In this feature article in the latest issue of NAPA Net the Magazine, some of NAPA’s Top Women Advisors talk about how they lead in complicated times.
“In any crisis, that’s when the real leaders rise to the top,” says Eva Kalivas, senior vice president at New York-based EPIC Retirement Services Consulting, LLC, a division of HUB International. “A time like this is when people really get an idea of, who do they want to be in the foxhole with?” she says.
“We have the opportunity to serve clients and participants in one of the most difficult environments that we’ve ever seen,” says Susan Shoemaker, senior vice president at CAPTRUST in Southfield, Michigan. “If somebody has a problem, we will be there for them—and they know that.”
Here are 10 lessons they’ve learned:
1. Keep Your Focus
Nicole Corning started her career in the political world of Washington, D.C., aiming to help people, and switched career paths when she became disenchanted with Washington’s focus on winners and losers. “To me, it has always been about helping people,” says Corning, managing partner at Buckman & Corning Financial Strategies Group in Scottsdale, Arizona. “And it’s not only about helping people with $10 million: It’s about helping small and mid-sized employers do right by their employees, and giving employees the tools they need to retire in a dignified and meaningful way.”
That mindset helps during a time of upheaval, she adds, because “it shifts the focus away from, ‘How is this affecting me?’” Corning and her partner Perry Buckman started their practice in November 2019, just a few months before the pandemic began. “Helping sponsors and participants navigate these awful times helps you elevate your game,” she says now. “Practically speaking, it helped us that earlier this year there were so many changes that plan sponsors needed to be aware of, with the SECURE Act and CARES Act, and we needed to get that information to them. That helped us to get through mentally, because we were less focused on, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening with our practice?’”
Read the full article here.
