Advisory Leadership

GREG FRIEDMAN, MS, CFP, is founder and president of Junxure, a practice improvement firm, and Private Ocean, one of the West Coast's leading wealth management firms. He is a relentless innovator and advocate for excellent wealth manage-ment, which earned him recognition three times on Investment Advisor Magazine's list of the Top 25 most influential financial advisors.

"A third book I enjoyed reading this year, and also asked to blurb, is Greg Friedman's Advisory Leadership. Friedman is somewhat unique; he runs Private Ocean, an advisory firm in San Rafael, CA, and is also the founder of Junxure (and Junxure Cloud), a leading CRM software company that is at the forefront of automated practice management innovations. The book is essentially about creating a people-first culture" in your office; the premise of the book is that you, as your firm's leader, have to be somewhat remarkable in order to create a culture where everybody pulls together and is passionate about what they do. You have to exhibit patience, honesty and integrity, compassion, respect, consistency and persistence, encouragement, and courage--and each of those qualities gets its own chapter. The idea is that most of us fall short in one or more of these areas, but fortunately for us, they are not innate characteristics that you have to be born with, which means we can improve if we consciously try to become remarkable in seven dimensions. Advisory Leadership offers advice on how to hire into your firm's unique culture (with key interview questions); how to walk the walk of your firm's mission statement (including open and honest communication, but also collegiality with a sense of humor); how to truly care for your staff (Friedman calls them his most valuable clients); and the book also provides some contrasts between a 'me' culture and a heart culture. There's a chapter on promoting personal growth in the staff, and another on how, procedurally, to reward firm-wide collaboration and a team mentality."—Bob Veres, Inside Information

• Foreword xi Preface xvAcknowledgments xixIntroduction: Understanding Heart Culture: Making the Change 1Chapter 1: Patience: Taking Your Time to Find the Right People 5Next Gen Employees: Changing Values, Changing Culture 9Taking Your Time during the Hiring Process 10Four Steps to Hiring the Right Candidate 12Benefits 21Chapter 2: Honesty and Integrity: Speaking Openly and Walking the Walk 23Overcommunicate Your Values and Philosophy 24Considering Your Audience 28The 55]38]7 Communication Formula 38The Mehrabian Communication Model 38What Is the Safe Space? 40Resolving Conflict 42Walking the Walk 43Benefits 45Notes 45Chapter 3: Compassion: Unlocking the Secret to a People-First Culture 47Morale and Profitability 52Differentiating “Me” Culture from Heart Culture 53Benefits 60Notes 61Chapter 4: Respect: Promoting Personal Growth, the Key to Inspiring Motivation 63Helping Employees Explore What Motivates Them 68Keeping Tabs 73Benefits 77Chapter 5: Persistence and Consistency: Maintaining Employee Relationships 79Choose the Right Management Team 81Don’t Wait for a Scheduled Meeting to Check In 82Empower Individuals Regularly, Giving Them the Tools They Need to Succeed—Delegate 85Plan Regular Off ]Site Events for Team Building 87Benefits 99Chapter 6: Encouragement: Rewarding Firm-Wide Collaboration and a Team Mentality 101Reiterating Company Values 102Creating Individual Opportunities 103Rewarding Teamwork through the Compensation Structure 104Keeping People Accountable—Even Yourself 108Holding a Biannual Retreat 112Benefits 115Chapter 7: Courage: Reshaping Your Company’s DNA to Establish Heart Culture 117Assessing Your Team’s Individual Strengths and Opportunities 123Anticipating Growing Pains—Lots of Them 126Recognizing Culture Killers and How to Avoid Them 129Rolling Up Your Sleeves and Getting Involved 135Benefits 139Note 139Chapter 8: Implementing Heart Culture in Your Firm: Get Started Today, Not Tomorrow 141Afterword 145References 149About the Author 151Index 153