Signs of a Good Boss

Even if you are a young, self-employed financial planner right now, there’s a good chance you’ll have to hire someone down the road. Maybe you’ll grow your business into a large firm with multiple planners, or maybe you’ll just hire an assistant or paraplanner to help you manage your workload.

Either way, it’s important to plan ahead and start honing the skills you’ll need to be a good boss. Knowing what makes a good boss is essential even if you never decide to hire anyone – it can save you from staying in a toxic work environment where you are working for a bad manager. If you want to be a good boss, here are some places to start.

Be flexible with your clients

Before you ever hire anyone, you can improve your interpersonal skills with your clients. One of the most important personality traits when it comes to working with people is flexibility. It’s vital to accept that people are all different and that you can’t just choose to work with one specific type of person, whether that’s an employee, colleague, or client.

I recently participated in a presentation where I got into a very interesting conversation with a fellow financial professional. This gentleman had a single-minded focus on serving one particular type of client. He had a vision of the ideal client he wanted to work with, and he had a very strong opinion on how he should serve this particular client.

The problem was that his vision of the ideal client was so narrow that he had a hard time finding anyone who fit his vision. And when he did, he was so set on his own preferences for working with them that no one in the arrangement was very happy.

Clients are individuals who all have different needs. It’s fine (and smart) to identify the kind of client you prefer to work with in general, but that definition needs to be broad enough to be realistic. For example, you may prefer to work with young entrepreneurs, but it would be hard to build a business just serving 25-year-old tech entrepreneurs who meet a specific threshold of wealth and want to communicate solely through email.

Remember that you need to be flexible in how you serve your clients too. It’s not realistic to expect every client to max out their retirement contributions or use a specific type of budgeting or planning software. You need to be willing to meet your clients where they’re at and provide the type of support they need.

Trust your employees

Most of us have experienced bad bosses at some point in our careers. At my very first job, my boss insisted on installing a security camera in every office. It was such an uncomfortable situation!

The man I met at the conference had trouble hiring and keeping good employees. And the problem again came down to his inflexibility. He had excessively strict standards for his employees and was so set on doing things his own way that he refused to listen to any new ideas or innovations from the planners he hired because he knew without a doubt his way was the best and only way.

He wanted employees who would just do their assigned tasks and then go home. No innovation, no new ideas, no discussions about how to serve clients better, no seat at the table. He viewed his employees as objects to use rather than valuable individuals with skills and aspirations.

Surprise, surprise – he had a hard time keeping people on at his firm. That sort of work environment is a recipe for burnout, and it’s a perfect example of how not to be a good boss. People need to be in a place where they feel listened to and where they can make real contributions. As a boss, it’s your responsibility to create that type of environment.

Create opportunities

Finally, it’s important to support your employees in their careers. That means encouraging them to learn and grow their skills. Give more responsibility to a dedicated paraplanner. Allow one of your planners to try a different approach with a client. Ask for new ideas, and then take the responses you get seriously.

Maybe you decide to cover the cost of a conference or continuing education course. Perhaps you develop a mentorship program that allows new planners to get guidance from seasoned professionals. There are countless options – the point is to give your employees the resources to improve and the opportunities to apply their new skills.

Build a solid team

The first step toward being a good boss is checking your perspective. If you view yourself and your employees as a team, you’ll create a healthy work environment. If you’re just focused on trying to get everyone to conform to your preferences, you won’t find many people who are willing to work with you long-term.

When people feel respected and valued, they are more productive and happy. If you want that positive environment in your firm, it has to start with you. Be open, be flexible, and build a team based on respect and trust

Have you worked for a great boss – or a terrible one? What are the signs of a good manager? Let me know in the comments!

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