At Senior Market Advisor's 2011 Expo this August, I participated in a panel discussion among the finalists for SMA's 2011 Advisor of the Year award.
One common trait repeatedly emerged within our group: A commitment to professionalism as evidenced by our investment in ourselves, our offices, our staffs and our clients.
In mentoring other advisors nationally, my staff and I find that too few advisors are following that business model. Many still work out of their cars, wasting hours on the road just getting to their prospects. They don't have an assistant and are merely out "selling stuff"—or as my friend Joel Goodhart puts it, "They're in the business, not the profession."
Build a vision
Perhaps nothing illustrates the importance of vision better than the 1929 account of a reporter who was sent to what was then the foundation hole of the Empire State Building. He was there to interview some of the workers about what it was like working on such a massive undertaking. As the reporter approached the site, he saw three men working with shovels and scampered down into the hole to interview them.
"What are you doing?" the reporter asked the first man.
"Digging a ditch," he replied miserably.
