The Good Side of Bad News

By Dan Sullivan

Many advisors are taking hits to their confidence because of bad news in the media. This reporting has more to do with how media outlets compete for attention than it does with any form of the truth. People have a natural fascination with watching things fall apart. It’s an aspect of reality, but it isn’t the whole reality.

I’m more interested in things coming together. There are two ways advisors can deal with all this negativity, including some of the very real setbacks that many people are experiencing. Some are trying to weather the storm by retreating, cutting back, and reducing their expectations for the future. However, the most entrepreneurial advisors are taking steps to strengthen their businesses to replace lost income, find ways around obstacles and, in the process, grow and innovate in ways that permanently differentiate them from their competition.

These financial services entrepreneurs are doing some of the most exciting work I’ve witnessed since I started coaching advisors more than 25 years ago. The key difference with these individuals is that the strength of their businesses doesn’t hinge on commoditized financial products.

Instead, these businesses are founded on their entrepreneurs’ unique wisdom and confidence in their ability to use this wisdom to create increasing value for their clients. People are confused and fearful about a lot of things; most boil down to money: how they, personally, will be financially affected by current and future events. So the world is desperate for those who can help build financial confidence.

Confidence is more than just a feeling. It is an ability to transform fear into focused and relaxed thinking, communication, and action. As a result,

• Dangers become opportunities;
• Obstacles become innovations;
• Weaknesses become advantages and
• Setbacks become breakthroughs.

In his poem “If,” Rudyard Kipling said that the whole world is yours “if you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs…” Many are feeling tempted right now to retreat into themselves, to scale back, to cut off connections with others, to seek out safety and comfort. But this only worsens the problem because they’re actually making themselves less capable and constricting the very channels that can bring them future wealth.

Yes, there will be losses. And, no, familiar strategies may not work anymore. That can be disappointing and frightening. But the trick is to focus not on how things were, but on how they could be. Your wisdom is unchanged by anything going on in the marketplace. You’re able to provide direction in an area where most people have little or no skill, yet still need to deal. Now they’re paralyzed and confused, in need of the very knowledge and abilities you’ve spent years accumulating. This can be a source of great confidence — first for you, then for others. The more you can contribute, the less you have to worry about your own situation. Clients of mine who’ve made this shift of focus in their businesses — from selling commodities to getting paid for providing direction, confidence, and capability using their wisdom and experience — know that their clients will be relying on them and appreciating them more now than ever. This gives them tremendous confidence — and confidence is a compelling quality, especially in times when few are demonstrating it. These entrepreneurs recognize that now is not the time to retreat, but to be bold and seize the opportunities others are unable to see or act on.

Despite current economic uncertainties, there are some things we do know about the future that bode extremely well for advisors with an entrepreneurial attitude. Thousands of Americans turn 60 every day; they will likely live longer than previous generations and most will want to experience more from those years than simply being “retired.” The largest transfer of wealth ever will occur within the next decade. Large financial bureaucracies cannot begin to off er the many kinds of leadership and assistance these people will be willing to pay for. There are tremendous opportunities out there, chances to create a bigger future for yourself and others.

Just don’t expect to hear about them on the evening news.

FA

Strategic Coach offers successful entrepreneurs a unique process for extraordinary growth, higher income, and exceptional quality of life. For more information, please visit www.strategiccoach.com, or call Ah Nan Kim at 416.531.7399 or 1.800.387.3206, ext. 238.