Blind Spots
Over the course of my career as a financial advisor, I’ve been fortunate to work with many smart, successful people. So smart and successful that every once in a while, I’ll catch myself asking, “Why me?” Why does this person need my help?
By all measures, they are fully capable of making smart financial decisions, doing the research to understand complex strategies, and implementing them on their own. But then I remember an interview I once listened to with a very successful investment banker who had hired an advisor himself. When asked the obvious question, “Why do you need help?” he replied, “I could manage my own money, except for the ‘I’ part.”
He recognized that when dealing with his own money, he had blind spots.
Tiger Woods, arguably the best golfer of all time, knows his golf swing better than anyone on the planet. Yet, he still has a swing coach. LeBron James, arguably the best basketball player of all time, still has a team of coaches. It goes beyond sports: many CEOs have business advisors and consultants that they entrust to help them execute their vision and strategy. These people are the best in their field, yet they still seek trusted advice.
I see the work we do as being similar: we help people at the top of their game optimize their outcomes. We work together to define wealth, articulate a vision for their future, identify their values and goals, create a plan to achieve their objectives, and hold them accountable for the actions required to achieve what they have defined as “success.” We refer to this process as living out one’s “financial purpose.”
They are often focused on their family and careers, not tax-loss harvesting, rebalancing their portfolios, or making sure their insurance coverage or estate plan is up to date. And when things get scary, we stand between them and bad decisions. We offer a different perspective: one that might identify an opportunity or challenge otherwise overlooked.
Author Adam Grant puts it like this: “We all have blind spots in our knowledge and opinions. The bad news is that they can leave us blind to our blindness, which gives us false confidence in our judgment and prevents us from rethinking. The good news is that with the right kind of confidence, we can learn to see ourselves more clearly and update our views.”
A crucial part of every good advisor's work is providing an external perspective that even the most successful individuals need. Just like top athletes and CEOs, our clients benefit from trusted advice to navigate their financial journeys. By identifying blind spots, offering fresh viewpoints, and ensuring accountability, we help them gain clarity and confidence in their finances.