Pls don’t list your “core values”

There isn’t an advisor (or business owner, or consultant or anyone) I’ve worked with (and I’ve had the privilege of working with the best), who hasn’t given me a LIST of values like this:

  • Excellence
  • Service
  • Empathy
  • Commitment
  • Integrity
  • Authenticity

…and told me that that’s who they are.

And I have to break it to them that they are not that list. And neither are you.

You are not a value salad.

Why? Because there isn’t a human, let alone an advisor, who wouldn’t say “Yeah that! We’re for all those things.”

Being a good human and having a solid moral compass is not why you’re worth working with, worth knowing.

The challenge isn’t collecting values; it’s picking one to lean into and to lead with. Want a for-instance? Sure:

Joe Montgomery at Optimal Service Group of Wells Fargo (the quarterback of all quarterbacks!). His leading value? Patience. He doesn’t want people calling him to ask if they’re rich yet.

>>So this is what we came up with for Joe and his team.They LOVE it. 

… Sarah Springer, Grant Shearer, and Maggie Price at the Planning Group of the NW in Alaska told me that what matters most to them is time, not money.

>>Boom! This nailed their values. They love it (and so does everyone else).

​…Kevin Myeroff and his team at NCA Financial told me they manage life-altering money. Hmm. Life altering. That’s powerful. What else can be life altering? The decision to call them. To make the leap.

>>Their new site captures this value with style and humor. It’s very much them. 

​Your brand isn’t a bunch of assets. It’s how much YOU and your team’s personality come through.