What’s Holding You Back? Role Clarity . . . 3 Keys to Achieving Higher Performance

By The Lerner Group on May 5, 2021

“Clarity Affords Focus” – Thomas Leonard

Ask yourself, “am I running my practice or is it running me?

Being a sole practitioner has many benefits. For one, it can be “less complicated.”  Maybe it is even more profitable in the short run. But at some point, it is likely to come at an unintended cost.

Despite considerable advancements in technology that may allow you to add scale to key processes like asset management, financial planning and your client review process, sooner or later the “wheels may come off.”  Frequently, this cost pops up in unintended places such as a lack of onboarding enough new clients or perhaps in your own work-life balance.

As your practice grows at some point human capital will drive more growth than any other investment you can make in your business. It can be a game-changer and perhaps the most liberating decision you will ever make for your business and client experience.

However, the failure to be able to delegate and hold people mutually accountable to their commitments continues to be one of more sensitive and important issues facing leaders of financial advisory practices today.

So where do you start?  . . . by focusing on the 3 Keys to Role Clarity right up-front:

Ambiguity > Alignment > Clarity

Even if you add the right person at the right time for the right reasons, without establishing clarity of roles upfront the gain you hope to enjoy may evaporate right before your eyes. Many teams experience ebbs and flows in their degree of Role Clarity due to changes in mission, goals, and turnover of personnel. Thus, it is not uncommon for teams to move up and down over time between levels of ambiguity, misalignment and achieving true role clarity.

Here are three key areas to focus on when on-boarding new talent into your practice:

Key #1: Beware Ambiguity

• New team members can feel unclear about much of their responsibilities, primary tasks, duties, standards and the expectations they are expected to own. They may also be confused when asked to do things outside their normal job title or formal role description.
• New team members can feel confused about what success looks like in their role and expectations may be perceived as a moving target. They may lack a connection with the team’s mission, goals and the performance expectations needed to achieve success.
• New team members can feel confused by client service practices that may be perceived as randomly applied or subjective in nature.
• New team members can feel unclear about the overall value proposition of the practice.
• New team members may feel disconnected if not provided the resources, training and mentoring to be successful in their role.

Key #2: Seek Alignment

• Seek to provide a comprehensive job orientation, role description and training orientation including time for mentorship.
• Consider creating a “practice playbook” that codifies Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) of your practice.
• Include new team members in discussion of business goals so they feel included in the process and even feel they have a voice in the direction of the business.
• Be transparent about business gaps, needs, strategies and motives. This can engender a feeling of being a “stakeholder” vs merely an employee of the practice.
• Consider giving new members space to operate with a measure of autonomy to meet their goals. Encouraged them to be on a path of personal development to achieve “mastery” and become a subject matter expert in a key area of the practice e.g. RMD’s, Long-Term Care, etc…

Key #3: Achieve Clarity

• New members should act as leads in both “team-facing roles” (e.g. CAO, COO, CMO, CFO) and their “client-facing role” (e.g. wire transfers, opening new accounts, etc.)
• Ensure that new members are clear about the expected outcomes for their role. It is critical that new members know how their success and the business success will be measured and valued.
• Ensure members fully understand the segmented needs of the clients and their preferences. Without putting this in place it will be hard to replicate a remarkable client experience that creates advocacy for your practice.
• Encourage their community role as proactive “brand ambassadors” for the practice. This is another way of nurturing a true stakeholder so everyone see’s the business as theirs.
• Provide visibility on the practice’s performance (e.g. weekly / monthly / quarterly updates). Creating a “business scoreboard” can accelerate the adoption of the business’s performance and growth priorities.

Lastly, at the end of the day the objective is to ensure that each new team member serves in a role that reflects “their highest and greatest use” for the benefit of the team, the clients and themselves. This requires aligning the individual’s core skills with the business’s mission, client standard of care and business model.

To assist in clarifying roles, many practice coaches tap into specialized team assessments (e.g. DISC, Kolbe, Myers Briggs, etc.) to gain valuable insights into individual role preferences.

Ultimately, the goal is to help each member of the practice to find their individual “sweet spot” or the spot where three elements align, namely:

• What they are good at
• What they enjoy doing most
• Where they add the most value to your clients and practice

To learn more about how to align roles within your practice or how to achieve “best fit” when integrating your business via a strategic combination contact Bill Kica at bkica@hightoweradvisors.com