3 Critical Keys to Leading A High Performing Team

It’s Super Bowl time! It’s so much fun to watch these high performing teams who play with desire, focus, passion and unbelievable skill. When I watch these games, I can feel and see their desire to win.

How did they get to the Super Bowl? What does it take to build and lead a high performing team?

Now some of you are thinking…Andrea, that is sports. I am running a business and managing a wealth management practice. It is different.

Is it so different? I believe not. In both cases you are recruiting, hiring, training and leading a group of professionals to perform at a high level to achieve a year end goal. In football the goal is to get to the Super Bowl. In business the goal is to achieve the business goals established by the Financial Advisor/Rep. by the end of the year. Your coaching and leadership are critical to achieving your goals

Here are 3 keys to leading a high performing team, whether you are a football coach or a financial advisor/rep:

1. Only Hire “A” Players on Your Team?

I have a simple rule: You cannot have an “A” team with B players.

But you may be asking…how do you define an “A” player? That is the critical question you, the Financial Advisor/Rep must answer. A simple way to start answering this question is to describe your “dream team.” List the skills, attitude and characteristics a dream team player would possess. The following is a sample list:

• CFP or CFA or ChFC
• Highly motivated for success
• Self-starter
• Positive attitude
• Enjoys working with other team members…a “team player”
• Desire to learn and grow and improve
• Coachable
• Arrives on time
• Willing to help other team members
• Smart
• Common Sense
• Love talking and helping clients

Write your own list and add the characteristics of your dream player. Then ONLY hire people who have these characteristics. When you can describe in detail the skills and personality and characteristics of a dream player then you will know who should get hired to join your team. People without these characteristics will never be hired. It is that simple.

2. Define High Performance for every position on your team

If you want a high performing team then you need to be able to “define high performance.” What does it mean to be a high performer in each position? If you, the Financial Advisor/Rep, are always delegating, editing and explaining how you want things done in your business then you must be exhausted and frustrated. But the problem is clarity. When “A” players have clarity, they will do their job at a high level. But if they are waiting to understand and/or get instructions from you then they cannot do their job at a high level. Ask yourself what high performance you want and expect in every position:

• Underwriter
• Investment Money in Motion
• Case Design
• Client Customer Service
• Scheduling Client Review Appointments
• Scheduling Referral Appointments
• New Client Onboarding Meetings
• Online Marketing
• Etc.

You will be on tracking to creating a high performing team when you can DEFINE high performance of every position on your team.

3. Expect High Performance from every person on your Team

When you have defined performance for every position on your team then you should EXPECT every person on your team to perform at this high level. This is leadership at its best! Great leaders are crystal clear on what they expect. There is no mystery or questions or confusion. Great leaders also EXPECT their team to perform at this high level. That also is not a mystery…it is expected.

For example, if a team member is scheduling Client Review Appointments for the month of February…what high performance do you expect for the Client Review Appt. System?

• Do you expect all those meetings to be scheduled?
• Do you expect all those meetings to be scheduled during the first 2 weeks of the February?
• Do you expect to have a list of those clients who did NOT schedule a meeting?
• What is the “amazing experience” your clients should expect at their “review meetings?”
• Do your clients expect to schedule their next review meetings at the end of every review meeting?
• Are clients’ spouses “expected to attend every review meeting?

The above are questions to define and track high performance. Do you have answers for all these questions? Is your team executing the Client Review System at a high-performance level? Are you leading this system at a high-performance level?

You, the Financial Advisor/Rep are the “head coach” of your team. Head football coaches are always searching for those “A” players. They have created the “plays” for their team to win games. And they practice those “plays” over and over again so their team is performing at a high level.

I hope this helps you reframe your role with your team. Hope this information is helpful! My mission is to help you build your business so you can impact more people, have more free time and make more money while enjoying the journey.

CONTACT ME IF YOU NEED MY HELP…

We all have different ways of coping with change and difficult times.  If you need someone to talk with, or if you would like some guidance on how to keep moving forward during these difficult times, please click the button below to schedule a 30 -minute complimentary Success Coaching with me.