CHAPTER 1

DRIVEforADVISORS

One of the most resonating tips I give new financial advisors originally came from my undergraduate trombone professor.

During my junior year as a trombone performance major at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music, I designed and performed a forty-five-minute solo concert. Since the concert was an official measure of my progress, I selected challenging music and worked very hard to prepare. (In those days, with my entire focus on perfecting this craft, “working hard” meant practicing five hours a day, in addition to classes and rehearsals.)

I felt quite proud after this first full-length solo performance. During my next weekly session with my trombone professor, private instructor, and mentor, I eagerly asked, “What did you think?”

“It was okay,” came his nonchalant reply. (The man famously didn’t mince words.)

Okay??? Obviously this was not the response I wanted. When I swallowed my pride and asked what I could have done better, he said something I’ll never forget:

“You need to hang your ears on the end of your bell.”

Even to a trombone major, his response didn’t make much sense at first—so if you’re scratching your head, stay with me. If you held a trombone (the one with that long slide) and reached your left arm straight ahead, the end of the bell would rest just above your wrist—not right next to your head, but out in front.

“When you’re on stage,” he explained, “first, think about theaudience. Hear the music as they hear it. Take your ears out of your own head and hang them on the edge of your bell. It’s not what’s in your head that matters, it’s what is coming out of that bell.”

He went on: “Next, think about thecomposer. Ask yourself: ‘Am I being a good steward of this composer’s music by doing justice to the intended vision and spirit?’ Only then should you think about yourself—and only insofar as you get yourself dressed and out on stage.”

Audience first. Composer second.Hang your ears on the edge of your bell. I got it; his message was clear.

As a musician, you become audience-centric by showing up fully present and focused. Not focused on how much you’ve prepared or how brilliantly you’re going to play or how many accolades you’re going to get from your fans or your professor—but on delivering thegreatest possibleimpact to everyone who paid the price of admission.

Similarly, if you want to succeed as a financial advisor, you need a truly client-centered, impact-driven focus—not a transactional approach aimed at enriching or promoting yourself.

Let’s talk about the concept ofdrive. First, we’ll explore how to measure your own success based on client impact and why focusing on your clients’ financial well-being is most important.

Next, we’ll talk about how to becomeindependently driven to achieve yourown professional goals rather than being driven purely by income. Both personal career goals and financial gain are important, and both begin with getting out of your own head and shifting your focus from sales to client impact.

There’s an art and a science to this business. The art is being able to envision and communicate the greatest potential of where a client can land, by zooming out to ask the right questions and then zooming back in to paint a fuller picture of their ideal financial future.

The science involves designing an integrated, comprehensive approach targeted to each client’s unique set of goals and circumstances. What do they need to do each month to achieve their goals? This approach also applies to your own career—figuring out the metrics of what you need to do each day or each week to make sureyou get where you want to be.

You do this through unlocking your own potential to optimize client success. Not (necessarily) to beat your competition, or achieve job security, or line yo