Suddenly a Leader

GAMA resources can help you be a great one

How did you get started as an advisor? I came up in a traditional career agency model. Someone recruited me (convinced me) to take the plunge into a commission-based career, leaving behind the certainty of my salaried position. Over the years, I’ve heard many advisors’ origin stories. They’re unique, of course, but many are very similar to mine.

Here’s what it looked like for me. In my early years as a financial security advisor, I was supported by layers of management, training, and camaraderie. I enjoyed it and I feel it was the most significant reason I found success as a young advisor. The transition into management came naturally. I simply moved from receiving management support to providing management support to the advisors who were in the early stages of building their own careers in the industry. I already knew very clearly what that support needed to be.

However, we operate in an evolving industry. Regulation, educational rules, and consumer expectations have changed, largely in a positive direction, and we are all in the midst of a shift in how we offer advice and service to Canadians. Gone are the days where an advisor can manage a plethora of clients and be mostly reactive to their needs.

At the same time, leadership in financial services is changing. As an increasing number of advisors build their own firms and teams geared toward offering a more holistic approach to the planning process, they’re thrust into the role of leader while continuing to manage their own practice. All of a sudden, they’re finding themselves heading up boardroom meetings and strategy sessions and covering off areas such as succession planning, client segmentation, and team accountability — to name just a few.

There’s an exciting rush that comes with independence from traditional mindsets and models — but there can also be some uncertainty without access to in-house guidance and mentorship in all kinds of areas. Today’s advisors may feel they need to essentially reinvent the wheel as they work to engage and motivate their teams. I’m here to say that isn’t necessary.

You Are Not Alone

What hasn’t changed is that there is a real art that goes with the science of leading and managing people. More than ever, I’m having conversations with advisors about that art and science based on solid principles on how to lead a team that have stood the test of time. I love these conversations and the impact that comes from thoughtful dialogue, talking strategy, and sharing what I’ve seen work (and not work) in so many other teams and firms.

For over a decade, I’ve volunteered with GAMA Global Canada, and I feel it’s time to reintroduce my industry colleagues to what GAMA (formerly the General Agency Managers Association) can do for you. GAMA is an organization that prides itself on developing leaders and giving advisors access to tools and training that will directly help them and their practices. This organization has allowed me to develop my own leadership skills, given me international speaking opportunities, taught me best practices, and provided the camaraderie I value so much with peers across Canada and internationally.

Traditionally, it was a field manager representing an insurance company who recruited, trained, developed, and led financial advisors. More often now, it’s an experienced advisor leading the team. With this change, I believe we need to shift our mindset on who is a leader in our industry. I challenge financial advisors who find themselves leading a team to access the resources offered by GAMA.

Here’s some of what I’ve learned through my involvement with GAMA. Leaders need to devote time and energy to:

• Establish a proper cadence of communication, including carefully considering how, when, and through what medium they communicate

• Ensure alignment with the firm’s vision and values, including facilitating 360-degree feedback that incorporates conversations about team members’ vision, values, ideals, and goals

• Agree on working parameters, including understanding how each person works best and what blend of office time, face-to-face time, and digital time is mutually acceptable

• Acknowledge that feedback is a gift that lets teams grow together, including building in appropriate feedback mechanisms that help to establish individual and team paths forward

Looking ahead to 2024, in an industry that continues to evolve, needs succession planning, and demands leadership more than ever before, start planning how you’ll explore all the ways GAMA can help you and your team progress from good to great.

Reach out. We can help.

JASON MCMAHON, B.Comm. M.Sc., CHS, CFP, is the president of GAMA Global Canada and a regional vice-president in Ontario with PPI.