Are you really this successful?

Let’s possibly ruffle a few feathers today!

I listened, fascinated, as Duncan Parkes expressed his views regarding the perennial discussion…
Financial Advice Vs Financial Planning.

Duncan is the architect of ‘Power Planning’.
An approach championed by the PFS Power brand… and the PFS Practitioner Panel.

And the clearest explanation I’ve seen yet about what defines a Financial PLANNER (as opposed to a Financial ADVISER).

(I’ll explain WHY it’s so different… later)

Meanwhile, here’s my take on that difference…

I find that Financial ADVISERS tend to look at the universe through a lens shaped by years of training, experience and habits developed in a ‘Measurement World’.
A world ruled by metrics.

The language in this world displays the underlying thinking.

Because ‘Success’ tends to be measured in self-focused aspects like:
– New ‘Client Cases’ won
– Size of assets acquired
– Initial revenue achieved
– The value of our client book.

They rejoice in their clever reorganisation of money; the use of complex financial instruments and cutting-edge fund strategies.
They rejoice in their own work.

(And it boggles my mind that there are firms out there who still infantalise their bright, skilled, emotionally mature adults…
by pitting them against one another on a Performance Leader Board!

“This is how you measure Success here.”
Really?)

Financial PLANNERS, however, tend to look at the universe through a lens shaped by OUTCOMES.
That is, the Outcomes that unfold in the minds, hearts and lives of their clients. (That’s what ‘Power Planning’ is about)

Their ‘Success’ is measured by:
– their clients’ new clarity, comprehension and confidence about money;
– their clients’ transformed, inspired views about shaping their financial future
– their clients’ rejuvenated feelings about their possibilities in Life!

Financial PLANNERS rejoice in the stories that clients now tell about themselves.
And their language reflects that client-centric thinking and behaviour.

“What then,” you ask “of qualifications. You know, Chartered, Certified. Surely, THEY define that I’m now a real Financial Planner?”

Well, maybe it’s a start.

To, once more, quote Ruth Sturkey: “Our Financial Planning qualifications are a Given. They’re a Hygiene Factor.”
And they’re merely the ‘ticket to the game’.
They’re not the ‘game’ itself!

Let’s wrap this up.

These two Beings (Financial ADVISERS and Financial PLANNERS) live in very, very different worlds.

In the next few years… it’s likely that you’ll see one world fading away.

I wonder.
Which world are you living in right now?

And…

How do YOU measure your Success?