Reboot your career to one with purpose as a financial adviser.
Gee Foottit, St. James’s Place Financial Adviser Academy
‘The Great Resignation’, a phrase coined by American Psychologist Anthony Klotz to describe the mass exodus of Americans from their roles in the latter part of the pandemic, has come to represent a broader shift in what people look for in their careers. The experience of COVID-19, for many, has caused a rethink; a closer examination of how we make a living and how our career aspirations relate to our own values and sense of self.
So many of us are now seeking a career with purpose.
Understanding your ‘why’
If you are asked to describe a career with purpose, working as a financial adviser might not be the top of your list.
But perhaps it should be.
The best financial advisers are those who understand the value of what they do – their ‘why’. Not just in financial terms but in the difference they can make to an individual’s life.
As a financial adviser you will be supporting big ticket decisions. Your clients will need you to understand more than just the numbers. They will need you to recognise their challenges (and their opportunities) and support them through some often challenging times.
So much of a career as a financial adviser is about relationships. Building trust, credibility, empathy. It wouldn’t be difficult to find purpose in a career that valued these attributes.
Recognising the needs of a diverse and changing audience
Financial advice is changing because the world we live in is changing rapidly. Our priorities, our expectations for the future and our experience of recent world events are changing the way we live our lives.
We can all benefit from financial advice. But the nature of advice will be different depending on the circumstances of each individual. Age, gender, life stage, income, family, background, culture and personal beliefs are just some of the factors which will influence the advice that people need. As an adviser, you’ll need to recognise these needs, be able to empathise and even mirror your clients. Your advice will need to be current, relevant, and appealing. It’s about drawing on your own life experience to give advice that clients from all backgrounds want and need today.
Supporting people with life changing advice at personal crossroads
As a financial adviser, you will work with people at crucial crossroads in their lives, supporting decisions which can be lifechanging. You might help support when and how someone buys their first home, how they move on financially after a relationship breakdown, how they plan for their retirement or what their legacy looks like for their children.
These decisions can be emotionally charged, made at a time when people can feel vulnerable or not know which way to turn. What they need from you as their financial adviser is clarity, integrity, guidance. They will need you to open their eyes to opportunity, to risks and explain in simple terms what their choices are.
Put yourself in their shoes
The ultimate test of emotional empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. In the case of a financial adviser, this is your client. What is their situation? How might they feel? What are their needs? What help do they need? What’s important to them? How can the advice I give them make a difference to their life?
Empathy and emotional intelligence are essential skills for a financial adviser and a crucial part of the job.
In my view, a career as a financial adviser is very much a career with purpose and one which can reward in so many ways.
If you are looking to reboot your career to one with purpose and see financial advice as an option, find out more here.