Between Now and Success

Whatever you think about Donald Trump, it's hard to deny his masterful use of persuasion and branding techniques to win over a specific segment of the electorate that propelled him to the White House. Here are six key strategies Donald Trump used in his campaign and how you can adapt them to your business.

Imagine walking into a doctor's office with a bad cough and walking out on crutches, still coughing. That's how Brent Brodeski saw the client experience of financial advisory in 1992 when he co-founded Savant Capital Management in Rockford, IL. "It was kind of like going to the general practitioner, you get a checkup, and he wrote prescriptions and sent people on their way," said Brent. "And people take that prescription and imagine the pharmacist saying, 'No, I'm going to sell you this wonder drug instead. It's more expensive and doesn't really make you better.' That was the problem, the clients had a prescription for one thing and they often were getting something else." On today's pod we discuss lessons Brent learned from diagnosing his clients' problems and devising the best cures for their finances on his way to expanding Savant to nearly $5 billion in assets under management and 13 offices throughout the Midwest:

Nobody can accurately and consistently predict the future but by observing and curating ideas, you can uncover accelerating trends, see things other people miss, and position your business to profit from these upcoming opportunities. In 1982, John Naisbitt wrote a book called Megatrends. It became a huge bestseller and he made the term "high tech high touch" a household phrase that we still use today. Unfortunately, Naisbitt's trends were so big and unfolded over decades that they weren't immediately actionable. In steps Rohit Bhargava. Rohit publishes a yearly book called Non-Obvious: How to Think Different, Curate Ideas and Predict the Future. Rohit says, "A great trend is a unique curated observation about the accelerating present. Great trends are never predictions about the world 20 years from now. Those are most often guesses or wishful thinking." Another trend forecaster, Chris Sanderson, describes trends as "profits waiting to happen." That's clever but to turn trends into profits, you have to act on them. In today's show, Rohit and I discuss some of the non-obvious accelerating trends he sees happening right now. We then talk about how to apply those trends to the work financial advisors do.

Could 3 words be the difference between success and failure for you over the next 12 months? The recent presidential election proved once again that words are powerful. The words that we use, the language that we use has the ability to move people to take action. For several years now, I've taken this idea of "words are powerful' and completed an exercise that I want to share with you. The exercise is this, "Identify 3 words that would set the course, give you direction, and totally excite you as you move through the year and look at them repeatedly for the next 12 months." I started doing this 3 words exercise several years ago after hearing about it from Chris Brogan. The premise is simple. Pick 3 words that motivate you, remind you, and guide you on your road to making 2017 your best year ever. I encourage all my coaching clients to do this same exercise as it helps them stay focused on the most important outcomes for the year. In today's episode, I discuss my 3 words for 2017 as well as review my 3 words for 2016 and discuss how well I executed on them.

If you don't plan your personal life with the same rigor and discipline you do your professional life, your personal life will suffer, says Ed Rapp. As a Group President and former CFO for Caterpillar, Inc. during the financial crisis, Ed was a high-level, globe-trotting senior executive who never forgot the importance of keeping family front and center. Ed and I go back more than 30 years when we worked together at Caterpillar. I left after a few years to go to grad school while Ed quickly moved up the chain and eventually became one of the top 3 executives at Caterpillar. In today's conversation, we discuss his keys to being a successful business executive operating at the highest level, while also being a family man. At the pinnacle of his career, life threw Ed a curveball and I encourage you to listen to this episode to the very end to learn what happened. There are many great lessons in today's show and I'm very grateful to Ed for taking the time to share them.

I just finished my second year of podcasting and the numbers are in. Here are my 10 most popular podcasts for 2016 based on downloads along with a key idea shared on each episode. Grab some coffee and a notepad. It'll spark some ideas.

Your business is under assault from Robo Advisors, technology disruption, Vanguard and Schwab's low-cost call-center programs, the DOL rule, flat markets, and clients who are scrutinizing fees more closely than ever before. Ask yourself… How will you continue to add value in an industry that faces competitive threats and shrinking margins? How will you ensure clients don't fire you if the financial markets experience years of flat to declining returns? Business as usual will lead to a steady and predictable decline in the value of your business. But there is a way you can add predictable and measurable VALUE that doesn't depend on the S&P 500 going up. In today's show, learn how to: Add overwhelming client value. Protect your margins. Get more referrals. Never lose another client. Close the 70bps gap in your value.

"If you want to be an entrepreneur, you have to get comfortable with the notion of failing. Once you get completely comfortable with the idea that you're going to fail, what ends up happening is you build this resistance up and you start to think more clearly," says Anthony Scaramucci. Today's guest, Anthony Scaramucci, is the founder and managing partner of the $12.5 billion alternative investment firm SkyBridge Capital, the host of "Wall Street Week" on Fox Business, and a frequent contributor to major media. His new book, Hopping Over the Rabbit Hole: How Entrepreneurs Turn Failure Into Success, is a primer on how to thrive in an unpredictable business environment. In our conversation, we discuss the ups and downs of entrepreneurial life, the key lessons learned on his road to success, and we even sneak in some conversation about the DOL Rule and the presidential campaign.

Shockingly, you might be able to generate more alpha for your clients by helping manage their career than you can from investing or financial planning. Today's guest, Michael Haubrich, CFP®, created the concept of "career asset management" as a way to help add additional value to his clients using an asset that is typically neglected by financial advisors. The idea is by helping clients manage their career and earning potential, you can not only help them earn more money, but you can also help them find greater career satisfaction and guide them through a more rewarding retirement.

How would you answer these three questions about exploring advice? What is the definition of good advice? What is the definition of a quality financial plan? What does it mean to be a fiduciary? Kevin Knull, the president of PIEtechSM, Inc., (parent company of MoneyGuidePro financial planning software) asked those three questions to an audience of financial and wealth management leaders and basically got blank stares in response. Dismayed, he decided to reach out to thought leaders and experts around the country to get their answers. He collected their thoughts and published them in a remarkable new book called, Exploring Advice: What You Need to Know About Good Financial Advice, a Quality Financial Plan and the Role of a Fiduciary. I was one of the 36 leaders who contributed a chapter to the book. In today's show, I'm joined by Kevin Knull and two other contributors to the book, Tricia Rothschild, Head of Global Advisor and Wealth Management Solutions for Morningstar, and Frank McAleer, Director, Retirement Solutions for Raymond James. We discuss these three questions and point the way toward how you can add value in an increasingly commoditized industry.