The best boss is no boss at all

And those who have been in the business the longest were the most vocal.

‘We are independent business people,’ says a broker for RBC Dominion Securities Inc. in southwestern Ontario. ‘We are grown men and women and I don’t think that managers help.

‘If you do not know what you are doing in the business by now – in my firm the average age is in the 40s – then how can you expect a manager to motivate you?’

Others described the ideal boss as one that stays out of the way, yet is there to provide counsel and guidance when needed. ‘Sort of like a university professor,’ says a Merrill Lynch Canada Inc. broker in Manitoba. ‘If you want to learn, all you have to do is listen. If you don’t want to learn, he should still be teaching, but it is your choice whether to tune in or not.’

Gordon Gibson, national sales manager at Lévesque Beaubien Geoffrion Inc. in Montreal, rebuts that. ‘Those who say that managers are not needed should take another look at the by-laws of our industry. It is a required legal obligation. Somebody has to sign off.’

Some of the most colourful opinions were reserved for producing managers, who oversee staff while also handling clients, and their counterparts, the professional managers who concentrate on administration. While brokers, like most people, would love to work in a manager-free environment, they have definite views about whether one type was better than the other.

Producing managers have too much power and wield it to their own benefit, says a Merrill broker. ‘The managers in our business are the worst kind of managers because they are very driven by money. I have found that when someone leaves, the producing manager will always take the best crop of the accounts that are available. It happens all of the time.’

There is a definite conflict between trying to be a broker and a manager at the same time, other brokers say. ‘I don’t see very many advantages to being a producing manager. They have a very tough workload,’ says a Nesbitt Burns Inc. broker in Calgary, adding that the best broker doesn’t necessarily become the best manager.

‘The qualities that make him ‘hot’ for one job do not necessarily make him great as a manager. In fact, sometimes they are in total conflict’ as personal and corporate goals collide.

‘If you are the most successful person out there, you are cutting through the swath with the objective of achieving your goals. But if you are also carrying the mantle of a manager, then whose goals are first?’ the broker asks.

Gibson says it’s a matter of organization – and of structuring the compensation so there is enough leverage on the branch manager.

Other brokers argue, however, that a producing broker at least understands their jobs. One of TD Evergreen Investment Services Inc.’s Western brokers says she receives no particular benefit from having a professional manager. ‘The manager I had was in charge of two branches, so he never had extra time. I don’t think that having a producing manager is much different. They know a lot more about being a broker and they don’t bother you too much because they have their own book.’

A Toronto broker for CIBC Wood Gundy Securities Inc. says most professionals want a manager who will have time for them when they have a problem. ‘The rest of the time they want the kind of manager who will often come up with proactive ideas on how to streamline the business or improve it. There will always be sales managers who make a difference and others who simply do not.’

Gibson looks up to managers. ‘To work in today’s market is hard … you have to be a master of the financial markets, of business development and of administration.’ Gibson thinks Lévesque has struck the right note; 98% of Lévesque branches are run by producing managers.

‘Just making sure you have the right people in place with the proper compensation packages makes sure the job gets done , and done thoroughly,’ he says.