In The Stands
Sheldon Adelson was an American billionaire. He was a pioneer, the main driver for turning Las Vegas into a conference location, beginning in the 1970s, and later built many of the world’s most famous casinos. He died at the age of 87 in 2021 with an estimated net worth of around $ 40 billion. He was a fascinating character and was very outspoken. He had “FU money”, shall we say.
As a pioneer, he had a lot of doubters, and journalists liked to have a pop at him every so often. They’d pitch questions to him or mention things people had accused him of, and often, his initial famous reply would be:
“Who said this? Are they rich?”
Put aside the vulgarity of this statement. I’m interpreting this as him asking,
“Who are they? Are they successful? Do they have authority? Do they have skin in the game?”
The answer to these questions was likely ‘no’, so therefore, “Who cares what they say about me?”
This mighty profession of financial advice is learnt and mastered through hundreds of client meetings, hundreds of mistakes, hundreds of books, and hundreds of conferences. But the key to mastering this ‘job’ is client time. Too many people who are ‘in the stands’ are trying to influence how we offer world-class services to our client families.
We are on the pitch, and they’re in the stands.
Those on the pitch, by all means, need assistance from many people along the way. Guidance, tips, tricks and ideas. But ultimately, this craft is mastered through working with real people and seeing how financial plans and investment paths develop over time. Advisers on the pitch spend a lot of time thinking about real clients and what works and doesn’t.
Too often, those in the stands tell those on the pitch they know the way. Our standard reply to those who preach to us should be:
“Have you shown one client family the path to financial salvation and worked with them on this journey?”
The answer is usually a resounding “no”. Yes, we need consultants, and yes, we need additional services provided by support companies, but always ask yourself:
Are they on the pitch or in the stands?
