The Leadership Lever™ Score Card Every privately-held advisory firm will face a transition at some point. Some principals seek to hire second- or third-generations of rainmakers, others wish to merge with a trusted ally, and others seek to sell their firm and transition themselves out. Some aspire toward a hybrid of all three. This Score Card is intended to help you assess your status quo in these areas. A key aspect of The Humanity Factor™ model is a phase we call The Leadership Lever™. As such, we look forward to facilitating a strategic discussion around key areas in which you aspire for change or progress. Advisor or Firm Name*Date Date Format: MM slash DD slash YYYY Where does your status quo fit relative to the left and right columns on the scale below? Circle the score that best describes your firm. A score of 1 means you feel closer to the description on the left side. A score of 12 means you feel closer to the description on the right side.The Humanity Factor™Being Part of a CommunityWe deliver great value to clients, yet beyond the walls of our firm, we don’t have a formal community of financial advisory peers. We don’t have an established group of growth-minded professionals who operate at our level of expertise and service.*123456789101112We’re part of a diverse community of professionals who are talented and like-minded. Collectively, we bring a variety of expertise, wisdom and perspectives into the community. We are geographically diverse which allows us to hear what’s happening in our niche, in multiple areas across the country. We’re surrounded by people who think in terms of what’s possible, not what’s impossible.Mine Your Bliss™Ability to Differentiate OurselvesWe don’t have a consistent, compelling story to tell. We know we’re unique but we don’t always have the language to effectively communicate our value compared to other firms. We don’t have a consistent Elevator Talk that’s used by everyone in the firm.*123456789101112We have a Unique Story that’s compelling. We confidently and effectively differentiate ourselves in our conversations and our marketing materials. We finally have the ability to tell our story consistently across all rainmakers and our support teams. We have a distinctive Elevator Talk that’s being used by all rainmakers.With all the white noise in our niche, it seems like it’s getting harder and harder to differentiate ourselves. Clients love and trust us but they don’t always know how to explain our value to others.*123456789101112When prospects and centers of influence hear our story, they get that we’re different, and they clearly grasp our unique approach. Clients embrace our Unique Story as a touchstone for thinking through challenges and opportunities. When they explain our value to others, they speak from the authenticity of their own experiences, thereby naturally using our branded language.Referral Habits and ProcessesWe don’t have a consistent process or consistent habits around asking clients for referrals. We get most of our qualified referrals from a handful of clients. We seem to get referred laterally or down-market, instead of up-market.123456789101112We have a consistent process for proactively harvesting the most qualified, inner circle referrals from the clients we wish to duplicate. The process is professional, not salesy, and it’s simple to replicate.We would like to groom junior rainmakers but we don’t have a predictable methodology for helping them fill their pipelines.123456789101112We have a clear path for filling our junior rainmakers’ pipelines.We don’t have a way to correlate our revenue or growth goals to the quantifiable activity required to meet them.123456789101112Our referral process allows us to reverse engineer our revenue goals into clear activity goals. We have the ability to track and monitor our goals throughout the year. We have regular access to coaching that helps us improve our skillsets.Ease of Client ServiceIn our current affiliation model, it gets harder and harder to service our clients and to do so efficiently. The idea of transitioning to a more independent platform is appealing yet overwhelming. We don’t have time to do the research, and if we did, we wouldn’t know where to start.123456789101112Our new, independent model is refreshingly efficient. We were able to make the transition with far less red-tape compared to what our colleagues have experienced elsewhere. The onboarding process was well documented and infused with leadership and support. We had a clear story to tell about the transition, and it gave our clients confidence to move forward with us. Without the previous distractions of bureaucracy, we have more time and energy to focus on servicing clients and building our business.Cultivate Your Contributions™Depth of Planning CapabilitiesWe believe in planning and we offer it to a degree, but we aspire to a more robust offering. We don’t have the time or resources to create a process. Even if we did, the idea of onboarding a new approach is daunting.123456789101112We have a time-tested, replicable planning process. Instead of reinventing the wheel, we have adopted a proven methodology. Our community includes an established, well-staffed Planning Department, so we don’t have to do all the work ourselves. There are clear tools and work flows to guide us through each phase.We believe we offer great planning, yet everyone makes the same claim these days. We don’t have a way to demonstrate a repeatable client experience in this area.123456789101112We have clear, compelling marketing materials that demonstrate the quality and unique nature of our planning process. It gives us the confidence to market our planning services more actively, and to charge planning fees commensurate with our value.Diversification of Revenue StreamsWe worry that our revenue is heavily reliant on one primary revenue stream. If market factors shift, we could face a down-turn.123456789101112We have multiple sources of revenue and feel insulated from any single potential shift in the financial markets, and the legal and tax environments.Breadth of CapabilitiesWe’re proud of our current capabilities, yet we’d like to offer a greater breadth to our clients. We see areas of opportunity for both our clients and our firm, yet we don’t have a clear path for expanding our offerings. When we consider the required investment in additional team members, technology and process development, it’s overwhelming.123456789101112Our community includes a significant breadth of talent and resources across many core planning, investment and insurance disciplines. There are distinct support teams, and collaborative methodologies available for us to learn new capabilities, or partner with other likeminded professionals.Access to New LearningOur firm is growth-minded and we’re always interested in broadening our knowledge-base. Given the trends in our industry, we don’t have logical channels through which to continually deepen our learning, from principals through to our teams.123456789101112Our community is infused with a like-minded learning environment. There are regularly-scheduled collaborative sessions for our advisors and our support teams. There’s an established university-style curriculum through which we can deepen and diversify our knowledge-base. It is taught by our advisory peers, as opposed to wholesalers or Home Office folks.Access to Management ResourcesWe thrive when we’re face-to-face with clients, yet the day-to-day responsibilities of managing our team and the firm are overwhelming. We feel we’re falling short in team management and human resources.123456789101112Our community supports us in managing any or all of the day-to-day aspects of running our firm. From recruiting, to human resources, to lease management, to payroll and benefits, we can select elements to outsource. Our team feels well-supported and valued in these areas.Quality of Our TechnologyMuch of our important client work is done manually. We have technology but it doesn’t get us to the client-facing result we need. Good data is hard to get, and when we do get it, we have to exhaustively double-check the information. It seems like the team resources required to produce a quality result are constantly increasing.123456789101112We have real-time access to accurate, integrated data for all of our clients and client accounts. The technology platform is reliable and user-friendly. We received training at the advisory and team level to help us onboard the platform, and integrate our new capabilities into our existing, day-to-day business.While we would like to upgrade our technology (phone systems, CRM, reporting systems), doing so can be cost-prohibitive. Meanwhile, we don’t have the human resources to research, vet and onboard the technology.123456789101112We have a cutting-edge, integrated technology platform. As part of our larger community, the research and vetting were already in place, and the onboarding of the new systems had already been tested and proven. Also, our community brings economies of scale to our firm, so we reap the rewards of sophisticated systems that are accessible from a cost perspective.The Leadership Lever™Game-Plan for G2 Relationship-BuildingWe are aware of the need to intentionally build relationships with the second-generation of our client families. We feel it’s important in terms of the promises we’ve made, and in terms of client retention when assets changes hands. We don’t have the bandwidth to create a process and we aren’t sure where to start.123456789101112We have created a relationship bridge between our firm and the second-generation of our client families. The next generation understands the history of trust in our relationship, and the significant difference in working with a firm like ours versus others available in the marketplace. They call us with questions and rely on us for support and wisdom.Access to Like-Minded ProfessionalsWhen we approach a challenge or opportunity in our day-to-day business, we don’t have a trusted, confidential sounding board on which we can rely.123456789101112When we face various opportunities or challenges, we rely on our community of professionals that offer relevant wisdom and insight. They provide both the strategic thinking to help us make good choices, and the planning and implementation to achieve our vision.Readiness for Business SuccessionOur firm has made a great run of things so far, however we are uncertain about what the secondgeneration of our firm looks like. When we contemplate what’s next, we don’t have an inner circle of respected resources to help us build our vision, or provide the leadership to get there. We want to keep our promises to be there for clients’ spouses, children and grandchildren, yet we don’t have a clear path for how to achieve this.123456789101112We were led through a strategic process to navigate our choices and understand our options for business succession. We have a clear, documented vision and game plan in place. All of the necessary support is available in terms of recruiting and mentoring rainmakers, merging our firm into a larger organization, or selling and transitioning out. We have access to funding options that make our desired transition feasible and timely.
