Why did you become a female financial advisor?

Was it your dream as a young girl?

Did you wake up one day and say “When I grow up I want to manage investments and people’s life savings? “

Or did you just fall into this career accidentally?

If you are like 95% of the female advisors out there you fell into this position never dreaming this would be where you end up and sometimes wondering how the hell did I get here.  In reality very few women planned to become an advisor, most simply fell into this position following a job or career change.

So perhaps the better question is once you entered the world of financial advising why did you stay?

This is an extremely challenging career, there is no stable income, you build a business from scratch, the decisions you make can make or break the lives of others and on top of that you are one of a few women in a sea of men with a few good olde boys on the fringes spoiling the environment.  Added to this environment the training you received was designed with men in mind, built around the unique strengths that men bring to the table, not exactly a style that works well for women.

You spend your career adapting to a model that never really considered your strengths as a woman.

Contrary to what society would make us believe incorporating women’s natural strengths into a business building model is not rocket science. It begins with building relationships first a skill set that is engrained in the nature of women.

The traditional approach to “selling”  is replaced with inspiring a more natural process to furthering interest. And lastly instead of “closing” the client,  efforts are spent motivating the client to move forward with clarity and transparency. This new model designed with women in mind will be fully embraced by both genders and the unique styles of future generations.

While it would be nice if the industry recognized there is more than one way to building a successful financial practice and supported a model more conducive to women, waiting for the industry to change is a fruitless endeavor.  

Women must embrace their difference now and begin incorporating their unique strengths into their business and daily activities today  in order to accelerate success.

STEP 1

What are your  strengths as a woman and how are you incorporating those strengths into your daily business building activities?

I have spent the past 15 years traveling the country speaking to thousands of financial advisors and regardless of the gender when I ask “What are women’s strengths?” the answers are the same:

Nurturers, multi-taskers, communicators, relationship oriented, community minded, givers, strong, organized, dependable, good networkers, listeners, prudent…………

These are just some of the typical answers I hear.  While women share many  of the same characteristics  it’s important to identify YOUR natural strengths. Take a moment and list them here.

My Strengths as a woman:

Once you have identified your strengths the next step is about learning to embrace these strengths while understanding how each unique characteristic can both enhance your business growth and sometimes even play a role in deterring your ability to succeed.

The purpose of this exercise is not to change you or force you to temper your natural tendencies in order to fit an archaic model.

The key is recognizing what business building activities are best suited to enhance your strengths while at the same time minimizing activities that undermine your ability to build a successful practice. 

With most personal characteristics there are always two sides to the same coin.  Those that are perfectionists can also become procrastinators, nurturers are great at connecting with prospective clients but may hesitate to move the prospect to take action.

Understanding both sides of your coin can eliminate road blocks and clear your  path to accelerated growth.

STEP 2

Using your list of “strengths” Identify both the positive and potential challenge these strengths can pose in your desire to succeed

When you can learn how to leverage your strengths as a woman in a positive way building a successful business will become easier, more effective and ultimately more rewarding.

Ready to unleash your strengths as female financial advisor?

At Adri Miller Heckman we know that when you build your business, process and marketing strategy around your strengths as a woman amazing things happen. Your passion and enthusiasm for what you do is immediately rekindled. You will begin to see that what you thought was possible, what you dreamed you could accomplish is right there at your fingertips.

During the month of March we are opening our 3 month Power Coaching program to women in financial services who are ready to unleash their strengths as female financial advisor.

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