Can you think of the people who have most impacted your life?
There are five people you meet in
Heaven. ... Each ... was in your life for a reason. You may not have
known the reason at the time, and that is what Heaven is for. For
understanding your life on earth.
- Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Hyperion, 2003
I don't even remember his name. I hardly spoke to
him. He, most likely doesn't remember our encounter. Nevertheless, his
influence on me was immense. It was 1981 and he was a financial planner
and a CFP practitioner who earned his living by giving people objective
advice and charging them a fee. I had never heard of such a thing. I
was a field vice president for John Hancock, attending a meeting of the
Norfolk, Va., agency. He was a guest speaker attempting to establish a
referral source with life insurance agents.
It was his description of financial planning,
however, that got my attention. Something told me that this was a
profession that would grow and flourish. Moreover, I wanted to be a
part of it. After a failed attempt to convince other general agents in
my territory to adopt financial planning, I decided to do it myself. I
took over an agency in Cherry Hill, N.J., and registered my RIA, RTD
Financial Advisors Inc. That was 23 years ago.
After it became apparent that John Hancock was not
ready for financial planning at that time, I left and started my own
independent firm in Philadelphia in 1985. The rest, as they say, is
history. I would like to thank this person for the influence he had on
my life, but I do not know how to find him. (Perhaps he is reading this
column).
* * * *
In 1990, my office lease was about to expire in
Philadelphia, and I needed to make a decision about renewal. We had
built a financial planning firm that was organized more like an
insurance agency and required about 4,200 square feet to accommodate
all of our associates.
However, I sensed a need to change what we were
doing. While we were practicing financial planning, I felt that we were
still too product-oriented. I had built, it seemed, a sales
organization, not the professional practice I craved. Is this why I
left a lucrative career at John Hancock, I asked myself. Moreover, I
was unhappy. For the first time in many years, I was not excited about
going to work in the morning.
I wanted to make some changes in the way we did
business, but was concerned about the bottom line. That is when he came
to visit me. Once again, I do not remember the name of this person who
is partially responsible for the firm we have built over the years. His
occupation was a sales consultant, and he called on me to convince me
to have him conduct a sales training program for our associates.
While I liked him, personally, and invited him to
visit me, I did not feel that sales training was what out firm needed
at that time. I confided in him that I was not very happy and wanted to
make some major changes in the firm (such as de-emphasizing product
sales and concentrating on fees for service), but several of our
associates objected. He offered his help. He asked me with whom I had
discussed these issues. Our associates and my wife, I told him.
He advised me that I needed an objective opinion,
and the people I was talking to have a stake in the decisions I make.
He could be that person and he would charge me an hourly fee to help
me. The deadline for renewing our lease was approaching, so I agreed.
After several meetings, he asked three
critical questions. But he first told me to ignore any cash flow
concerns when I answered the questions. "If you had your way, who would
you want to see in the morning when you arrived at the office that
would make the experience enjoyable once again?" Excluding support
people, I gave him the names of four people.
"Ideally, how would you organize the firm?" I told
him about the fee structure and other initiatives I would implement.
"How do those four people feel about these changes?" They agree, I responded.
Then, he told me, you need to do the following:
(1) Find a place for all of those associates that are not supportive of what you feel you need to do.
(2) Reduce your office space to accommodate you, those four associates, your support staff and modest growth.
(3) Implement the changes you want.
(4) Don't worry about the cash flow-it will be there
because you will be surrounded by people who share you values."
I followed his advice, and those four associates eventually became partners.
* * * *
He came into my life when I was 28 years old and a
newly appointed supervisor in the Philadelphia John Hancock Agency.
Vince Bohwers from Buffalo was just named the general agent in this
agency and introduced himself at a meeting of the management staff. I
had only been in the insurance business for four years, but my ambition
was to be a general agent. The former agency head had just accepted a
position as regional vice president, and I was quite apprehensive about
this new person. I had a very good relationship with the other general
agent and was concerned about my future, which was now in the hands of
someone I knew nothing about.
The first lesson he taught me was how to take over a
situation where many people were concerned and make them feel
comfortable and confident about their situation. While everyone would
not go on to reach their ambitions, he believed that people needed a
positive environment in which to work if they were to achieve their
maximum potential. He was right. Seven supervisors in the Philadelphia
agency went on to become general agents. I was one of them.
What was so impressive about Vince was that he
hardly ever told us how to act. He demonstrated it. So I used the
lessons I learned from him when I was appointed general agent in
Trenton, regional vice president in the Southeast, general agent in
Cherry Hill, and, finally, founder of RTD Financial Advisors in
Philadelphia. Creating a positive atmosphere that is conducive to
success is the key to leadership and building winning organizations,
and I emulated Vince.
Throughout the years, when faced with a difficult
situation, I would ask myself, "How would Vince handle this?" Even when
I acted out of "instinct," his influence on me has been apparent
throughout my career. People who have been a part of my organization
probably assume that my leadership style is unique to me. Actually,
they are paying a compliment to Vince without knowing it. I am sure he
was proud to observe the successes of the people he mentored. It is
like watching you children emulate your values because they are now
their values.
As much as Vince helped me to develop a successful
management style, that was not his greatest influence on me. Again, by
demonstrating it on a day-to-day basis, he showed us that nothing was
more important than honesty and integrity in dealing with everyone with
whom you come in contact, whether they are prospects, clients,
employees, business associates or anyone else. In addition to it being
the right thing to do, in the long run, it is good for business.
Vince was also a giver. He gave to his family, his
agency, his community, his clients and his industry. He served as
national president of both the General Agents and Managers Association
(GAMA) and the National Association of Life Underwriters (NALU). He
participated and chaired many committees and was a great influence on
the industry he loved. Later in his life he received the prestigious
"John Newton Russell Memorial Award," awarded to someone who has given
great service to the insurance industry (equivalent to Financial
Planning Association's P. Kemp Fain Award). In this area, Vince may
have had his greatest influence on me. In 1994, I was considering
running for a spot on the IAFP National Board. I had just completed my
term as local president in Philadelphia. Frankly, I was leaning against
it. I was still trying to build a business and I didn't think I had the
time.
My wife, Peggy, and I were invited to a retirement
party for Vince in Boston (he was living there at the time) and we
attended. At the party, a video presentation of Vince's life was shown.
It recounted all of his accomplishments and service. It also helped me
to recall the lessons he taught me about service and, once again, he
influenced my life. And he did not need to say one word. I turned to my
wife and said, "If you will support me in this, I will run for the
Board." She agreed that it was something I needed to do. Unfortunately,
Vince did not live to see me become president of FPA, but I know he
would be very proud of how I was living his values because the were now
my values.
Perhaps there are five people that we all may
encounter in Heaven, as suggested by Mitch Albom. However, there are
those who we know have had a profound impact on our lives, and we
should reflect on them from time to time. The lesson we can all take
from these experiences is that we may not know when we are influencing
others, and may never know, as the two unnamed people about whom I have
written. I would like to believe that I have lived my life so that
someone may say of me, "He was one of the people I met on Earth that
has made a difference in my life." It is a worthy goal for all of us.
Roy Diliberto is chairman and founder of RTD Financial Advisors Inc. in Philadelphia.