3 Ways to Define What Motivates You

2. Reflect on what you want from your firm.

Does it look different five years from now? What do you want your daily life to look like in nine months? You need to define what growth means to know where to take your firm in the future.

3. Identify how you're going to accomplish your goals.

Establish concrete, actionable processes to help you create a company that serves your passion while also serving clients.

If you read those steps again, you'll find that they follow a simple process of identifying why, what, and how. Once you have those three keys identified, you'll be on the right track to knowing your company reflects your passions.

What Great Firms Do

The common denominator among truly great advisory firms I've worked in and with over the years is they put their people first.

If you know your "why" — like, for instance, helping middle-class families retire well — then putting your people first becomes easier. You know that by empowering your people with your vision, you are making it easier for them to serve your clients in the way you want.

But there are times when an owner's personal motivations (like a desire for more money or more fame) can stop a company from reaching greatness. They get stuck in serving their own desires and lose sight of what their company and their people need from their leader.

When you put personal motivations aside to serve people first, you will find that a positive loop occurs. By serving the business instead of yourself, the firm — and employees — will serve you in return.

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Jarrod Upton is COO and Senior Consultant at Herbers & Company. He brings over 16 years of experience in management strategy, client experience and operations consulting to advisory firms. He can be reached at [email protected].