The wealth advisor’s checklist

The Brief
This post comes from the RelSci 5, our weekly newsletter for and about wealth management advisors. Its curated articles and insights revolve around a different theme each week and will help you do your job better. This week’s theme is Leadership. 


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1. Trust this face. Used to be, you had the luxury of a full 60 seconds to make an enduring first impression on clients and employees. Well, we’ve all been living in a fantasy world. Turns out that 50 milliseconds—the swiftest glance—is all it takes to judge a person’s trustworthiness, based solely on facial features. (Not even facial expressions.) Fortunately, it may be possible to circumvent anatomy with a mere smile. If that doesn’t work, take comfort in that many investors gauge the trustworthiness of potential advisors through the internet or referrals, before they ever clap eyes on them.

 2. Fear and self-loathing. There’s risk aversion, and then there’s the average CEO. Fears over late-stage career failure can paralyze leaders, freeze innovation and inhibit company growth. Know where your weak spots are—and where the weak spots in your career cycle lurk.

 3. Let’s hear it for the girls. If Barclays’ behavior is any indication, it’s time you started paying more attention to female CEOs and hedge fund managers. In July, the investment bank created an index solely for companies with female CEOs or with at least 25 percent female board representation. It’s based on a recent slew of research that shows companies and funds led by women perform significantly better than those led by men.

 4. Leadership 101. Speaking of female bosses, when Business Insider released its list of “7 Powerful Women To Watch In 2014,” we were struck by how deftly these players crossed sectors and industries to create innovative products, solutions and social change. A big part of their success is due to grit and intelligence, but when we took a look at their relationship capital, it became clear that all seven are skillful networkers as well. Who you know still means something.

 5. Just because. Regardless of your title or level of experience, we can all learn a little something about leadership from an early career Kanye West performance. Here are three lessons from the man himself.


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