Change is inevitable and even if you’re doing well, no doubt there are opportunities missed if you are not trying new things. So to grow and even keep up as a plan advisor in an increasingly competitive industry tasked with the daunting challenge of helping people prepare for retirement, we need to constantly challenge ourselves, embracing — not ignoring — change.
Case in point: I usually go to conferences and industry meetings were I know the vast majority of the people — and most of the people I don’t recognize know me. Earlier this month, I went to the GRP conference in Phoenix, where I knew almost everyone. Then last week I went to the DC Institutional Investor Association (DCIIA) meeting in Palm Beach, where I knew only about half of the attendees — making progress, I thought. Then I hit the jackpot — I headed to Denver to speak at the Mile High SHRM annual meeting, where I knew literally no one and almost no one knew me! There were 400 people there, either HR professionals or vendors selling benefits and other HR related services. Though my ego took a hit, I learned more and probably did more business than at the other conferences.
For plan advisors stuck in the regular tour of industry events, where you are well known and perhaps even fawned over, ask yourself, “Is this really good for my business? Am I learning anything I didn’t already know? Did I meet someone new? And though it’s good to catch up with old friends, was this a good use of my time?”
Another example: While in Denver, I met with two DC industry providers I rarely, if ever, visit. One meeting was just okay, while the other was a home run — yielding an opportunity that I never could have imagined if I had not stopped in.
In his new book The Click Moment, Frans Johannson emphasizes the importance of randomness, explaining how a chance meeting revived Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Johannson explains: “In today’s market, the rules are changing so fast… and multi million-dollar insights can strike anybody, anywhere, at any time. In short, randomness is taking over. The Click Moment is the first in-depth study of how randomness, serendipity and, yes, luck are the new normal.”
So if your days are scripted and you only do things that you’re good at or comfortable with, it’s a sure sign that it’s time to make a change. Because if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
