Building a Career as a Financial Advisor | IPC Canada

"The best advisors know that they are in charge of their career and the success of their business."

Growing up on a farm north of Toronto, my father had a saying – “if it’s to be, it’s up to me”. What he meant by this saying, was if anything was going to happen, you can’t wait around for someone to help you or do it for you, you have to do it yourself.



He taught me that at the end of the day, you must make things happen and those who wait for the right time, person or circumstances were lost.



This is one of the most important lessons I learned as a young man and one that I try to teach to new advisors. When mentoring advisors about their career, I always tell them that their career is in their hands and not the market, economy or anything else. In other words, only you are in charge of your business's success and where you go in life – no one else. 



So how do you build a career as a financial advisor?



A career is what defines our professional life. It not only provides us the money we need to support ourselves and our families, but it should also provide us with personal satisfaction. We want to do our best, see our business grow, and be recognized by our clients for helping them plan their financial future. So how do we do that?

Jack Welch of General Electric fame said there are five things that someone must possess to be a great leader:



• Energy – they bring their ‘A’ game to the table. They are not just going through the motions, but they are enthusiastic about what they do and how they approach their clients.



• Energize – they can energize those around them to do their best work. They build great teams who love what they do and know how to best serve their clients.



• Edge – they can make the tough decisions for the betterment of their business. This means saying ‘no’ to many and focusing on where they can make the greatest impact. Salespeople are notorious for saying ‘yes’ far too often and regretting it afterwards.



• Execute – success always goes to the people who get stuff done. Strategy is nothing without execution.  The best advisors are good at executing and adapting to the needs of their clients.



• Passion – the most important thing that a person can bring to the financial advice business is passion. Passion is everything in life and if you don’t like what you are doing – clients can tell. You are better off quitting if you don’t have passion for it.



No one naturally has all these traits. These traits come from making the conscience effort to develop them through practice. Those who practice these traits make them a habit and habits are hard to break. Practice is the key to excellence in every endeavor. 



So, take my advice and continue to practice Jack Welch’s 4 E’s and a P until they become part of who you are and how clients see you. That is the secret to building a successful practice as a financial advisor.

These characteristics overcome all obstacles – bad markets, economic disasters, competitive pressures, and changing regulations. They make the passionate, client-focused and genuine advisors stand out from the crowd. These are the type of advisors who get referrals, new sources of business, and are overall happier in what they do.



And when you are discouraged and feel that your clients or team are not giving you the credit or recognition that you feel that you deserve, remember the words of my father, “if it’s to be, it’s up to me”.



The best advisors know that they are in charge of their career and the success of their business.