Surely… We Should Have Seen This Coming!

I couldn’t let this pass by, could I?

30,000 of us in Sussex, Kent and Surrey…
without fresh water…
for five days.

Five.

(If you think this is a tale about water… think again.)

Within hours, every supermarket within fifteen miles had sold out of bottled water.

Traffic gridlocked. Water stations overwhelmed.
It became quicker to walk…
until you realised you still had to carry the weight home.

And suddenly…

Flushing a toilet…. Making a cup of tea… Washing your hands.

All of it became effort.

We were pushed… hard… into survival mode.
And as I watched it unfold, one thought kept returning:

“This is what happens when comfort masquerades as readiness.”

For business leaders – and particularly for Financial Planning leaders –
this story matters far more than it first appears.

Because the real damage didn’t come from the lack of water.
It came from the assumption that it would always be there.

Yes… there was good.

Just like during Covid lockdown…
our Felbridge Close community pulled together quickly.

WhatsApp lit up.
Neighbours checked on one another.
Those who had resources shared them.

Wendy and I opened up our store cupboard… and our rainwater barrels.

Community won.

But the uncomfortable truth remains:
Most families were hit hard.

Not because they were careless.
But because they weren’t ready.

Their stable, first-world, comfortable existence was dismantled… within hours.

And in a financial planning world now changing at breathtaking speed…
that fragility has a very clear parallel.

Be aware…
What I’m about to describe is not a technology problem.
It’s a leadership problem.

December 2022…
ChatGPT first entered the UK media conversation.

December 2025…
almost every seminar, conference, workshop and webinar was referencing it.

Just 36 months.

That’s all it took for this technology to weave itself into everything… everywhere… all of the time.

This week, those two themes – life-giving water and AI – collided for me
during a full day spent with a high-profile financial planning leader.

His opening remark landed heavily.

“If you still think we have thirty six months before it’s impact reaches your business…
You don’t.

I give it twenty-four months.

By then your technical financial planning expertise will be done faster… better… and more accurately…
by a Large Language Model.

If you believe your USP is your technical skill…

you have just twenty-four months
to remain relevant.”

He paused.

Then added…

“If that sounds alarmist,
read the histories of Kodak… Nokia… Blackberry… Blockbuster.

Massive success. Then irrelevance… almost overnight.”

There was one note of comfort.

“Clients in their late sixties, seventies and eighties
are unlikely to turn to AI for financial advice.

But – and this matters – if you believe those in their forties, fifties and early sixties aren’t already questioning your ongoing fees…
when all you’re offering is portfolio oversight…

Then you’re not paying attention.”

So… what now?

The quietly wonderful truth is this:
We already KNOW the answer!

Because what’s at stake here
is not software.

It’s two human capabilities.

The first is deeper CONNECTION.

Not politeness.
Not surface empathy.
Not being “nice”.

But a depth of engagement that helps another human think more clearly…
feel more understood… and make better decisions.

That discipline already exists.

It’s called COACHING.

And it’s no longer optional.

The second is LEADERSHIP.

Not management.
Not process control.

But the ability to lead people whose technical certainty is being disrupted.
Helping them stay relevant, confident, growing and psychologically safe.

How well you do that will define where your firm stands
two years from now.

24 months.

Seeing what’s coming… and acting early.

That’s how you flourish.
That’s how you serve better.
That’s how you stay relevant.

That’s the Soul Millionaire way.