{"id":44,"date":"2014-08-06T10:42:29","date_gmt":"2014-08-06T00:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/magazine.riskinfo.com.au\/16\/?p=44"},"modified":"2014-08-15T10:40:18","modified_gmt":"2014-08-15T00:40:18","slug":"what-does-best-look-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/magazine.riskinfo.com.au\/16\/what-does-best-look-like\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does \u2018Best\u2019 Look Like?"},"content":{"rendered":"<!-- Start shortcoder --><div class=\"intro generic\">\r\n<h3>UK financial services consultant, Michelle Hoskin, is an expert on best practice advice. In this article, Hoskin shares her expertise with her Australian peers, and examines what it means to be the \u2018best\u2019\u2026<\/h3>\r\n<\/div><!-- End shortcoder v4.1.6-->\n<p>According to the <em>Cambridge Dictionary<\/em>, \u2018best\u2019 can be defined as: \u2018Of the highest quality, or being the most suitable, pleasing, or effective type of thing or person&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dl.dropboxusercontent.com\/u\/2128152\/riskinfo\/eMag\/16\/images\/img-44-what-does-best-look-like.jpg\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" class=\"alignleft\" \/>The problem with the term \u2018best\u2019 is that it is so subjective \u2013 what is deemed \u2018best\u2019 by one person may not be deemed \u2018best\u2019 by another. However, one thing is for sure: it\u2019s the only standard on which we should pride ourselves and which we should strive to achieve every day.<\/p>\n<p>So, what has this got to do with financial services?<\/p>\n<p>Well, pretty much everything! I have had the honour of working with some of our profession\u2019s finest financial advisers, planners and firms, and it continues to sadden me that regardless of their personal, professional and business achievements, many are still suffering from the same complexities and challenges, all of which are distracting them from achieving their true potential and from becoming the \u2018best\u2019 possible version of themselves.<\/p>\n<p>So, what are these challenges and complexities?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>No clear vision of their true purpose<\/li>\n<li>A lack of top management buy-in and support<\/li>\n<li>No strategic plans by which the vision and goals will be achieved<\/li>\n<li>Poor team management and leadership skills<\/li>\n<li>Under-resourced, inadequately skilled and poorly trained staff<\/li>\n<li>Inefficient workflow and task management systems<\/li>\n<li>Ineffective time and diary management<\/li>\n<li>A lack of practice management guidelines, operational procedures and unique \u2018house style\u2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>After many years of seeing these challenges take hold of each one of you I have designed a programme called \u2018The 8 Principles of WOW!\u2019.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>it\u2019s the only standard on which we should pride ourselves and which we should strive to achieve every day<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>While there is clearly a great deal of science behind the process, the concept is simple. Draw a marker in the sand and ask yourself: \u201cIf I were starting my business from scratch tomorrow (without any clients, any staff and any baggage), what would \u2018best\u2019 look like?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In particular, what would \u2018best\u2019 look like in the following key areas?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Clients<\/li>\n<li>Team<\/li>\n<li>Environment<\/li>\n<li>Culture<\/li>\n<li>Communication<\/li>\n<li>Processes and procedures<\/li>\n<li>IT and technology<\/li>\n<li>Key stakeholders<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Only when you have done this will you have a clear vision of what \u2018best\u2019 means and looks like to those who are most important.<\/p>\n<p>So, to end, I have seen and experienced first hand how amazing life can be for both you and your clients, but to achieve the life that you want, you need to wake up to the fact that failing to address the challenges and complexities outlined above will prevent you from achieving your true potential and from becoming the best possible version of yourself.<\/p>\n<div class=\"AuthorBox\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dl.dropboxusercontent.com\/u\/2128152\/riskinfo\/eMag\/16\/headshots\/img-michelle-hoskin.jpg\" width=\"400\" height=\"600\" alt=\"Michelle Hoskin\" class=\"alignnone\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"blurb\">Michelle Hoskin is the leading operational best practice expert in financial services. Internationally recognised, she is innovative and inspirational in her approach. She believes that in order to change the professional face of financial services forever, each and every adviser and planner must achieve their true potential and becoming the best possible version of themselves.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Contact or follow the author:<\/strong> Telephone: +44 (0)1462 790894 | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.standardsinternational.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\">Website<\/a> | <a href=\"mailto:enquiries@standardsinternational.co.uk\">Email<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/in\/standardsexpert\" target=\"_blank\">LinkedIn<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SIISO22222\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">if (typeof(addthis_share) == \"undefined\"){ addthis_share = {\"passthrough\":{\"twitter\":{\"via\":\"riskinfonews\"}}};}\n\nvar addthis_config = {\"data_track_clickback\":false,\"data_track_addressbar\":true,\"data_track_textcopy\":true,\"ui_atversion\":\"300\"};\nvar addthis_product = 'wpp-3.5.9';\n<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/300\/addthis_widget.js#pubid=ra-53a3668b19172d69\"><\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UK financial services consultant, Michelle Hoskin, shares her international expertise with her Australian peers, and examines what it means to be the \u2018best\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-views"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/magazine.riskinfo.com.au\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/magazine.riskinfo.com.au\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/magazine.riskinfo.com.au\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/magazine.riskinfo.com.au\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/magazine.riskinfo.com.au\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/magazine.riskinfo.com.au\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/magazine.riskinfo.com.au\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/magazine.riskinfo.com.au\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/magazine.riskinfo.com.au\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/magazine.riskinfo.com.au\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}