There is a critical factor in growing a financial planning business that is often misunderstood.
Despite there being lots of information available on how to do it, Michael Gerber, author of ‘The E-Myth Revisited’, observed:
“Why is it that with all the information available today on how to be successful in small business, so few people really are?”
My good friend and brilliant coach Wyn Morgan recently shared how a business client of his had a goal of growing their company by 10x in two years.
The client had shared the training and development plan for their people and how it would deliver the results they wanted. Yet Wyn immediately knew it would not work and his question to the leaders of the business was:
“What makes people change their behaviour?”
They were stuck for an answer other than ‘motivation’ and ‘skills training’.
Just like Wyn, I noticed early on in my coaching career that skills training often fails to make a lasting impact. But why is this?
As Wyn pointed out, skills training can be powerful, but only when people actually adopt the new skills.
The problem with intervening at the behavioural level is that people often struggle to implement and maintain the new skills because something else must happen first.
Real and lasting change only happens with a change in mindset
A ’10x’ result does not come without a ’10x’ change within the minds of people. In other words, change must happen in people’s hearts and minds first and then the results follow.
New insights, fresh thinking, and the dissolving of limiting beliefs are what lead to a lasting change in behaviour.
What got you here won’t get you there
Often, the thinking that gets you to your current level of success is not the thinking that will get you to your next level.
When working financial planners who want to grow their practice, I first want to deeply understand how they see their world.
I am listening to understand and to see what insights I get.
It is always insight that is behind change
A financial planner I worked with had been stuck on the same plateau of results for several years.
He had no more time available so the result had to come within the time he already had. And he could not see how, despite helpful advice from other people.
What jumped out at me was the time he was spending on unprofitable clients.
We explored why this made sense to him and he had an underlying belief about needing grab every single opportunity.
Anyone who has built a practice from scratch knows that, in the beginning, you do tend to grab every opportunity. Yet there also comes a time when this holds you back.
His ‘ah-ha’ moment was his realisation that his behaviour was driven by a feeling of scarcity. And once he saw that this was just a thought it no longer held any power over him.
His new thinking naturally led to effortless changes in behaviour. Within a few months his business levels had increased by 150%! (Here is a link to my post ‘working only with wonderful clients-the two essential questions).
Understanding how your mind works
Your mind is incredibly powerful. It will give you the thinking you need, or it can hold you back and keep you stuck.
What sets you free?
Behaviour is after the fact of state of mind and this is why skills training alone often does not stick.
In over a decade of taking a ‘state of mind’ approach to creating step-change, the results speak for themselves.
When we know where to look for new thinking, we naturally tend to get more of it. The changes we want then naturally follow without struggle.
P.S. What step-change results would you love to create in your business? Would like to produce those results quicker and easier? Contact me at john@clientcentredadvsiers.com to set up a conversation.
