Independent financial advisors are, by nature, driven. Wanting to help people, a love of the business of advice and the opportunity to control their own financial and professional destiny are among their biggest motivations. Building your own business is a calling for many. It’s a thoughtfully considered strategic career move for others. For every independent advisor I know, the freedoms, flexibility and autonomy associated with this career are the gifts that keep on giving. But they come at a cost.
There is no getting around it: Great effort goes into creating and nurturing a business. The sacrifices can manifest themselves in working late into the night and on weekends to tackle the logistical, administrative and compliance tasks that are integral to long‑term success, working on vacation or forgoing the vacation entirely, or devoting more energy to work‑related things at the expense of personal and family relationships. We accept this as part of the process. But do we consider the long‑term implications?
We Do Not Define “Success” The Right Way
Often, our mistake lies in our myopia.
In the excitement of getting a business off the ground, the grind can become a new normal without you realizing it. Often, our mistake lies in our myopia. In using numbers, whether it is revenue or client assets under management (AUM), as the sole metric of success, we are taking too narrow and too shallow a view of achievement – one that lacks both nuance and perspective. Success on paper, or in the perceptions of others, does not always translate to winning in life:
- You have the expensive car, but no time to enjoy it.
- You live in a large, beautiful house, but you are alone because your marriage and friends were casualties of too many hours at the office.
- Your children go to the best colleges, but you never established relationships with them because work came first.
- You can afford the best doctors, yet find yourself increasingly in need of their services on both the physical and mental front because you do not take the time to take care of yourself.
In short, you’ve accomplished great things, at a very great price.
In short, you’ve accomplished great things, at a very great price.
We Must Equate Success With Quality Of Life
Bigger is not always better, but “bigger” is easier to measure. Income, business valuations, growth projections are quantifiable metrics. Firms develop recognition programs around them. Industry media create “best of” lists to acknowledge them. Enterprise leadership teams build out advisory boards based upon them. The message is clear, and repercussions are permeating through our industry, as financial advisors contend with:
- Burnout: Some advisors with growing books of business, both organic and inorganic, are also the most burnt out. If they are still doing everything themselves, they begin to run on empty quickly, negatively impacting every aspect of their lives.
- Wanting more: It is easy to get caught up in a cycle of success and lose track of how much of yourself you are investing to maintain it. More isn’t always better. It’s only more.
- Delegation hesitation: A lot of advisors are doing too much. Even ones with staff aren’t utilizing them properly, either micromanaging them or refusing to let go of tasks.
- Being a creature of habit: Parkinson’s Law says that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. Even if your staff gives you back time in your day, if your routine is to work a set number of hours, breaking that pattern can be difficult.
- Assuming same inputs lead to same outputs: In physics, getting something moving requires more effort than keeping it moving. In most instances, the same can be said for a business. Getting from point A to point B won’t get you from point B to C and then from C to D, and so on.
The Right Partner Can Deliver The Right Work/Life Balance For Advisor Owners
Time is an advisor’s most valuable resource. The right partner helps advisors spend less time managing the business and more time focused on clients, relationships and parts of the “art of advice” they find most meaningful and joyful.
In our experience, advisors benefit when support helps reduce the administrative burdens and operational friction that come with running a wealth management practice. That can give advisors more time to focus on clients, their craft and the people and experiences that matter most.
Sustainable Success Is Success That Fits With The Lives Advisors Want To Lead
Life evolves. What does work/life balance look like now that you have children? Sustainability means being able to recognize where you are today versus yesterday, where you want to go next and then repeating the process. Advisors need the resources and freedom to focus on and continually hone and refine their craft: great infrastructure, a welcoming culture and community and an unwavering commitment to helping advisors grow their businesses while building better lives for themselves.
That means fitting their business into their lives instead of their lives into their business.
In our experience, advisors should not have to choose between leading a successful practice and having a fulfilling life. That means fitting their business into their lives instead of their lives into their business. The right partner can help them arrive at that point.
Shehab Mohammad is CEO and President of Artisancap, a DBA of NWF Advisory Group, an RIA whose advisors specialize in delivering financial, retirement, education and insurance planning and solutions.
