A Special Program for Top Advisor Teams
Over the years, I’ve enjoyed sharing my toolkit with thousands of the best wealth management leaders across the industry.
Here are six observations that can challenge how advisors think about their team.
Here are six observations that can challenge how advisors think about their team.
Your Greatest Assets Under Management Are Getting Coffee
Top advisors should be proud of what they’ve built. But once the business’s financials are strong, the next level of achievement and joy won’t come from more AUM. There is a second class of assets you manage: your people. Investing in stronger team cohesion provides the greatest future return. It’s the one thing no one else can copy, and it can make the years ahead of you feel like your best years yet.
Focus on the HOW
Maybe you’ve heard that your team needs a stronger purpose (WHY), greater talent (WHO), or a new growth strategy (WHAT). The real key to improving team performance is the HOW — how you relate to each other. The best teams have a deep shared feeling of safety and trust that makes everything they do better. Most teams (even the industry’s “best”) are underinvested in the HOW.
You’re Managing a Farm, not a Factory
In a factory, engineers optimize parts. On a farm, ecologists optimize relationships. Advisors don’t build cars. You’re in the relationship business. Strong relationships (the HOW) require Sun (appreciation), Rain (empathy), Soil (psychological safety), and Fire (adversity). The more people on a team who think and act like ecologists, the stronger the whole team grows.
Advisors Typically Overestimate How the Team is Doing
Top advisors often think “everyone’s happy here.” On 150 surveys of top teams, I’ve never seen everyone happy all the time. A junior partner is resentful about comp. An associate feels unappreciated. Things get swept under the rug, and senior leadership is often the last to know. The only way to be sure that everyone is aligned is to build more transparency and feedback into your team’ meetings.’s
Avoid Downside Capture
Smart investors know that it’s more important to capture less downside than more upside. Average teams capture a lot of downside — anger, frustration, resentment. This affects performance, well-being, and morale. Be an active manager of your team. Teach people how to handle conflict and disagreement more effectively.
A Partner Offsite Isn’t Enough
For real team growth, every advisor, every relationship manager, every associate, and even the interns need the same framework and toolkit — appreciating each other’s strengths, supporting each other’s weaknesses, and making team ecology your competitive advantage. Investing in your team is not a liquidity event. It’s dollar-cost averaging — little contributions every week that compound powerfully over time. That’s how a team grows organically.
Ready to help your team grow?
“The Ecology of Teams for Wealth Management” is a suite of specific skills that helps your entire team grow together. The training takes place online, on your own time, and is supported through special team exercises and virtual “office hours” with Andy Bernstein to ask questions, share problems, and hear success stories from other top teams.
We’re currently sharing a beta version of “The Ecology of Teams for Wealth Management” with a small group of the industry’s best teams. To express interest, contact us.
Contact Us
We’re currently sharing a beta version of “The Ecology of Teams for Wealth Management” with a small group of the industry’s best teams. To express interest, contact us.