This recent post by Jaime Navarro, of the Fierce Conversations blog, Question Your Comparisons, struck a chord.
She observes the tendency for us, i.e. humans, to observe others with a judgmental eye and do one of two things:
In response to this altogether human characteristic, she asks the question, “How does our comparing ourselves to others help us reach our full potential?”
For financial advisors, drawing comparisons to others can be a reflexive habit. In an industry where assets under management (AUM) and revenues are widely known, it is similarly easy to make judgments about others (or our self) on the basis of these statistics alone.
You may ask, “So what? What does it matter if I judge others?”
As Marilee Adams points out in her intuitively insightful book, “Change Your Questions. Change Your Life”, the judging mindset can easily hijack our future in that it can limit our future to simply being a recycled, rehashed version of the past.
Alternatively, one can adopt a more inquiring outlook. Ms. Navarro’s antidote to the passive and condemnatory outlook is one of curiosity and directness.
For financial advisors, this approach might have many applications that could lead to learning and growth.
We trust this helps.
Want to connect with other successful financial advisors who are forward-looking and growth-focused? Come to the ClientWise Business Builders Workshop™ September 19, 2013. See below for more information: