On a stormy night, a businessman boards a plane and takes a middle seat between a middle-aged woman sitting at the window and a little girl sitting on the aisle. After the flight took off, he began a conversation with the little girl, who appeared to be the same age as his daughter. He found it strange that such a young girl would be traveling alone, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
About an hour into the flight, the plane was suddenly jolted by extreme turbulence. The pilot came over the PA system and told everyone to fasten their seat belts as they had encountered rough weather. Several times over the next half hour, the plane made drastic dips and turns, shaking all the while. Some people began crying, and many—like the woman sitting by the window—were praying intently.
The businessman was sweating and clenching his seat as tightly as he could. Meanwhile, the little girl sat quietly in her seat with her hands resting calmly on her legs. Incredibly she didn't seem worried at all.
Suddenly the turbulence ended. The pilot came on to apologize for the bumpy ride and announced that they would be landing soon. As the plane began its descent, the man said to the little girl, "You are just a little girl, but I have never met a braver person in all my life! Tell me, dear, how is it you remained so calm while all of the adults were so afraid?"
Looking him in the eyes, she said, "My father is the pilot, and he's taking me home."
While advisors and clients may never share the kind of unconditional trust a daughter feels for her father, you want your clients to trust that you will get them to their financial destinations. You can achieve that level of trust by demonstrating how well you know your clients' hopes, dreams, goals, ambitions, fears, and doubts. In other words, that you know them like a father knows his child.
The true price of leadership is the willingness to place the needs of others above your own. Great leaders truly care about those they are privileged to lead and understand that the true cost of the leadership privilege comes at the expense of self-interest.
Truth be said, being humble and building relationships is one of the most impactful things you can do to be successful in leadership. For SMACS ltd, this is where the hard miles were walked. It was never a simple walk to establish universal trust in the SACCO leadership and it had to come from demonstrating how we operate daily.
