What Good Leaders Already Know

No one likes to be micromanaged and a conference room filled with professionals with driven, Type A personalities is no place to start. The head of a small, but well-connected planning practice tried to dictate to the people in his firm and outside partners how they should do their work, in effect giving them assignments that he would then assemble into a plan. He was possessive of his clients and shared the minimum information. Rather than getting collaborative solutions, he essentially hired skilled professionals to do piece work. Not surprisingly, this approach always led to strife and short-term working relationships. In a well-functioning team, members can express their views in an atmosphere that also encourages debate and allows for some wrong turns on the path to the right solutions. A leader who clearly defines the deliverables from each person, then gets out of the way, creates a productive atmosphere that encourages active engagement.

4. The best leaders demonstrate balance—for example, vulnerability with strength or confidence with humility. "Great leaders don't feel the need to be right, or to be perfect, because they've learned to value themselves in spite of shortcomings they freely acknowledge," says Schwartz. "In turn, they bring this generous spirit to those they lead."

Leadership and collaboration
In terms of advanced planning, the qualities of superior leaders include good collaborative skills. Interestingly, technical expertise is less important than personal chemistry for successful collaboration. In fact, one study ("The Ideal Collaborative Team," Mitch Ditkoff, Tim Moore, Carolyn Allen, and Dave Pollard, 2005) found that candor, courage, timely follow-through, listening, and self-management were more significant drivers of collaboration than were high technical skills or training. It went on to describe good collaborations as being like marriages that run through similar peaks and valleys of connectedness with team members who understand the essential nature of group dynamics and are willing to endure turbulence while emphasizing creative thinking.

Good leaders also know when their instincts are truer than the other members of a group and when to maintain a dissident view. A successful financial planner from Long Island would produce the shortest possible plans and list of recommendations. He knew that almost all of his clients, many of whom were small business owners, would look at the plan once and never again—and they would only agree to proceed if they fully understood how it worked. His colleagues often had stories of detailed financial plans sitting unsigned in their clients' desk drawers. He understood his clients and was a great listener. When the more analytical planners in his office and estate attorneys would suggest complex and probably better solutions, he knew his clients well enough to say when they wouldn't sign off—and a pretty good plan that was signed and implemented was better for the client than a more comprehensive unsigned one.

Creating value by connecting
Advisors and other professionals are always looking at ways to define themselves and their services that differentiates them from their competitors. Many focus on technical specialties, credentials, or experience. Advisors create value, and therefore, potential differentiation, when they show an elevated ability to connect on an emotional level with clients and with the members of a team.
The same emotional competencies that are important in advisor-client relationships also come to serve the leader of an advanced planning team:

1. Demonstrates integrity with honest, consistent communication.
2. Shows client-service orientation by focusing on the client's point of view.
3. Exhibits concern for quality and order to maintain clarity in the planning process.
4. Believes in teamwork and a collaborative approach.
5. Operates with self-confidence and belief in own abilities to meet the challenges of delivering results.
6. Acts to achieve goals of high personal performance and surpass them, while still taking prudent risks.
Source: Morally and Emotionally Competent Financials Advisors Deliver Superior Client Service and Portfolio Performance, Lennick Abermann Group, et. al., 2007

Given the recent turmoil in the financial world and challenges to the client-advisor relationship, "the human qualities are more critical now than ever" says Schwartz. "People are inspired by personal connections to others—not by a list of rules or processes or promises." Inspired people are more productive, too. If you feel truly valued by a leader, then you don't have to spend a lot of energy thinking or justifying your own value. We've all worked with colleagues who have low self-esteem and are compelled to over-compensate for the significance of their contributions.

If you don't feel that need to seek proof of your value, you're freed up to use your energy in a more focused way, notes Schwartz. "If you ask a person how he or she feels when they're performing their best, they'll come up with the same set of answers: 'inspired, positive, focused, engaged, energized and excited.'"