Author Archives: Noel R. Vincent

Principle 7: Clients Aren’t Clueless

When a prospective client comes in for her first visit, she usually has an idea of what she wants to accomplish – find a new advisor, get the portfolio in order, make a good return, retire. Something like that. Where she’s in the dark is in how to make good investment decisions, and she probably doesn’t know how she has been making them up till now.  If she had a handle on that, she wouldn’t be coming to see me.  She has likely spent her life investing in a career or caring for a family. In either case, she became an expert at something, just not investing. No shame here. I don’t know anything about music theory, or chiropracty, or engineering, or delivering babies, or whatever she devoted her life to. Since I am a reputable trained professional in my field, she has rightly decided to give me a test drive.

Her portfolio is often simply the result of several poor advisor relationships, some self-doctoring, a little neglect, and a whole lot of happenstance. My best chance of helping her lies in teaching her to become a more sophisticated investor and walking with her down a proven financial planning path. I can never let the cart get before the horse. There is a process.  Her natural inclination may be to unknowingly try to circumvent that process by misdirecting the relationship or asking for things out of order, because that’s how she’s done it in the past. I must break that cycle to really help her. I must stay the course. Step 1, step 2…etc. If I let her fly the plane, we may never get it landed.

Never Make a Proposal

Plenty of prospective clients come through the door looking for a proposal. They say things like, “Why don’t you work up some suggestions for me to consider?” Or, “Before I bring my accounts to you, I want to know what you are going to do with my money.” Honestly, I can’t blame them. They’ve lost money elsewhere, or they’ve been neglected, or they’ve been burned. In any case they’re cautious, and they should be. But, I don’t want to propose something that gets an up or down vote. I want to get hired. Products, proposals, and plans come and go, but I want to be their advisor 10 years from now.

When someone makes a proposal request, I have a standard reply. “The reallocation of your portfolio will be a collegial process that will take several meetings over the next few weeks. We will work together to put your accounts in order. I won’t pat you on the head and send you home while I make all the decisions. We’ll do it together. There will be material for you to review and many discussions that will need to take place concerning your specific goals, investment risks, and product features. I am your coach, but you will be the quarterback, making the final decisions on the field. At the end of this process, you will be pleased with the result.”

The point here is that clients can develop the skills to become good investors, and thereby, good clients. But, you must have a well thought out decision-making track and the willpower and self discipline to keep everyone on the track, the client and yourself.  Quality client relationships take time, invest it.

Principle 6: You Can Do More…

…Than You Think You Can

This is going to sound like boasting. Well, it is, I suppose. No way around it (as if this entire blog is not just one shameless self-promotion after another; makes me want to vomit just thinking about it). But, it’s for a good cause. I want to show you something. So, here goes. In addition to running a $100 million wealth management practice (which I built in 10 years with the Lord’s guidance and blessing), owning and managing a stand alone tax and accounting practice, which I am building through acquisitions, and maintaining a top 5 advisor production rank at my broker dealer (where I also serve on its investment committee and travel bi-monthly to its home office in San Diego for 2 days of meetings each time it convenes), I head coach elite level youth baseball two seasons per year (which includes 2 evening practices and 2 evening games each week night), write two blogs (one personal and one business), serve as Associate Director of World Hope Bible Institute (for which I travel internationally more than 60 days per year and keep office hours at its headquarters on Mondays), attend Biola University, a private Christian college in Los Angeles, as a full time student (taking 9-12 hours per semester) where I am about half way through an executive Master’s degree (not an online program, as I have to travel to Biola for lectures 4-5 times per year), homeschool my 9th grader, am an avid bird hunter with my sons and dogs, and am currently restoring two vintage cars, a ’65 Thunderbird and a ’69 Cutlass, both convertibles. Except for travel and baseball, I am home very night. I attend all my kids’ events when I am in town. I vacation with my family 3 or 4 weeks a year, and so on.

No Superman

I heard that Muhammad Ali once refused to fasten his seatbelt on a flight. When the flight attendant insisted he do so, he quipped, “Superman don’t need no seatbelt.” The flight attendant replied dryly, “Superman don’t need no airplane.” I’m no superman. I’m just organized and efficient. True, I hate being idle. But, the more I add to my plate, the less I am involved in trivia, like watching television, mowing the lawn, surfing the Internet, or daydreaming. I once was asked by the Gideon Society (those folks who put the Bibles in hotel rooms) to become a member. When I complained that I already had too much to do, they said that that was why they’d invited me. The man said, “Busy people get things done.” I instantly knew it was true and could not come up with a reasonable defense. I joined and served three years until I stepped down to enroll in seminary (ministers could not be members, and I wanted to be more involved in ministry). Just after our son was born (our daughter was 5 years old at the time), my wife became ill with a serious neurological disorder and was bedridden 24/7 for six years. During this time, I sold my first business (a regional annuity distributor with 200 advisors and staff and offices around Texas), enrolled in seminary where I completed my undergraduate studies (earning two degrees in theology while carrying a 3.8 GPA), planted and grew a community church (acquiring and renovating a small Bingo hall/beer joint for its use), started and built my present wealth management firm, cared for my wife, and raised our two kids. My in laws, and especially my mother-in-law, who lived nearby, were indispensable during this time, and I am very grateful for them. You can do more than you think you can. A lot more.

Principle 5: Fools Rush In

When it comes to winning new clients, Elvis got it right: “Wise men say only fools rush in.” I actually know people who pride themselves on what they call the “One-Call Close.”  The One-Call Close method of selling seeks to make a product sale to a client in the very first meeting. It is also called “Low-Hanging Fruit Selling.” The idea is to get in, get what you can, and get out. These amateurs are nothing more than cheap salespeople, not financial advisors. They give our industry a bad name. The very idea is arrogant beyond description. I have heard some of these people boast of getting one over on the client, manipulating them into a snap decision. It’s a form of conartistry. Back in the day, they were called confidence men, because their stock in trade was their ability to convince people to trust them long enough to be fleeced by them. These people remind me of those young men we’ve seen on the news lately who walk up to people and punch them in the head, trying to knock them out cold. It is some kind of barbarous game to them. One-Call Closing is not a game, and it is not financial planning. We are dealing with people’s life savings, and they deserve our care and respect. ‘Fools rush in’ works both ways: advisors and clients should take their time before they jump into a relationship.

Don’t Kiss on the First Date

The shorter the process for winning new accounts, the more it’s about the advisor.  The longer the process, the more it’s about the client. Longer is better. New prospective clients have to meet with me at least 3 times before I will agree to take on their accounts. They can walk into Merrill Lynch or Fidelity Investments and open up a million-dollar account on the very first visit. But, I don’t kiss on the first date, or the second, or the third. In the first meeting, I simply gather information and book a second.  In the second meeting, I identify the problems in the portfolio and book a third.  In the third meeting, I explain my investment philosophy.  That’s it. If they want to hire me anywhere along the way, I demur. Even after the third appointment, if the prospective clients have decided to hire me, I send them home to think it over. If they still love me in the morning, they may call the office and book a visit (not with me) to meet with the staff to complete the paperwork to open their new accounts and bring over their assets. This is a hard rule in our firm. We may discuss a decision in a particular meeting, but we may not execute the decision in the same meeting. Clients, for their own good and for ours, need time to consider their options in order to make the best decision.  I don’t want my practice built on manipulation.  If I deliver in the first three meetings, there is a good likelihood that they will want to work with me. If they decide not to, it was probably my fault. I don’t want to sell products; I want to win accounts.

Winning New Clients

People like buying, but they don’t like being sold. Don’t manipulate them into a decision they may later regret. Instead, win their minds and hearts with a thoughtful and substantive process. Create anticipation and desire. Take the time to show prospective clients that you’re not just another pretty face. Showcase your planning skills, your knowledge of the markets and the economy, and your sincere interest in their future before doing business with them. How many advisors has the average investor ever met who requires 4-6 hours of meetings over 3-4 visits before accepting an account? An average of none. Want to land a big a account? Slow down. Want to win the whole account? Take your time.

Principle 4: Hire Attitudes, Teach Skills (Part II)

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe

Got more than one super candidate for a position?  Don’t be fooled by appearances.  Some people just don’t have a sense of style. You can change appearances by establishing a dress code and watching it closely.  Look for desire instead.  If I have two people vying for a position, and I can’t decide, the one who wants it most is the one who gets it, every time. Sheer desire can carry a person a long way in life.  Candidates with desire will work harder and achieve more.  They have purpose that you can neither enhance nor diminish.  Capture it and give them an opportunity to make something of themselves, and your practice, along the way.

Finding the Best Candidates

By far, my two preferred methods of finding good people are referrals and the local jobs ministry.  Every single advisor, staff member, and professional on our team came from one of these two sources, from the operations manager and the controller to the attorney and the receptionist.  Looking for that next new team member? Put the word out. Tell everyone you are in the market.  Tell your staff, your clients, your neighbors and friends.  Tell your colleagues, tell strangers, and especially tell your family.  When you have occasion to discuss your standards and requirements with those who could potentially send you a referral, remind them that your recruiting decisions will be business decisions and nothing more. No nepotism and no favors.

Our local jobs ministry is run by a church in our area. Each Wednesday morning, around 500 out of work job seekers gather for an uplifting talk, testimonies of people who have found jobs through the ministry, individual career counseling, and training in résumé writing and interviewing skills.  Toward the end of the program, local employers take the stage and give brief descriptions of positions they are looking to fill.  Interested candidates form a line to the side of the meeting hall and do a recruiting form of speed dating with the employers.  Employers can have short talks with candidates, collect résumés, exchange business cards, and schedule formal interviews.  We have hired no less than 7 of our current staff members through this ministry.  It delivers.  Find one in your neck of the woods and check it out.

Working with Family

I once fired my mother-in-law.  We are great friends to this day, but she wasn’t right for the position.  If you hire people close to you (like family and friends), make sure they understand that you are running a business, not a social network where they will have special privileges. You are prepared to “un-friend” them at the first clear indication that you’ve made a mistake in hiring them.  It doesn’t mean you want to end the personal relationship.  In fact, make sure before you hire someone close to you that the person understands that your personal relationship is more important to you than the business relationship.  If the person won’t be able to handle being fired, and the personal relationship will likely suffer casualty, don’t make the hire in the first place.  Pass.

People say ‘never work with family.’  Nonsense. Family can be some of the best hires you will ever make.  They know they can trust you, and their interests are aligned with yours.  My brother worked for me for 5 years and did a terrific job.  My father in law joined one of our businesses when he retired from a 30+ year career with a single employer.  He was amazing. My cousin has been here for 6 years, and is still going strong.  He’s been promoted 3 times and now runs our business.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

The first time it glances across the edge of your consciousness that you should fire someone, that is when you should.  When you keep someone on too long, you destroy the morale in your office.  Your staff know who the slackers are.  They know who the incompetents are.  They know who’s looking out for their own interests and ignoring yours.  And, they will resent it if you don’t take swift action. Trying to rehabilitate staff members rarely works. Once the attitude has left the building, the concert is over.

Lastly, don’t feel guilty for firing someone. When you let someone go, you open the door for someone else.  Someone loses a job, but someone else gains a job.  Income stops flowing to one household, but starts flowing to another household. It is a zero sum game.  The person who lost the job is now freed up to find the perfect position.  You’ve done the person a favor, your staff will love you, and you will finally get the person you really need.  Everybody wins.

Principle 4: Hire Attitudes, Teach Skills (Part I)

Not sure where I heard this, or if I made it up myself.  But, it’s a winner. Everybody deals with staffing issues.  In most cases, the problem lies not in the skills, but in the attitude of the person hired.  You can change someone’s skill set, but you cannot change someone’s attitude.  The attitude comes with the recruit.  Start there. You can build a good set of skills on the solid foundation of a great attitude and end up with a terrific staffer over time.  That’s how you build a winning team.  Be patient. If you can pick up just one or two good people a year, you are doing well.

Idiots and Savants

97% of the world’s population is of average intelligence.  3% are roughly divided between idiots and savants.  I know, I know, you’re saying, “We don’t say ‘idiot,’ because it’s insensitive and crude.”  Lighten up.  Would you prefer I had said “mentally challenged?” Don’t get caught up in nomenclature. There isn’t time for it.  We loathe political correctness here.  Idiot is a perfectly good word and aptly makes my point.  Most people are not idiots.  And, most people are not savants.  Most of us fall in the 97%.  You will recognize the idiots right away when they come in for an interview, and the savants will not be applying for a position in your firm, so don’t worry about them.  Bottom line: pretty much everyone you meet that has a great attitude is a potential great recruit.  Look for that extra special something in the attitude department, and when you find it, snatch the candidate up fast before someone else does.

Phone Voices are In

The first thing I want to know about a potential new recruit is, “How’s the phone voice?”  If the caller is demur, speaks in a low voice, is hard to understand, uses slang, or seems to be put out with the idea of looking for a job, I keep searching.  If the caller is bubbly, professional, and speaks with good diction and grammar, that candidate has cleared the first hurdle. When someone else in the office is screening candidates for me, I give the same instruction: “Only send me candidates who sound like they’re having a great day.”  Callers responding to an advertisement or a networking lead are putting their best foot forward on that initial call to your office.  If they can’t cut it on the call, they won’t cut it on the team.

Résumés are Out

Résumés are only useful to a point.  We’ve all hired people with impressive résumés, only to be disappointed later when their true attitudes were revealed. Most of the skills you need your staff to be proficient in can be learned on the job.  Look at résumés at the end of the interview, not the beginning. And, beware of screening initial interview candidates by their résumés. If they made it over the phone voice hurdle, let them attempt the interview hurdle.  If someone rubs me the wrong way in an interview, it’s over.  If they have a great attitude, I am thinking, “I could train this person, I could work with this person.”

I once hired a Fuddruckers counter clerk.  She impressed me with her can-do attitude when serving my family one afternoon.  After our meal, I went back up to the counter and asked her how much she earned.  I interviewed her the following week and hired her on the spot.  In terms of sheer productive output, she was the best staffer we ever had.  She didn’t even have a résumé.  If she had, it would have listed hamburger flipper, dental hygienist trainee, and stripper.  Who knew?

Principle 3: Don’t Use the Boss’s Brain (Part II)

Quarterbackus

Okay, so you have an illness.  Almanacus-Quarterbackus Syndrome. It’s bad, but you can fully recover.  We’ve already addressed your Almanacus (being a walking desk reference set for your staff) problem.  Now we will address your Quarterbackus (making all the important decisions for your staff) problem. This is going to be fun.  I feel like a spiritual chiropractor.  I am cracking my knuckles as I type.

I know how tough it is to think you are the smartest person in the room and that you should make all the decisions in the office.  This is pride in one of its ugliest forms – vanity.  It’s nice to show off how smart we are, but it kills the drive of those around us, and it severely limits our success to the boundaries of our own capacities.  We need to be about empowering everyone around us so that we all become superstars.  Don’t hog all the glory.

I am a detail-oriented (obsessive-compulsive) control artist (freak) with ADD/HD (Attention Deficit Disorder compounded by Hyperactivity Disorder).  I am self diagnosed and not on meds.  Pray for me.  My mind runs at 100 miles an hour, and I hear lots of voices (all of which are my own, of course).  One day, my cousin and Operations Manager, Dustin Martin, gave me one of his ADD pills (ADD apparently runs in the family).  Within minutes, all the voices in my head stopped.  There was nothing but silence in the background of my brain for most of the day.  I could not believe how focused I was.  I have never sought a prescription for whatever that med was, but there are those around me who would probably pay for them if I’d take them. Sorry, I digress.

What I’m saying is, I know what you’re dealing with.  You don’t trust other people to make key decisions because they don’t know what you know.  They don’t have your experience.  They don’t think through issues and problems the same way you do.  It isn’t their business that’s on the line.  There’s your trouble.  You are thinking little, instead of thinking big.  Your people are not empowered. In 30 years of managing people and building businesses, I have learned that the most effective decision-making tool I can give my team is a thorough understanding of the principles by which I run the business.  When I teach them my principles, and require that they adopt them and employ them in every aspect of their work, I am giving them a perfect framework for successful decision making.  That’s empowerment.

Now, this does not mean that they will always arrive at the same conclusion or decision that I would have, given the same information.  But, that is not what matters.  Give ten talented and experienced executives the same set of data and circumstances, and they will not all come up with the same decision, even if the decision is a simple yes or no.  But, they will usually still find success through the decision they made.  That is because they will, more often than not, make their decision work for them.  Everyone brings different training and experience to a decision.  But, if you give your team the principles to make their own decisions, they will make their decisions work in their paradigm of experience, training, and control. I have seen this countless times.  I am not the only one who can make a good decision and make it work.

Of course, some will err along the way.  But, that is an investment in their training.  You have to be willing to take risks with your staff by giving them the parameters (your principles) for making decisions and then giving them the room to make mistakes.  Risk takers are profit makers, as the saying goes. If you don’t give your people the tools and the freedom to make decisions, you will never grow your business beyond the limits of your own capacities.  When you delegate decision making to others, it is not with reckless abandon.  It is in the controlled and predictable environment of your careful tutelage of their business skills. Teach them how to make decisions, and watch them soar.  Everybody wins.

Principle 3: Don’t Use the Boss’s Brain (Part I)

You Have an Illness

Okay, so you’re the one with most of the knowledge and experience in your office, and it’s all too tempting to answer every question and make every decision for your advisors and staff. I call this Almanacus-Quarterbackus Syndrome. You have allowed yourself to become everyone’s almanac or quarterback. Your first thought is, well, since I know the answer or can cut through the data and make the decision, it will save everyone time if I just give it to them. The problem is, it is not your role to save the staff time; it is theirs to save yours. You are the million-dollar thoroughbred. Your staff must learn to research their own answers, and you must empower them to make their own decisions. Every new team member goes through a learning curve with me.  A usual exchange goes something like this.

“Hey, Noel.  How do I [insert task]?”

“Don’t use my brain.”

“But, I don’t know how to [insert task]!”

“I’ll have to charge you, and you may have to sign a lease agreement.  I am not sure you can afford the rent on my brain.  It is very high.”

“Huh?  Why can’t you just tell me how to [insert task]?

“Because I’m teaching you two principles: 1. my time is best spent seeing clients, and 2. your job is to keep me in the conference room.”

“Gotcha! Where do I go for the answer?”

“Attagirl!  Now you’re catching on! Contact [insert person with answer].”

It takes a little time, but eventually the new staffer gets it and starts to assimilate into our culture.  When she does, it is then that she really starts to become useful.  If she doesn’t get it, she needs to be replaced by someone who will.  This may sound crass, but the best thing I can do for someone who can’t get it is release her so she can find the right position for herself; one where she will be able to get it and become a productive part of a team.  I owe it to her, and I owe it to my team.

Almanacus

Ever find yourself answering the same questions for the same people, over and over again? You have become a thumb-indexed, quick reference set. Why should anyone remember the information you so happily provide? They will continue to return to the well until the well runs dry. Look, you’ve hired some pretty smart folks.  They are very capable, or you would not have recruited them. Better that you stop answering questions about operations, new business processing, interest rates, dividends, home office policies, technical financial terms, etc., and send them scurrying off to find their own answers. This will cost them considerable time and effort that they will not be willing to spend a second time on the same information. When you say, “No,” you are investing in their education.  When they find their own answers, they will become their own almanac.

How did you learn to use a dictionary?  Your mom probably refused to answer the question, “Gee, Mom, how do you spell [insert any word here]?”  Instead of telling you how to spell the word, she told you to, “Look it up for yourself.”  While this seemed unusually cruel and lazy on her part at the time, the result was that you developed the skill of not only looking up the spelling of a word, but you also gained the knowledge of the definitions of those words.  You can thank your mom for your dictionary knowledge and skills.

Now, let’s be clear.  I am not suggesting that you should refuse to train your staff.  Of course, they will need to be trained.  But, your involvement in their training should be strictly limited to the basics of the position (duties, expectations, etc.) that simply can’t be handled by anyone else.  If there is someone else in the office, or at the home office, or at the vendor’s or carrier’s office, who can train them on the rest, let those other people handle it from there.  Your job is done. Once the initial training is complete, which includes learning where to go for information, turn them loose to get their own answers.  You’ll be doing them and yourself a favor in the long run.

Stay tuned for Part II…

Principle 2: Walk in Your Priorities

Ever get down to the end of the day and feel like you didn’t get anything done, or that you didn’t get the most important things done? Ever realize you’re late leaving the office, but the day’s distractions and emergencies hijacked your time and sapped your energy, and so you feel defeated? You’re suffering from  a serious mental disorder known as tyrannus insigificantus (I made this up.). You live under the tyranny of the insignificant. You need to stop this killer dead in its tracks, before it kills you. Every task you elect to undertake in a given day falls into one of four categories:

1. Important and Urgent
2. Unimportant and Urgent
3. Important and Not Urgent
4. Unimportant and Not Urgent

Urgent tasks can’t wait, non urgent ones can. Important tasks are those which produce income. Unimportant ones don’t. Guess which category you should live in? I will give you some time to reflect on this question. While you’re thinking about it, consider these points. First, you should never do anything that is unimportant. If something unimportant must get done, hire someone else to do it. You’re the rainmaker in the practice.  Rainmakers should never do things that are unimportant.

At the end of 2013, I divided the fees and commissions I generated for the year through my own personal production (I excluded my associate advisors) by the number of actual appointments I had for the year, and then divided that number by 1.5, since that is the number of hours I allow for each client appointment. The result? I earn an average of $2,439.02 per hour when I am in my conference room.

When I take a vacation with my family or travel for missionary work, the real cost is hardly the airfare, hotels, food, and entertainment we spend. The real cost is $2,439.02 for each hour I am not in my conference room. Think about it. If I am out of the office for just four business days (I don’t work Mondays), and I miss 12 appointments, the cost is $43,902.36. Two weeks costs me $87,804.72.  Three weeks is $131,707.08.

I am not going to waste time changing the toner cartridge in the printer, answering the telephone, or paying the bills. Someone recently asked me how much was my average electric bill.  I said I hadn’t a clue because I had not seen one in years. I don’t even want to waste time signing the checks. My controller has a rubber stamp of my signature and uses it to sign the checks. Now, right there, some of you are saying, that’s a good way to get ripped off. I say paying your own bills and signing your own checks costs $2,439.02 an hour. Delegate  these responsibilities.

Delegation requires trust. You have to trust others or you will never grow your business beyond yourself. Now that we have agreed you will no longer do unimportant tasks, we have eliminated options two and four above as candidates for the category in which you should live.

Second, you should never allow an important (that is, income producing) task to become urgent through procrastination, poor planning, or neglect. The best time to do something important is right now. You must guard yourself, and this requires self-discipline. It’s easy to want to be available to everyone, and answer all their questions and make all their decisions, since you’re the boss, and you know everything. Avoid this thinking. There is no efficiency in your being everyone’s almanac or quarterback. New staff members are often taken aback when they ask me trivial questions or want me to weigh in on a decision about some non critical matter, and I respond with, “I’d check with [insert new staff member’s name] on that.” After momentary confusion, it registers that I am telling the inquirer two things: “Don’t ask me to get involved in unimportant matters,” and “Handle it yourself.”

If you are continually focused on performing only important (that is, only income producing) tasks, little, if anything, that is truly important will ever become urgent. Avoid creating urgencies by never performing unimportant tasks. There is always time for the important tasks, if you avoid the unimportant ones. Now that we agreed you will never allow an important task to become urgent, we have eliminated number one above as a candidate for the category in which you should live. This leaves category number three, this is where you live: Important, but Not Urgent.

Principle 1: Fly by Your Instruments

Who could forget the iconic image of young John F. Kennedy, Jr, on his 3rd birthday, saluting his father’s casket as it was carried from St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C. in November of 1963? John F. Kennedy, Sr., President of the United States, had been cut down by an assassin in the prime of his life.

Or, who could forget how John, Jr. would die, along with his new bride, both so young and beautiful, in a plane crash in the prime of their lives? John, Jr. was the pilot. Expert investigators concluded that he lost his bearings and succumbed to vertigo when his plane crashed near Martha’s Vineyard. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that Kennedy lost control of his aircraft when descending over featureless water with no visible horizon on a hazy night. As a small aircraft pilot, Kennedy was not certified with an instrument rating, meaning he was not trained to fly his aircraft under such conditions.

He should have relied on his instruments to guide his aircraft on that fateful day. Instead, he relied solely on his senses, also known as Visual Flight Rules (VFR), to fly his plane. When he lost his sense of direction and balance, the only thing that could save him was experience and proficiency in flying by his instruments. Had he been trained to use them and rely upon them, he and his wife would have survived. But, because he relied on his natural senses alone, and tried to do what “felt right” in the moment, he crashed. His lack of preparedness resulted in a senseless and preventable national tragedy.

Your principles are your instruments. Identify them, become proficient in them, and use them constantly. And, when the haze, darkness, and confusion of ethical temptations, business misfortune, or personal difficulties cloud your path, you won’t lose your equilibrium and crash like John F. Kennedy, Jr. Instead, you’ll fly straight and true and reach your destination. When you are confused or in the dark, what “feels right” will often be the wrong thing to do. Intuition and experience should never trump your principles. What “feels right” must be checked against your instruments, your principles. If the principles win, your clients win. And, when they win, you win.

Your Values Drive Your Principles…

You need a good set of core values. “Values” – a Middle English word with a French root that comes from the concept of valor.  Values (valor) are the attributes that give strength and honor to the character.  Memorize this:

Values drive principles, principles guide decisions, decisions become policies, policies dictate actions, and actions produce results.

Everything starts with core values.  Your values are the individual components of your character.  Character matters, above all.  Character trumps everything, including wealth and happiness,  and it ultimately triumphs in every worthwhile endeavor.  Your character is your last word, your lasting legacy, and your final defense.  Your character is who you really are when no one is looking.  It’s who God knows you to be, and a good character satisfies like little else in life.

Values

Mine come from my Christian faith. Honesty, faithfulness, excellence, self-discipline, industry, personal responsibility, diligence, self-control, generosity, and hard work, to name several.  If you do not have a good set of values, then your business, personal, and spiritual life will founder and will eventually end in shipwreck.  If you’re not a religious person, you may already be developing a distaste, and perhaps even a distrust, of this post and my blog.  But, let me ask you to keep your prejudices in check, and give this material a chance.  There is value here for you.

Values Drive Principles

If honesty, for example, is a core value for you (and it should be), then tell the truth.  It’s really that simple.  Telling the truth is a principal.  Resolve to tell the truth in every area of life.  If you become a truth teller, you will be respected and trusted.  And, more importantly, it’s the right thing to do.

Principles: Rules of the Game

Break the rules, and you may find yourself ejected from the game.  Follow the rules and win.  Tell the truth. Keep your promises. Work hard. Treat people with dignity and respect.  Set a high bar.  Demand excellence from yourself and others.  These are some of the life-defining principles I will explore throughout this blog.  I will also explore some lesser-known principles, such as “Don’t Use the Boss’s Brain!” and “Hire Attitudes, Teach Skills.”  Every principle I share will apply to you right now, right where you are.