Appreciative Financial Planning: Harnessing the Power of Appreciative Inquiry For Your Practice and Your Life

Transcription

1 Appreciative Financial Planning: Harnessing the Power of Appreciative Inquiry For Your Practice and Your Life Presentation Summary for Financial Planning Firms, Broker/Dealers, and Related Organizations November, 2007 Edward A. Jacobson, Ph.D Overview Financial planners often work with clients around highly-charged money issues, help them to identify their most meaningful aspirations, and guide them on the path towards achieving these dreams. This up close and personal work requires skills and approaches which typically haven t been part of planners education, training or professional development. Consequently, planners often feel illequipped to meet these challenges. They can greatly benefit from the insights, approach, and methods of Appreciative Inquiry (or AI). AI is a positive, strengths-based approach to personal and organizational change that has enjoyed phenomenal growth and widespread application in the past two decades. It shifts people s attention away from problems as the motivation for change, and focuses on capacities, success experiences, potential, vision, images of possibility, and innovation. Financial planners who have been introduced to Ed Jacobson s application of AI, called Appreciative Financial Planning, have recognized its direct and immediate applicability to their work, and have responded enthusiastically to the ability of this practical approach to help them to rapidly gather meaningful information; build close, enduring client-planner partnerships; create compelling, positive visions of the client s future, which become the centerpiece of the financial plan; and increase clients (and their own) motivation to work towards achieving dreams; Introductory and advanced presentations are available, as is a full-day workshop on Appreciative Financial Planning. Edward A. Jacobson, Ph.D. November, of 5

2 Outline of 2-Hour Presentation* 1. Brief history and background on Appreciative Inquiry. 2. Appreciative questions: definition, description, examples in financial planning 3. Participants interview in pairs on appreciative topic. 4. The Business Case for appreciative financial planning. 5. What to Say after Hello. Appreciative questions for each step of Financial Planning Process (See Addendum for sample of questions) 7. The appreciative financial planning firm; key appreciative questions for teamwork, visioning, performance reviews, etc. * Note: Half-day presentations include the seven topics above, plus one or more of the advanced topics noted below. Additionally, a day-long workshop on Appreciative Financial Planning is available. Follow-Up Presentations are Available On Topics Including The Following Quarterly Meetings for Life : Creating clients-for-life (topics, questions, a brief Life Abundance Portfolio, and detailed interview outline for quarterly/annual meetings) Appreciative Legacy Planning : a focused process for building your long-term legacy Four Key Appreciative Inquiry Principles, and how they can enrich your work and your life Sample of Presentation Venues Loring Ward Advisor Services, April, 2006 Kinder Institute Life Planning Conference, October, 2007 Garrett Planning Network Retreat, August, 2007 FPA 2006 (Nashville) and 2007 (Seattle) FPA Retreat Edward A. Jacobson, Ph.D. November, of 5

3 References Marv Tuttle, CEO, Financial Planning Association Sheryl Garrett, CFP, President, Garrett Planning Network George Kinder, CFP, CEO, Kinder Institute of Life Planning Susan Bradley, CFP, CEO, Sudden Money Institute Elizabeth Jetton, Former Chairperson, FPA Board of Directors Ronald Howard, Senior Vice President, Loring Ward Addendum Sample Appreciative Questions for Each Step of the Financial Planning Process Step 1. Establishing and Defining the Relationship With the Client Appreciative Question What would you like your life to be like 12 months from now? 2. Gathering Client Data When have you successfully saved towards a goal? What is the best financial decision you have made in the last five years? 3. Vision and goal planning What would you like your life to be like in five years? Describe it in detail. (Planner asks self) What is the core of this client s aspirations; the 1 3 things that really make their heart sing? 4. Developing and Presenting the Financial Planning Recommendation What excites you most about the plan? What skills do you bring to this plan? 5. Implementing the Financial Plan Tell me about a time when you successfully met an important and challenging goal. What skills did you bring to bear? Who was helpful? 6. Monitoring the Financial Plan What s going WELL in implementing your plan? What have you learned thus far, that we can use in ensuring a successful implementation? Edward A. Jacobson, Ph.D. November, of 5

4 Ed Jacobson Biographical Sketch Edward Jacobson, Ph.D., is a psychologist, executive coach, business consultant, and keynote speaker based in Madison, Wisconsin. Ed works with individuals and organizations to help them to identify, plan for and achieve goals that truly matter. He focuses his practice on serving the financial planning community; he believes that planners make a profound difference in the lives of their clients and the wider community, and he enjoys contributing to this Heart s Core work. Ed s work in recent years has focused on the use the approach known as Appreciative Inquiry (AI).j AI is a positive, strength-based approach to organizational and personal effectiveness. The proposed presentation described in this Prospectus introduces Ed s application of AI to financial planning, which he calls Appreciative Financial Planning. This approach involves the use of appreciative questions and appreciative conversations those that highlight and build upon the positive forces and strengths within and outside us with financial planning clients. In addition to his own coaching, consulting, training workshops and keynoting, Ed serves the Kinder Institute of Life Planning as a mentor and trainer for financial life planners, and collaborates with Money Quotient, the Sudden Money Institute, and the Garrett Planning Network on a wide variety of webinars, workshops, and training sessions. Also, he coaches and consults with financial planning practices on various business and personal development issues including integrating an appreciative orientation throughout the firm, and transitioning to a financial life planning model. Ed received a doctorate in psychology from Indiana University and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School. For the last 25 years he has worked as a consultant, coach, and trainer, including 11 years with KPMG Peat Marwick in Chicago. Ed writes a bi-monthly e-column, entitled This Appreciative Moment, which he sends out to more than 500 financial planners. (See sample column, at the end of this Prospectus.) He is currently preparing two books: Appreciative Moments: Stories and Practices for an Appreciative Life, (due out in spring, 2008) and The Handy Book of Appreciative Questions for Financial Advisors, also due out in 2008.) Edward A. Jacobson, Ph.D. November, of 5

5 This Appreciative Moment The Business Case for Positive Feelings I wonder if you sometimes find yourself enjoying feel-good interactions with your clients (sharing a funny story, asking them what they most enjoy about their spouse, or inviting them to envision leading a very fulfilling life) and then, all of a sudden, you hear that nagging little voice inside your head say Forget this touchy-feeling stuff and do some real work! Guess what: There s good scientific support for this touchy-feely stuff. Positive Psychology is a relatively new branch of psychology which investigates healthy lives, marriages, organizations, and communities. Recent research in this area has shown that persons who experience positive emotions (joy, satisfaction, happiness, contentment, and so on) also experience a significant increase in such important aspects as: creativity; flexibility in thinking and actions; making effective decisions; feeling connected with others; and being psychologically resilient. Therefore, it makes good business sense to create positive emotions in your clients as well as in your associates and in yourself. Unless, of course, you d rather not have closer and more enduring relationships; collaborate on more innovative decisions, plans, and problem solutions; gain greater client commitment to their plans; and have clients stick with the plan in times of adversity. Like the old billboard ads which said Milk: It s Not Just for Breakfast Anymore, positive feelings are not just for break times and off hours anymore (if they ever were). I recommend starting every meeting with an appreciative question. Instead of asking, How have you been? ask a question like What s going well in your life? or What s one thing that s made you happy lately? or Brag to me a little about your son (or daughter); what have they done lately that s made you proud? When they tell you their answer, say Wonderful! Then take a turn sharing your answer to the same question. It s a great way to jump start almost any kind of meeting and get it off to a positive, optimistic start. Try it, you ll like it and things will go better! Edward A. Jacobson, Ph.D. November, of 5