technology upgrade, or building a new advisor training program, these are the kinds of assignments that give emerging leaders the runway to act like leaders before they officially carry the title. Additional situations where you might create these performative opportunities might be,
Ray Sclafani (01:57.462)
something simple like developing a social media strategy for the firm or creating an outreach program to connect with the next generation of clients, updating the firm's onboarding program for new advisors or new clients, designing an enhanced service delivery model. Whatever project you and the other members of your team agree on, encourage them to clearly define the project goals, the budget, the timeline,
and communicate them to everyone on the team to create a sense of shared purpose and expected outcomes. The objective here is straightforward. Establish the conditions where leadership either shows up or maybe doesn't. And there is the opportunity for development. There's a simple structure that we've used and have come to rely on here at ClientWise. We call it Demonstrate, Observe and Verify. Think of this as your leadership flight simulator.
A place where future leaders can fly the plane in controlled situations and controlled conditions, learning by doing while still under a watchful eye. So what is this structure? It's really simple. It's three parts. Number one, demonstrate. Show the next generation of leaders what exemplary leadership looks like in practice. This involves having them shadow experienced professionals who are leading strategic initiatives, not only modeling their tasks and decisions,
but also grasping the thought processes behind those actions. That's the demonstrate. Second, observe, hand over real responsibility, allow them to take the reins without interference on a project that matters, then watch how they lead, communicate, prioritize and adapt. And then third, verify. This is where the learning begins to multiply. Debrief about the experience, what occurred, what was the outcome, was it successful? What did you...
experience and learn, More importantly, what did the future leader learn along the way? Do they seek feedback and are they applying it going forward? The cycle isn't just about evaluation. It is about growth and accountability. By providing these younger advisors with real life leadership challenges, it begins to help them focus on the learning and then gauge their performance in leading.
Ray Sclafani (04:18.338)
These opportunities create a relatively safe and structured and controlled environment, especially for younger advisors to what we call it client-wise, failing up, learning valuable leadership lessons from their mistakes, which then can carry them forward into future undertakings that help them avoid making the same errors when similar situations arise. In a recent survey that Michael Kitz has conducted, it's autonomy, not income.
that determines an advisor's overall happiness and satisfaction. Let me share with you a simple, actionable idea that you can institutionalize in your firm today. At ClientWise, we call these leadership labs. We watched a number of our clients institutionalize something really similar. In these leadership labs, these environments, high potential talent starts to collaborate in small cohorts to address major firm-wide initiatives. Each group is assigned a project
and paired with a senior sponsor who serves as both mentor and project steward. It's a great way to provide next generation leaders and advisors with an immense and immersive experience that helps cultivate and enhance all of their practical leadership skills. These programs often include training in areas such as team management, operational and financial oversight, and strategic decision-making with a focus on
personalized support and practical application. Additionally, they may offer networking opportunities and insights from third-party experts. There are some key benefits here. I wanna highlight a number of these, because these leadership labs emphasize hands-on training in areas relevant to financial advisors and upcoming leaders in the firm. And that lets them make some mistakes and learn from those without adversely impacting the business. So that's the practical skill development.
Then there's real personalized support. Many of these programs provide tailored coaching and assistance that help address specific or organizational challenges. There's the networking and collaboration because these labs offer financial advisors and others in your firm, chances to connect with peers and learn from more experienced professionals in your organization. Then there are expert insights. You bring in guest speakers, outside experts, subject matter experts that share their wisdom and insights.
Ray Sclafani (06:42.966)
And this helps the next generation participating in the leadership lab, valuable guidance for this ever-changing industry that we work in. So that expert insight is key. And then the last is a focus on motivation. Ultimately, their goal is to inspire and motivate others in the firm, assisting them in articulating their strengths, gaining a better understanding of areas for improvement, creates this career roadmap.
creates this career roadmap that aligns with their own individual aspirations. By the way, this focus on a motivation also drives followership. If you're developing next generation leaders, one of the key ingredients of long-term success is whether or not the other team members will follow them. Okay, so what are the results? Deeper engagement, stronger peer collaboration, and accelerated development. That's what these leadership labs are all about. More importantly, these labs
send a clear signal that your firm isn't waiting to develop leaders, but is committed to building them right now. Readiness is not a destination. It's a result of consistent exposure and responsibility and feedback. Waiting for somebody to be completely ready before they are assigned leadership responsibilities will lead to oftentimes missed opportunities and a shaky succession process.
by providing opportunities for others to lead, you actually foster a sense of both ownership and accountability. When they understand that like the buck stops here, well, it ignites their drive to take the initiative rather than following someone else's lead. Similarly, they learn about setting and holding people accountable for expected actions and outcomes and demonstrates whether or not they can partner with others to co-create and collaborate outcomes.
that are in the best interest of the team, the firm and shareholders and ultimately clients. You see firms that cultivate leadership through performative opportunities create a self renewing pipeline. They don't guess who's ready. They know because they've seen it. Lastly, remember that sharing leadership not only creates greater organizational stability and long-term sustainability, but it also provides a clearer path.
Ray Sclafani (09:03.662)
to identifying future owners and partners who will drive the firm and enable you to monetize your equity when you exit. Most importantly, it's a responsibility you owe to your clients to ensure their continuity of care far into the future. Remember, you don't build leaders by watching, you build leaders by letting them lead. If you want to explore more on this topic in the show notes, we're gonna put something called the successful next generation leaders.
eight essential qualities checklist that might be useful for you. And with every episode, we offer some coaching questions for you and your leadership team to consider. Number one, what performative leadership opportunities exist in your firm right now? Two, who on your team might benefit from being stretched with a high impact project? Three, what would it take to create a leadership lab within your organization? Number four,
How are you currently observing and verifying leadership readiness, not just assuming it? And number five, what's one project you could assign this quarter to build real-time leadership muscle? 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.