Thread by @behaviorgap

It's time for the Secret Society of Real Financial Advisors to be not so secret anymore.

This is my attempt to start that process.

No one is invited...but everyone is welcome.

I give you:

A Manifesto for Real Financial Advisors

Declaration 1: We Believe Marketing Equals Impact

> People don’t know real financial advisors exist

> Having an impact is about solving problems

> The key solving problems is to start small

Declaration 2: We Insert our Opinions into the World

> Good advice is full of opinions

> Opinions act as a forcing function

> Our opinions are packaged, distilled wisdom...and that is valuable

Declaration 3: We Say No

> Always saying yes, will guarantee we end up helping exactly no one

> Our ability to serve people is finite

> By Saying “no” we give ourselves the ability to say “HELL YEAH!”

Declaration 4: We Play in traffic

> Doing our work in public makes it better

> Making our work easy to share means it spreads

> Repeating those activities allows impact to compound

Declaration 5: We Ask for advice

> The people that know us…know the best way to meet people like them

> People feel honored to be asked and want to help us.

> Honest curiosity required.

Declaration 6: We are Nice

> Being nice on Twitter and other social platforms is an act of rebellion

> It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do

> Being nice spreads

Declaration 7: We Tell the truth

> Lying and calling it marketing…is still lying

> The best relationship and businesses are built on the truth

> Telling the truth endures

Declaration 8: We are Professionally Confident

> Prospective clients asked us for Help

> Trust and credibility are not built by talking about ourselves

> We prove our credibility by who we are, and not what we say

Declaration 9: We Are Worthy of Trust

> To be trusted, we focus on being trust-worthy

> We put clients interests ahead of our own.

> We proactively talk about conflicts of interest

Declaration 10: We Diagnose Before We Prescribe

> We can’t solve a problem until we understand it

> Clients don’t care about solutions, they care about their problems

> Defining the problem is hugely valuable

Declaration 11: We Ask Really Good Questions

> Trust is a function of the quality of the experience

> People judge us by the quality of the questions we ask

> This is a skill we excel at

Declaration 12: We Listen

> Great advisors are great listeners

> Invest in listening (practice)

> Being truly present for someone is a gift

Declaration 13: We Simplify

> People crave Simplicity

> Simplicity is not easy

> When the vision is clear, the solution is simple

Declaration 14: We Tell People What to Do

> Wimpy advice is worthless

> Nail the problem, start the solution

> Fits on one page

Declaration 15: We Know it’s the Clients Plan

> We keep our values off the client’s plans

> No judgement, just trade-offs

> Providing clarity around goals is remarkable

Declaration 16: We Embrace Reality

> The future is uncertain

> Goals are guess

> Surfing uncertainty and enjoying surprises

Declaration 17: We Close Gaps

> No one can see their own blind spots

> Seeing gaps is a prerequisite to closing them

> Drill sergeant and hugs

Declaration 18: We Proclaim Planning is a Process

> Financial plans are worthless, planning is invaluable

> Process not an event. Relationship not a product

> Upfront design + ongoing course corrections

Declaration 19: We Will be Less Wrong Tomorrow

> Strong opinions loosely held

> Take a step. Learn. Tweak

> Narrowing outcomes

Declaration 20: We are Guides

> We don’t need to defend outdated maps

> Tools in the backpack

> We will be with you to figure it out

Declaration 21: We are Righteous Tricksters

> Pulling tricks in service of our clients

> What they want vs. what they need

> Playing chess or playing checkers

The Manifesto is 28 Declarations.

Declarations 22-28 Coming soon...