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I was recently a guest speaker at a virtual event co-hosted by Women in Banking & Finance (WIBF) and Isio, where I was asked to deliver a session on the topic of effective leadership. As part of my research, I revisited “Nine Lies about Work: a Free Thinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World”, an excellent book co-written by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall. On this occasion, it was lie number 8 that deeply resonated with me and struck me as a point for further investigation: “work-life balance matters most”. Have you, like myself, found yourself struggling to achieve the…

Cyber attacks are becoming more common and sophisticated in today's digital world. While you may be thinking that you are unlikely to become a target, unfortunately we are aware of small Financial Advisory firms that have been through this already, so don’t fall for the false sense of security and take preventative action. A cyber attack is a malicious attempt to steal, expose, or destroy data, disable systems and networks, or breach a system to launch additional attacks. According to the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2022,  cyber threat is now seen as the dominant risk to business in seven out…

Saying goodbye tends to be a bittersweet experience for all involved. How have you communicated to your team and clients about your last leaver? Did you do this in the way that created a positive impact or were you trying to pretend that nothing happened and carry on? Recently, I received this email from my daughter’s swimming school and found it noteworthy of sharing: “It is with great sadness that we are saying goodbye to Amy at the end of the year. Amy has been amazing, teaching swimming to hundreds of little ones for over 6 years and we are…

From Aristotle to Lionel Messi, great leaders have proven time and time again that teamwork makes the dream work. According to Aristotle “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. While conceptually this is true, in practice many firms that we speak to have a completely different experience, with teams pulling in different directions, making work and life harder rather than easier. So, let’s look at the success of football teams, whether it be on or off the field, to glean powerful insights into what’s needed to turn teamwork into dreamwork and how this manifests in practice. Power…

January tends to be the time of acknowledging losses, commemorating victories, and setting goals for the coming months and years. The custom of making New Year's resolutions originated with the Roman god Janus in 153 B.C. Janus had two faces, one peered backward to see the past and the other looked forward to view the future. The Romans employed this symbolism as a means of asking for forgiveness for past mistakes and as a method to promise to improve both the present and the future for everyone. Today, we continue this tradition by making resolutions to give up bad habits…

The foundation of all successful relationships and the driving force behind most of our actions is trust. Trust underlies our willingness to spend our hard-earned money on goods and services, to commit our lives to another person through marriage, or to make plans and decisions based on advice given by a professional. Therefore, it’s not surprising that most people look for a financial adviser they can ‘trust’. After all, they will be entrusting their financial security (and potentially that of their children or grandchildren), plans and hopes for the future and disclosing almost all that there is to know about…

As inflation continues to soar and the increasing cost of living hits households across the UK, businesses must openly address this situation with their teams if they want to retain top talent. Some firms are seeking cost-cutting measures in anticipation of another recession. And while at some point, it might be unavoidable to cut back on expenses, you may want to consider doing the opposite when it comes to retaining your top teams. The cost of hiring new staff is typically much higher than the cost of keeping your existing team. A replacement of a salaried employee costs on average…

As the world’s labour market continues to shift, the companies that retain key talent and invest in their teams will also be the ones that invest time, money and effort into new employee onboarding. The goal of onboarding should be to reduce the time it takes for new hires to feel at ease with their new responsibilities and to excel in their roles. This is only possible if onboarding procedures are strategically created with this purpose in mind. But with the emergence of remote and hybrid employment, onboarding has grown much more complex. According to HR respondents in a Workable…

Given today's climate, business leaders actively seek solutions to reduce total expenses while maintaining their competitiveness in the post-lockdown market. To achieve this, we suggest analysing your organisational structure and where, how, and by whom specific tasks are carried out, as these all significantly impact the company's profitability and productivity. Although outsourcing is an expense, it can help you develop your business and save money in the long run. Freeing up time is one of the key advantages of outsourcing for business owners and leaders. Instead of spending all those hours doing or managing mundane, repetitive, or even specialist jobs,…

"Having a good manager is essential, like breathing. And if we make managers better, it would be like a breath of fresh air" Michelle Donovan- Director of People Operations, Google In any firm, practice managers are vital to ensuring business success. Without them, deadlines may not be met, quality may suffer, and business growth may slow down. Yet very few of them come to this role as experienced leaders who are excellent at walking a tightrope as they attempt to balance many plates of various responsibilities and points of view across the organisation. It takes time to grow into this…