It occurred to me while reading it, that a similar phenomenon exists when you’re building a team. The people you choose to bring on board have a great impact on what you do collectively as a team. Each person’s attributes, characteristics, choices, and beliefs affect the environment of your team. So how do you know who to let into your room? It starts by determining your core values through an exercise that takes you through the experiences you’ve had in your life where you felt most proud or accomplished, and from there determine what values guided you in these situations.
For financial advisors, I’d encourage them to do a similar exercise, but with questions that pertain more specifically to their businesses. What values and common traits come up when you consider the following set of questions? If you don’t have a relatable business experience, think of something in your life that closely parallels it.
Go through these questions by yourself, and then with your team. See where the overlap exists in your answers, both from question to question and between your answers and your team members’ answers. What traits, values, themes and characteristics do they share and how do you see these as playing into the dynamic of your future team, or not?
Once you’ve determined your core values, write them down and put them in a place where they are readily apparent to you and your team members. Consider these carefully when you are in a place to welcome new team members, clients, or centers of influence into your room.