What is the elite advisor’s greatest asset? The usual answer to this question is “time,” but I would argue that “energy” is a better response.
Your energy level is critical, and how you manage it determines how you meet your clients’ needs. The amount of time you have is moot if you’re low on physical, mental, emotional, or even spiritual energy.
So ask yourself: On a scale of one to five, what’s my energy level right now? When I pose this question to advisors, the answers I get range from 2.8 to three. That means that many are running on not much more than half capacity.
John L. Evans Jr. suggests ways that advisors can turn stress into positive energy and work more efficiently.
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An elite doctor or lawyer can create boundaries in his or her schedule, and patients or clients will generally honor their appointment or meeting times.
The advisor’s day, meanwhile, is full of frequent and unpredictable disruptions. Top clients tend to feel little compunction about reaching out when the spirit moves them.
The most successful advisors draw boundaries of engagement that are real and fortified. Such boundaries help preserve energy, and they also help ward off the negative effects of stress.
It is almost impossible, of course, to completely eliminate stress from a high-performing advisory practice. The trick lies in turning the forces that might otherwise cause stress into positive energy.
To be a positive force in our lives, stress has to integrate habits from two often-overlooked dimensions of energy: the physical and the spiritual, with the latter defined as having a purpose beyond the self.
Vigorous activity that stresses your body without damaging it catalyzes your energy and helps you work more effectively.
• Volunteer at your local school and teach a disadvantaged child to read.
• Hit the gym for real; build sweat equity in yourself.
• Contribute your time and physical energy—not just money—to charities that mean something to you personally.
Taking steps like these will add the right kind of stress to your life, enabling you to work more effectively and derive greater satisfaction from your work.
John L. Evans Jr., is executive director of Janus Labs Professional Development, a practice-management consulting division of Janus Capital .