Leadership Interrupted - Leading Teams During Tough Times

Political turmoil is not your business. But it does affect it. Recent government quick turns and upheavals have sent seismic waves through the market. It would be reasonable for leaders of financial advisory firms to think their only job is to help steer their teams through choppy waters back onto their strategic direction. Yet, advice to leaders on how to manage themselves in disruption may be off base for those working highly regulated industries, such as financial investing.
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For example, in the new article How to lead yourself during disruption published in Smart Brief, author Marlene Chism tackles the tough topic of how to chart your own course during disruption.^[1] Their thoughts can help financial firms consider how to take strong steps towards stability – for themselves, their business, and their employees. Chism is no stranger to uncomfortable topics. She regularly writes about managing anger, admitting mistakes, and managing conflicts to improve leadership skills. Her newest work in SmartBrief addresses five key principles around self-leadership during times of disruption, including understanding how stress impacts impulses, embracing imperfection, pushing past self-imposed limits on confidence, trusting your gut over listening to subject experts, and controlling your mindset by disengaging from media. Each one of those pieces of advice would be poorly applied to those leading teams due to essential compliance issues. Well, except for understanding how stress can impact decision making.
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As we have written before, burn out rates among financial advisors (and their teams) tend to be closer to those in the medical or legal professions, because advisors tend to be those driven to solve problems or who find fulfillment in helping others. In short, the financial advisory industry is populated by those who “go the extra mile.” But that constant extension of energy may lead to mistakes due to fatigue. Back then, we discussed modeling balance for your team as an optimal way to lead during times of stress.
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We have also made that same recommendation for plan sponsors when discussing how to help overloaded employees make better retirement planning choices. We think revisiting those five tips could also help financial advisors lead their teams during this politically heated time. Here are a few of those past recommendations:
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• Evaluate employee extracurricular stress: team leaders may want to start by determining the level of stress and anxiety their employees currently have. Anonymous surveys sent by email can be an uncomplicated way to gather that information.

• Eliminate Environmental Stress: While not every work environment can become spa-like in their tranquility, there may be simple fixes to reduce environmental stress. One straightforward way many companies using open floor plans have solved noise concerns is to move all jobs with functions that heavily rely on phone interaction to a separate room. Some employees may have simple, low-cost suggestions (such as fixing overhead lighting or adding live plants to common areas).

• Engage Outside Interests: Employees may have more positive interactions with their coworkers if they share common interests. Fostering those common interests with time for clubs or groups at lunch can help reduce stress. While at first this may seem like a budget breaker (extra catering?), the costs can be as small as allowing a conference room for lunchtime knitting, an after-work chess club, or a shower for the early morning running group.

• Emphasize Employee Assistance Programs: By making mental health, and the causes of strain on mental health such as financial or legal matters, not taboo subjects, team leaders can reduce the stress on employees. Team leaders can emphasize employee assistance programs by sending emails to employees with reminders on how to use the program, using case studies to show how employees may benefit from these programs, and having flyers in bathrooms or stairwells so that employees can access information anonymously.

• Elevate the Communication game: Regular performance reviews, clear and consistent task assignments, and a clear mission and vision are all key points that help employees feel stable in their jobs. Team leaders may want to review (or generate) their internal communications plan. This can help employees feel both stable as well as engaged in the strategic plan.

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As always, consulting with compliance and legal counsel is the best first step towards any leadership plan.

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^[1] How to lead yourself during disruption - SmartBrief

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‍These articles are prepared for general purposes and are not intended to provide advice or encourage specific behavior. Before taking any action, Advisors and Plan Sponsors should consult with their compliance, finance and legal teams.

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