The Leadership Journey Kelli McCauley

The Hiring Edge

Decoding Body Language with Scott Rouse

Even with all of the interviews, assessments and resume checks, the odds are 50/50 that you’ll land a candidate who is the right fit. And the ones who don’t work out are expensive. Not just in lost time spent on training and other resources, but even worse is your trusted team watching someone struggle, knowing the new hire should be respectfully introduced to opportunities elsewhere that are a better fit.



I know you’re using conventional tools like behavioral interviews and assessments, that allow you to fully vet the candidate and do it right. But what about considering an additional approach?



Recognizing behavioral cues and what they mean during your interviews!



My guest on The Leadership Journey is Scott Rouse, an esteemed behavior analyst and body language consultant, recognized for his expertise in advanced interrogation training and nonverbal communication. His extensive training alongside the FBI, Secret Service, U.S. Military Intelligence, and the Department of Defense has equipped him with an in-depth understanding of nonverbal cues. Scott's impact extends to various sectors, including Firm Leaders, CEOs, sales managers, wealth managers, and financial advisors, where his insights play a valuable role in decision-making processes and hiring. With a focus on decoding nonverbal signals, Scott's contributions have significantly influenced many organizations' abilities to gain another data point when making decisions.in



In this episode, you will learn about:



Analyzing Nonverbal Cues: Enhance interview insights and decision-making

Adapting Communication Styles: Using “mirroring” to create connections

Debunking the 7-38-55 Rule: The truth behind this commonly discussed body language rule



Resources mentioned in this episode:



Subscribe to the Leadership Journey podcast at mccauleyandco.com for impactful insights on ways to grow your business, while regaining control of your legacy.

Check out The Behavior Panel on YouTube to watch Scott Rouse and other top behavior experts analyze body language and non-verbal cues in everyday news and pop culture.

Connect with Scott Rouse on LinkedIn to see how to book him as a speaker for your event or organization.







Are you ready to Uncover specific opportunities within your Teams’ and Firm’s performance? Click here to take our 10 question Performance Gaps Quiz. It's a simple, potent way to quickly identify and solve critical gaps, putting you on the fast track to achieve the potential of your Firm and Teams. What have you got to lose, other than 10 minutes to identify strengths and opportunities for growth?





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Have You Given Up On Experienced Advisors?

3 Ways to Get Them Re-Engaged with Tiffany Markarian

With Planning Season in full swing, it’s an ideal time to approach your experienced advisors and help them stir up compelling opportunities for their practices.



Often, discussions of growth focus on the big picture, like encouraging stretch goals for advisors, “how many new clients will you attract this year”, more lead generation efforts, or adding to current support staff.  It’s no wonder there is pushback or passive resistance from advisors who are too overwhelmed with their current client, staff and business load to take on another responsibility. What they’re looking for is simplicity vs complexity, profitability vs volume. Give them that, and you get their attention!



Smart Growth Approach



We asked Tiffany Markarian, an award winning marketing strategist and Founder of Advantus Marketing, to share proven ways to quickly impact the effectiveness and success of experienced advisors. Here’s what she recommends for those not already using a consultative approach: Start by evaluating your advisors’ current business model, practices, staff and capacity for growth. By working together with your advisors and identifying where they need help and offering specific support in those areas, you win their hearts and loyalty.



A More Effective Approach



Tiffany also advises focusing on maximizing the return on equity and effort (ROE) from the existing clientele by looking at the numbers. Your advisors’ client data tells them when it’s time to discuss new services/products, revisit their financial plan or adapt the number of meetings needed each year.  This focused approach not only creates sustained growth, but also maintains the quality of service that your firm is known for.



Key Takeaways from Tiffany's Insights



In her “dig deeper” session, Tiffany discusses several critical aspects:



Identifying when an advisor has reached their capacity

The importance of eliminating inefficiencies in business practices

Common periods when advisors experience a plateau

Effective strategies for maximizing advisor growth



In a world where adding more isn't always the answer, maximizing what you already have is a game-changer. By rethinking growth strategies and focusing on efficiency, optimization, results and your people, you will unlock new levels of success for your advisors and your Firm.



The key moments in this episode are:



00:00:00 - Introduction and the Importance of Scaling for Experienced Advisors

00:02:41 - Capacity Walls and Identifying Advisors in Need of Scaling

00:06:08 - Step 1: Segmenting Clientele and Step 2: Household the Book of Business

00:09:18 - Addressing Inefficient Service Models and Managing Client Expectations

00:15:02 - Moving Up and Overcoming Obstacles

00:17:46 - Speaking to Clients' Hearts

00:18:30 - Focus on the Right Growth Strategies

00:19:46 - Overcoming Complacency and Scarcity

00:21:00 - Adding Staff or Acquiring a Practice







To learn more about Tiffany Markarian's strategies and insights, visit Advantus Marketing.



Ready to Scale Your Business?





Take the BETA Profitable Scaling Strategies Quiz.





Did you know that by improving just one area of your firm's operations, you can trigger exponential growth?



That's the power of targeted advancement. 🎯



Unlock your firm's potential with our short 10-question BETA Profitable Scaling Strategies Quiz..  It immediately identifies the key areas slowing your firm's progress. Based on practices used by the top 1% of teams,

ARE YOU MAKING ONE OF THESE 10 MANAGEMENT MISTAKES?



Set Up the “Monster” Succession Opportunity

Structure your teams for the modern age

Steve Good has dedicated his career to empowering the next generation of financial advisors. Currently the Director of Practice Development for 1847Financial, Steve brings years of experience and a wealth of knowledge to the table, having successfully transitioned from a top-performing life wholesaler into agency leadership. Obsessed with growing 1847Financial through strategic Teams match making, he seeks out and sets up the right talent with the right opportunity on the team.  Then, he confirms specific expectations and provides abundant resources for success.  This method ensures he plays the long game in setting up succession for his firm, and is leading his financial advisors to build strong, thriving, generational sales teams. Steve’s gifts of targeted communication, strategic thinking, and skill development has made him an invaluable resource for advisors looking to build their teams, achieve long-term success and have a true succession plan in place.



In this episode of The Leadership Journey podcast, Steve reveals his innovative approach to teaming for long-term success in financial services.



Join the conversation as Steve discusses how to:



Embrace a Teaming mindset and action plan for your financial services firm

Assemble top-tier teams by hiring individuals with unique and complementary skills

Realize the impact of encouraging creativity and innovation within your team's collaborative efforts

Recognize the urgency of providing succession opportunities to guarantee your Firm’s future

Become a champion of Teaming for growth, long term generational client relationships and solutions to  challenges







He covers three topics dear to the hearts and minds of firm leadership: challenges to growth, how to avoid losing millions (or billions) of dollars upon generational shift, and how to move your current team to its ideal!



Challenges of Growth

Growing your financial services business constantly requires attracting talented professionals with different skills, expanding the client base, and retaining existing clients. The Unicorn with deep knowledge in various financial areas and/or understanding pensions and benefits is next to impossible to find now.  Steve suggests creating a succession opportunity and building a team that consists of two, three, or four people, each with their unique specialties, skills and perspectives. By embracing the Teaming model and having the resolve to overcome challenges, financial advisors can build stronger, more successful businesses that last for generations.



Teaming to Keep Business

A solid, healthy and functional team inspires innovation and a constant desire to get better, do better. Teaming at 1847 strives to have individuals with diverse skills and backgrounds, working together to achieve common objectives. This is why teaming plays a crucial role in ensuring long-term success for both financial advisors and their clients. Steve’s “Team's 2.0” model allows flexibility and does not force teams. Rather, the model moves them from matchmaking to dating, making it more comfortable during the formation and collaboration of new teams, yet still very productive.



Moving Teams to Your Ideal

Successful teams must be adaptive and open to change. Embracing innovation and continuously refining strategy allows your firm to meet the evolving needs of clients and stay ahead in a competitive landscape. To achieve this, leadership and advisors must be open-minded, determined, and resilient in order to achieve long-term success.



Are you ready to create your own 2.0 Team?



Don’t wait - it’s time!

ARE YOU MAKING ONE OF THESE 10 MANAGEMENT MISTAKES?



Leading From the Front

Nash Subotic of WestPac Wealth Partners on Culture, Training and Blue Ocean Strategy

Nash Subotic, CEO and the driving force behind WestPac Wealth Partners, has spearheaded the creation of an admired financial services firm known for its remarkable growth. With a formidable presence in over 10 states, an impressive $17 billion life insurance face amount, $2.5 billion assets under management, and a robust team of 270 professionals, Nash has diligently focused on leading an organization that thrives on its culture, training, and innovation.



In just 15 years, WestPac Wealth Partners has achieved staggering revenue growth starting from 0 and currently at $42 million, a testament to their exceptional leadership.  Nash understands that the key to success lies in simultaneously addressing the present and preparing for the future.



The secret to WestPac’s growth?  Leadership that keeps an eye on the present while continuously investing in the future.



And the future, Nash says, is all about teaming.



In an era where large companies and artificial intelligence are chipping away at single service financial advisors, Nash sought out a “blue ocean” strategy.  Asking “Where can we provide the most value?  Who needs help with their financial planning, insurance and estate planning needs?  How can we partner in the community to build relationships that would be the cornerstone of WestPac Wealth Partners?”







By asking these questions, creating a strategy to solve them and carefully curating a team that provides inspired solutions for clients has led his organization to unparalleled success.



Not one to rest on laurels, he took things further.



As WestPac Wealth Partners grew, Nash took the word “Partners” to heart.  He prioritized team culture.  He incorporated diversity before it was trendy.  Training became the backbone of the organization, with daily, monthly and in person bi-annual meetings designed to connect and inspire his team to go the extra mile and help the client before themselves, always.



During our conversation, Nash shares three tenets that continue to drive WestPac Wealth Partners' exponential growth. First, thinking strategically—identifying industry factors and seizing opportunities to deliver value. Second, fostering an intentional culture where individuals feel welcomed and motivated to give their best, enabling work-life balance and leveraging diverse perspectives. And last, promoting constant personal and career development through a daily commitment to training, nurturing the right mindset, and fostering in-person collaboration.



Nash Subotic exemplifies the saying, "Do what you love, and the money will follow." His passion for his team and clients is a testament to his exemplary leadership. While these transformative shifts did not occur overnight, if you are ready to build an exceptional organization like Nash's, we have what you want. I have had the privilege of working with Nash and an array of outstanding leaders who are titans in the financial services industry.



Embark on your path to success today by clicking the button and filling out the High Performing Teams Survey. Together, we will set you on the journey towards building a truly exceptional organization.





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Cracking the Code for Rapid

Team Growth in Financial Services

As a leader of a financial services Firm with sales team/s, you are constantly focusing on ways to grow without significantly increasing your bottom line. With demands for increased performance as you expand, it’s easy at times to become overwhelmed by the long list of “how” questions - how to best implement new ideas, how to improve processes, how to grow new business opportunities, how to scale sales teams…while currently serving your current advisors, the Firm’s support team and client base.  The list of “how am I going to…?”, seems endless. Finding the best next step to scale while seeking answers to these “how” questions -  can create analysis paralysis and hold your firm back. Jerry Tavella, Partner with both Strategies for Wealth and Prosperian Wealth Management, has cracked the code…and it starts with shifting from “how” questions to “who” questions and includes a strategic path.  The exciting news is that this blueprint for scaling Team growth is proven to be replicable in your firm too!Jerry began his career at Prosperian Wealth Management fresh out of college alongside Founder Marty Nachemson, who brought him in as his Team Protégé. Over time, he experienced  almost every role at Prosperian as their Team continued to grow from four to twenty one members.  With continual coaching from Marty, he gained expertise into the processes and systems that underpins the success of every role within the Team.  As Jerry expanded responsibilities, he discovered ways to streamline and refine their business model, sharing observations with the Team and implementing improvements into the practice.  The end result is that Strategies for Wealth is recognized as a red hot incubator of high performing independent Sales Teams  - currently at eight and growing. “The concerns Advisors constantly deal with are the “how” challenges.  How can I possibly implement all of these great ideas I pick up when I go to conferences?  How can I be improving my intellectual capital?  I know I need to improve my processes and efficiencies…how am I going to do that while fulfilling the promises I make to my clients, being their single point of contact?  How am I going to grow new business opportunities? How am I going to do all of this while continuing to prospect and spend time with my best clients?” Stop the madness of solving for “how” and shift to asking and solving for “who”! This approach helps you create the right structure to achieve rapid, repeatable growth in your Teams and Firm.  Jerry recommends three steps to move toward rapid, repeatable growth.



Stop asking HOW and start asking WHO in order to accelerate growth in your Firm.  These are the 7 key roles in Strategies for Wealth and Prosperian Teams model: Partners, Junior Advisors, Mentees, Investment Specialists, Underwriting Administrative Assistants, Wealth Management Administrative Assistants and the Protégé.Commit  to developing and supporting a  true Protégé role. It’s the most important position for the Teams model to grow.  The Protégé functions as a “Promise-Keeper”, helps the Advisor execute in their lane of excellence, and ensures exceptional experiences for clients.Create repeatable, aligned and consistently applied processes.  Regularly confirm that your Teams are following and using agency systems. This is not a once and done formula. It’s been proven over and over and continues to fuel the exponential growth of both Prosperian and Strategies for Wealth. It can work for you too! If you are ready to grow your Teams, let’s get you there faster.  McCauley & Co has been working with sales teams for over 20 years and can help you map out a strategy for creating or expanding Teams already in place.  Schedule a complimentary, 45 minute 3 Point Teams Strategy

Top Team Mistakes to Avoid - Take the Survey!



How Symphony Financial Scaled Their

Billion Dollar Sales Team

Keith Spengel, CEO and Private Wealth Advisor of Symphony Financial’s Ensemble team within the Northwestern Mutual Private Client Group, takes professional superpowers seriously. During the past 33 years, all candidates wanting to join the team are screened first and foremost for attitude and “superpowers” - what they are skilled at and love to do.



That’s just one of the disciplines being applied to building the exceptional team that has become Symphony Financial.  Keith’s staff hails him as the strategic mind behind the sales team’s breathtaking success and growth.  With over 3.3 billion in life insurance promises and another billion in assets under management, their ensemble strategy is working.



The strategy, Keith explains, was driven by adversity.



Initially a solo advisor, Keith’s only employee his first few years in business was his wife.  When their first child was born extremely early, he found himself struggling to keep his one man operation afloat and simultaneously give his family the attention they needed.



He made a vow never to be in a position to face business adversity alone again.  He was determined to build a solid team that would support clients and each other through the troughs and peaks of life.



He wanted a team, but not just any team.  A team with superpowers.



When Keith started building, the teams model was just gaining momentum in the financial services industry.  Keith studied it, learned everything he could about leadership, hiring and the concept of working in your “zone of genius”.  He brought in outside coaching, took his time when considering partners and put his heart and soul into planning and forecasting.  All of these tools were invaluable in creating a roadmap of what could be, and person by person he strived for a superior organization.



Hiring people based on their strengths for various roles put the cornerstones in place for a strong foundation for the company.  So strong that business is growing at an exponential rate.



As the company grew, the hiring process became more refined.  One thing has stayed steady - hiring based on the core strengths plus the attitude of the individual joining the organization.



His top recommendations for building a sales team powerhouse?



Don’t wait until you know everything.  Just start.  Doing it without knowing exactly how is part of the leadership growth process.





Be prepared to learn as much and as fast as possible. Keep tweaking as you go.





Hire for attitude, test for aptitude and train for required skills.  In the beginning, there is a lot of growth, and you need a team with the attitude that can make pivots and keep up with the learning curve.  You can train for skills. Refine this process as you grow. If you are a more advanced team, hire for expertise/skills, test for attitude and confirm collaboration tendencies.





Expect hiccups.  There will be tough moments.  Stick to the vision and commit.





When hiring Partners, think of it like getting married. Date via joint work experiences.  Have a long engagement.  Take on a project or two together.  Take it as seriously as you would a marriage.



Shifting to a teams model can remove the lid off of financial ceilings and time constraints, while creating unlimited opportunity for team growth and client service.  If you want to create a full service, truly generational wealth management business, the teams model is the future.



Are you ready to fast track your company’s potential?  Let’s see what we can do this year!



Schedule a High Performing Teams Strategy Call with to map out what scaling a...