Find – or Become – a Mentor
I like being able to talk with someone successful who can confirm the good things I’m doing and tell me how to improve on my mistakes.
-Tom Adams of Mentor Capital Management
When they need help, smart financial planners aren’t ashamed to confess it and ask for someone to mentor them through. That’s what Tom Adams of Mentor Capital Management in Elmhurst, Illinois, decided to do. As a new financial planner in his third year, he is e-mailing and talking with a more established planner in Cincinatti, picking his brain about issues like fee structuring and marketing.
While at the national NAPFA conference, he attended a breakout session where the Cincinnati planner was speaking, and really liked what he heard. “I introduced myself and asked if I could contact him periodically by phone,” said Adams. “He said yes right away, because he did the same thing when he was starting out.” Questions range from nuts and bolts to more high-level issues like how to screen prospective clients. “I like being able to talk with someone successful who can confirm the good things I’m doing and tell me how to improve on my mistakes.”
-Tom Adams of Mentor Capital Management in Elmhurst, Illinois, in Six Ways to Learn from Your Peers
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