As we come into the week of the FPA conference – the biggest event for financial planners for this year, I encourage those of you who are attending to do something very different than what we normally do in our day to day business lives.
Rather than show up, small talk and network, while showing your ‘best’ face to the world, I urge you to show up and be vulnerable. By that I don’t mean lay around spilling your deepest darkest thoughts – but rather, to be honest about the impact the Royal Commission, FASEA and the continued media criticism has had on you personally.
I know many of you well, and I have to say I have sympathised many times at the massive upheaval advisers are going through, and the challenges that lie ahead in maintaining a profitable business while up-skilling education levels and adapting to the new legislative environment.
Its not easy, and I very much doubt that any adviser has breezed through so far feeling unscathed by all that has happened and is continuing to unfold. By being vulnerable and honest about the emotional and physical impact all this change has had, it gives others permission to do the same. To share in a collective pain and take courage and strength in the fact that they are not alone.
Too often in life we all put on our ‘best’ faces in the public eye – and social media has amplified it on a grand scale. We look at other people and think their life is easy, they have it made, and that the things that affect us are not touching them at all.
It is only when people give themselves permission to be vulnerable and honest that others feel free to do the same. And it’s in this environment that we feel free to exchange ideas, and new ways of thinking that could possibly lead to a much easier way of moving forward.
I know from my own experiences, whenever I have allowed myself to be vulnerable in the public arena, I have always been surprised by how much people have responded to it and appreciated it. I recently spoke at a business women’s breakfast on the Sunshine Coast. My topic was reinventing money and how to turn your financial life around. When I told the audience how much debt I was once in, and the number of mistakes I had made with money, after their audible gasp, they started to voice their own mistakes and fears. Pretty soon I had a room of 120 people who wanted to share their pain, their mistakes and their learnings. That was a very impactful and inspirational room to be in, and I know real change happened for many.
I will be going to the FPA to see the mood for myself, and learn from you, my peers. If you see me please feel free to come tell me how it’s going – for I truly believe in what you do, and the power you have to change the lives of Australians who need you. If I can help and share your learnings I will. I hope to see you there.
Until next time
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