Here’s how.
In the time he’s spent in the finance industry, Brad noticed one role was often missing: a qualified assistant.
But advisors need to know that the work of an assistant is essential for your firm to grow sustainably, helps you maintain your own well-being, and boosts your reputation in an industry that relies on it.
“It is such a heavy lift that comes off your shoulders where you can just show up where you’re supposed to, be fully present, be all in, be prepared, and I just don’t know how people function and run businesses without it. It’s wild,” Brad says.
Delegating to an assistant frees advisors up for the work that drives growth, like portfolios, client relationships, and strategy. It also frees up their time to work less. When you have another person handling the operations, you don’t have to put in overtime just to get it all done.
But we can’t forget the other important element: qualified.
For advisors specifically, hiring the right person directly impacts the future of your firm. In a relationship-heavy industry, reputation is everything. The right person can either diminish or build your reputation. (53:59)
An assistant who
Will improve client experience and contribute to increased retention and referrals.
“And now, that’s a revenue-producing role in the firm, because it’s actually bringing the referrals in on the other side, and because you’re actually doing the work you’re promising. And so, that’s the longer game, but it’s the more highly profitable game,” Brad says.
Brad and Tricia agree that investing in an assistant is one of the highest ROI decisions a leader can make. By hiring a team to protect their calendars, Brad saw an overworked Boston Firm become one of his highest-growth firms ever. (49:32)
Ten years ago, a firm in Boston came to Brad for year-end strategic planning and goal setting. What surprised him was that they wanted to scale back their new assets goal from $60 million to $50 million.
Why? They were all dads and husbands. They had sacrificed so much time with their families that they didn’t even want to attempt another growth year.
“So, the next year or two, we built out their service team,” Brad says. “Guess what? They’re over $2 billion of assets now, a decade later. But without that service aspect, they would’ve been stuck and miserable at the same time.”
Tricia knows growth can’t happen alone. That’s why she encourages every leader to delegate.
“If you’re thinking you should consider hiring somebody, the answer is probably yes. Like, no business thrives with one person behind the helm by themselves. Get help.”
But there are a few mental hurdles leaders face that cause them to resist delegation. And if you don’t address them, you risk becoming the bottleneck for your business.
“I can do it better and faster.”
You might think, “It’s easier and quicker for me to just do it myself than to delegate it and teach somebody else to do it. And that is true for, like, a week,” Tricia explains. “But what could’ve happened is you could’ve taken, let’s say, tops, an hour to teach a 10-minute task.”
The tasks you don’t delegate start to add up. The tasks you do delegate get done without you having to think about them at all. And they often get done better than you were able to do them, because someone else has the bandwidth to dedicate real focus to those tasks.
“I feel bad asking anybody else to do this.”
Tricia explains, “There are people who love the work you don’t like.”You don’t have to feel guilty for delegating it. Part of what makes a successful partnership is the way you complement each other. Don’t be afraid to hand off a task, even if it seems like drudgery to you.
“I don’t need to delegate. I can handle it.”
You might think you can handle it. But you are actually creating an environment that slows your entire firm down.
When you don’t release tasks and create room for leadership, “You aren’t a business owner, you are an executive assistant,” as Tricia puts it.
If your team has to wait on you for everything, you are preventing them from getting work done. If you aren’t allowing your team to take ownership of tasks, you are preventing them from growing. If you are unable to be present because you have a million things on your mind, you are preventing yourself from doing the best work you can do.
If every decision and little detail has to pass through you, you are the bottleneck.
The solution: delegate.
Tricia and Brad said that delegation is the investment that unlocks your potential for the future, whether that means dinner with your family tonight or increasing assets next year.
Busy leaders are rarely able to dedicate significant energy to protecting their own calendars. That’s why growth suffers when you’ve hit your limit. Let your assistant become your force multiplier.
An assistant is “the only one who is going to look out ahead of you to make sure that what you hope to be true in the weeks and months ahead, it actually unfolds that way,” Tricia says.
And Brad notes, “They can serve as a proxy for you, where they’re stepping into that meeting, ‘Hey, Tricia can’t be here. She’s booked on another call. However, here are a couple of things,’ and they’re acting on your behalf. And it is a way to show up in two places at the same time.”
When you trust an assistant to take ownership, you double your impact and find fulfillment in your work that can’t be replicated by anyone else in any other role.
“I have a CFO, I have a COO, I have SVPs of revenue, and I have people leading functions inside our organization as we’ve grown. We’re a big organization now. None of that at any level has ever replaced still what I need from my assistant,” Tricia Sciortino
Listen to the full episode to hear more from Tricia and Brad.
Episode Index:
04:04, From Assistant To CEO
06:39, Hire The Assistant First, Not Last
08:58, What A Great EA Really Does
16:50, Tricia’s Path From Retail To Belay
24:25, Turning An Assistant Into A Partner
32:50, Avoid Being the Bottleneck
35:28, The ROI of Getting Your Time Back
37:58, Signs You Need An EA
38:25, The Number One Missing Role in Finance
40:59, How Belay Finds & Filters Top Talent
48:05, BELAY Client Service Assistants Built For Advisors
49:32, How a Delgating Helped this firm scale
53:59, Why reputation boosts revenue
56:13, What If Your EA Isn’t A Good Fit?
59:11; Tricia’s Definition of “Do Business. Do Life.”