The financial advisory business has been described as \u201cthe best-paid hard work there is,\u201d and I agree. The rewards, both psychological and financial, are significant, but usually achieved only as a result of diligent effort, perseverance and dedication to the belief that the work has value and meaning.
Nowhere was this better proven recently than in the market meltdown of 2008-09. My observation, as a professional coach, was that during that period, financial advisors generally fell into one of three categories.
The first I labelled \u201cmissing in action.\u201d These MIAs simply have dropped out of sight; most have not resurfaced \u2014 and the industry is better off without them.
The second group were the \u201cfrozen in the headlights\u201d crowd \u2014 they didn\u2019t know what to do, so they did nothing. And much like the proverbial deer in similar situations, these advisors got run over by the stampede of their clients on their way out the door.
It was the third group, the \u201ctough get going\u201d crowd, that not only survived \u2014 it prospered, at the expense of the other two groups.
What separated the winners from the others was the acceptance of what had happened; the decision to do something about it; and the determination to turn adversity into victory. Those are the same qualities you will find among the 50 graduates of the School of Hard Knocks profiled in What I Have Learned So Far\u2026 And How It Can Help You<\/i>, written by veteran industry observers Paul Bates and Al Emid.
In the few pages for each \u201cgraduate,\u201d we learn of the challenges faced and overcome and the lessons learned by some well-known personalities, athletes, politicians, business owners and others \u2014 as well as by some who are not household names but perhaps should be.
Take for example, comedian Colin Mochrie, who has been called \u201cthe busiest performer in show business today.\u201d This situation is a long way from the time when Mochrie and his family were running out of money and had to accept that their life dream of living and working in the TV-land of Los Angeles was falling apart, forcing them to return to Canada. The Mochries did so, but with newer, bigger dreams that now manifest themselves in Colin\u2019s huge popularity and success; but, most important, also with strength in family that may not have revealed itself but for the difficulties they endured.
Everyone remembers the famous Crazy Canucks downhill ski team of the 1970s that propelled Canada onto the international skiing stage. And, of those team members, few were as well regarded as Dave Irwin. Unfortunately, in 2001, at the age of 46, Irwin suffered a severe brain injury in a crash that left him in a coma for three days, with doctors saying he had little chance of survival. Yet, today, 10 years later, Irwin continues to improve, a little at a time, and he is optimistic he will one day make a full recovery. In his words: \u201cGod gave me a big gift. He gave me life. I don\u2019t want to give it up. So, let\u2019s go do it.\u201d
Forty-eight other stories of bravery, fortitude and doggedness are told within the pages of this book. Some, like those of Olympic rower Marnie McBean and boxing champion Mario Lechowski, highlight life lessons learned from sports. Others, such as former Toronto mayor David Crombie, reveal what they have learned from the world of politics. Some who are profiled have had to cope with death of family members, addiction, sexual abuse, bankruptcy, being fired from high-salaried jobs and the trials of entrepreneurialism. The message from all, however, is the same: fight back.
Here are some of the lessons these achievers want to pass along:
> Live life consistent with your values.
> Never fail to ask for help.
> Define \u201csuccess\u201d according to your own terms.
> Never let the guilt of past decisions haunt you.
> You\u2019re not going to make other people happy about what you are doing unless you are happy doing it.
> When recovering from an injury, you have only one job \u2014 to get better.
> There is no \u201cpicking up the pieces\u201d of the past. There is only the future.
> Opening the trauma to the light begins the healing process.
> All you have after a crisis is your behaviour during the crisis.
> If you stand up and take a position, expect to get shot at.
> Your best work is done when it is done for a cause in which you believe.
The bottom line: most crises have solutions; what matters most is your ability to recognize the solution and implement it.
Think about that the next time an investment fund underperforms, head office imposes a new rule, the government changes the tax rules or a big client leaves. Put it in perspective and heed these lessons from the School of Hard Knocks.\tIE<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Those who have graduated from the School of Hard Knocks have faced and overcome some serious challenges. Here\u2019s what you can learn from their experiences<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3013,3018],"tags":[2401,3027],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316833"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316833"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316833\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":363267,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316833\/revisions\/363267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316833"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmentexecutive.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=316833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}