Getting better at dealing with and adapting to change

So grab a coffee , sit back and let's get ready to blast off . I'm your host , frans van der Toij . I don't know one of the things that , when it comes to running a business , it doesn't matter what kind of business you're in . It's just that things are not staying the same . I mean one . How boring would it be ?

The one thing that I don't get is one of those personality types that they're all for routine , every day is the same , and they can do it for 40 years , and they are extremely happy . So content , so happy . It's the perfect life , and if I have three days in a row that is the same , I want to pull my hair out .

So does that mean that change is easier for me than it is for somebody else ? I don't think so , because there's a few things that come with change that is absolutely real for every single person . I believe . It doesn't matter how much change we've gone through . I've got 48 years of change behind me , almost 49 .

And every time something new comes along I'm like holy smokes , okay . So change is such an important part of it and I think when I look at what's happening currently in the IFA space , the smaller advisor space , et cetera , they are really finding it hard to keep on top of all of the of the changes that's happening .

The regulatory things that we need to comply with , uh , you know everything that sauce wants , the financials that needs to be done , clients , technology and everything is coming like in waves .

It's not just happening right , it's waves and waves and waves and waves , which is one of the great things about the internet and the way we can communicate , but it's also a very bad thing about this , anyway . So importantly here is that change is not going to stop .

To go back to what Kourbis was saying it's a constant actually , or something that's changing all . The was saying it's a constant actually , for something that's changing all the time , it's a constant . So we have to accept that and there's obviously a few things that are changing all of the time .

That has a massive impact on our time , because the issue here , I think is not necessarily only the time , the fact that things are changing .

It's the fact that it's taking away time from something I should be doing and I need to now spend it on this thing that I have no idea how to tackle , that I have no idea what my next step is going to be , that I have no idea how I'm going to fix this or change this or implement this or adopt this or learn this or any of those things like nothing

right , an absolute reality . So it's very important that we just one understand that that's the . That's the nature of the game . Any , even if you go and and build a practice inside of another fsp or financial institution that will soon be called , hopefully you know you will find that even there , things are changing all the time .

If I think about somebody that started , I don't know , 30 years ago , I mean the world is looking very differently today , and in 30 years from now it's going to look very different to what it looks like today , and it's one of those things that we just need to get on board with and say , well , this is it Now in South Africa .

I think the things that really , really impact on what it is that we do is obviously there's this , this I think what makes it so hard is that a lot of these things are not controllable .

The way we react to them and the way that we , we we approach them is definitely controllable , but what's happening , and when they're happening , is not really controllable , and I think that's more the kind of change that we really struggle with , the change that we affect . Right .

There's this thing that says you know , people won't change unless the pain of staying the same isn't greater of the pain of changing . Then they will get into action .

So when you find yourself in a position where it's painful to stay where you are and then you have to change , then we very quickly change , and , funny enough , that change is a lot easier for us , simply because there's less pain . So if we go from a more painful place to a less painful place , easy , we can . We know why we're doing it .

There's there's not much to be done . We just go ahead and do it . On the other hand , though , if you are forced to change when you were very happy where you were , that change feels very , very painful . So it's the opposite , and it's not necessarily the case . It's just how we think about this and sort of the way that we frame this .

Because things were going so well , why do I need to change now , right ? I mean , think about running . You're happy to run in your shoes forever until you start to get blisters . Then you want to change your shoes , but otherwise you'll run with those shoes for so , so long . So the same story .

Obviously , regulation is one of the things . We know it's coming at least . It's not like you wake up tomorrow morning and , oh , here's a new piece of legislation or regulation . We know it's coming , at least . But we've got very little control about what they are , what they are asking of us , et cetera , et cetera .

We rely on others to sort of fight on our behalf or to influence on our behalf , to try and make it and have sort of a best of both approach . But that's definitely one of the big things . The other thing , obviously , I'm just sort of trying to think about at the moment what's really big in people's lives ? It's definitely technology Everywhere .

On LinkedIn , the only topic well , the only topic I use is probably the people I engage with is just tech , tech , tech , tech , tech and AI , ai , ai , ai and automation , automation , automation . This is at the forefront of people's minds . Why ? Well , one , because it's in our faces .

But also , secondly , I think we're really starting to realize that if we don't use these things , we will fall behind . It's like somebody walking from here to the shop versus somebody driving from here to the shop . I mean there's a massive difference .

The person that's driving can get there 20 times by the time I just get to the shop , and they've been 20 times to the shop and back , probably simply because they were using a tool like a car or a bicycle or something like that . So we're realizing that without this technology , we can't right , we've got to do this . So very important .

So tech is definitely a big one . I think what makes it a little bit different at the moment , like , just go back to when lockdown and all of that happened and we suddenly had to use Zoom . I mean , we presented like a whole hour and a half training session on Zoom . It was massively attended , and all of that because people didn't know how to do it .

But they knew , unless I learn how to use this tool , I'm going to be screwed right , and I think we now have that on steroids with AI at the moment , and AI encompasses a lot of things , which is not what today is about .

But this is why this is such a big thing , because most of us have been saying for many , many years that I'm before computers , I am computer illiterate , or I have a disability when it comes to technology , I'm technologically impaired , like all that stuff I've been saying for the last few years . Stop saying that .

Or I have a disability when it comes to I'm technologically impaired , like all that stuff I've been saying for the last few years . Stop saying that . It's now sort of becoming an issue , right . And then I think the biggest one of them all , the biggest one of them all is that we think it's just us that's going through this , but it's not .

We often are so focused on ourselves and our businesses and how things are that we forget very quickly that our clients are going through the same stuff as us , whether it's in a job or whether they have their business .

We very quickly forget that they're going through exactly the same thing as us , and often they are looking to us to say , well , I don't know what to do , I don't know how we're going to survive this , I don't know how we're going to adapt . If we're doing it like this for 30 years . I don't understand Zoom or Teams .

I don't even know where to switch on the computer because we've always been using paper-based invoices and whatever . I'm just making up stuff as I go , anyway . So that's on the one hand . We forget that . But because of that , what they are looking for is changing right . It's not staying the same .

Yet we still want to deliver financial planning and financial advice the same way . We've done it 10 years ago , five years ago just go . Five years ago , just before all of the other things happened .

We're still doing it that way , but yet everybody else is moving on , and some of the clients would have we're still doing it that way , but yet everybody else is moving on , and some of the clients would have stated they're very happy with where they are , or maybe they're just waiting for us to move on so they can move on .

I don't know , but we forget about that . This is the important part here . So if I just think about that , right ? So those are some of the things , and it's not only now that they're changing . These things have been changing since I joined in 1998

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And I'm pretty sure since I was born in 1975 , things have been changing and evolving around those different things , although regulation only came in like 2004 , really but when it comes to managing sort of how we respond to change , but also then how do we change and how do we go through that process , there's a few things that we do that is not really helpful ,

and the first thing is that we resist it , and I think it's a very natural thing to go . Why do I need to change thing to go ? Why do I need to change ? Now ?

I always , I always think back about uh , one of the companies I was at long before the investment commission structures changed , and not long before , but like a year or so before they launched a completely different model .

And I did the calculations on these things and and I looked at the cost implication , I looked at the total commission earned over a period of time , et cetera , et cetera , and the Excel spreadsheet that I built was very clear that this was actually a very lucrative sort of option without having a different impact than any of the other commission structures .

However , the impact was in the short term on the advisor , because in the short term they earned less , but over the long term , if that client kept that policy for five years or 10 years , they would have been better off , but today they got a lot less . So a couple of my advisors that I looked after adopted that and I've had that conversation .

They were so happy that they did . But many of the others said to me Francia , and one in particular said to me I can't keep giving the world a dream , so I'm , I'm gonna do I don't know what the what the English is for that but they're just gonna keep doing what they're doing and and earn as much today as they can until they make them change .

And this is the thing as they can , until they make them change . And this is the thing , right ? So this is being resistant to change . We don't want to change , we do not want to go there , we don't want to think about it . Let's just keep things as they are for as long as humanly possible and we'll change when we absolutely have to .

So the first thing that we do , that we shouldn't be doing , is resisting change . To go back to what guvvers was saying it's a constant , it's something that's there , and I'm going to give you five c's in a bit that I believe sort of the way that I think about this .

That makes it easy to sort of go through this and also then I'll also talk about how does that translate into helping other people in your business go through this , or your clients to go through this .

Obviously , like anything else , like whether it's your marriage , whether it is , uh , at a I don't know in a team , whether it is at a meeting , uh , you know it doesn't matter .

But if we're not communicating well and this is what often happens is that we'll say once that , guys , here's something happening , we need to look at this , and then everything else stops , or the communication is so vague that there's nothing . We don't tell them anything , but we say a lot of words , but now everybody's more confused .

So we're really communicating poorly . So communication is very important , because one of the things that all of us again , if we go back to lockdown what did we want ? What's going on ? Tell us what is going on . We wanted clarity . We back to lockdown what did we want ? What's going on ? Tell us what is going on .

We wanted clarity , we wanted to know exactly what was going to happen . When is this going to end ? And people didn't have , and that built up a lot of frustration . So , just if you don't sort of sure about whether you should be open and honest and communicate very clearly . Just think back about how we felt back then .

But then also sometimes because we lack the skills to go through change , like we expect our team to go and do something but we just expect them to figure it out . So we're not training them , we're not helping them in that sense . So those are sort of the three main things for me that I think is really missing . The one is just being resistant .

We don't want to change until we have to , so that I think is a big mistake . Then we don't communicate properly and clearly and also probably not with the right people , and then also we lack skills and the proper training . So those are some of the things that I think we need to look out for Now .

If we start thinking about what would really help in an environment , and I sort of sat down and I thought about this and I said , well , what are the things that are very important ? And for me , always go back to this thing about put your own mask on first , development .

From my point of going back to what kim was saying , you know , personal development is where you start , because if you the leader in the business , or you the leader of the team , or you know , you the advisor in that business , or you have any kind of body , or even if you are just a , a person that leads by example , I would say , doesn't matter where .

It's not about a title or anything like that . But if you start looking at that and you say , well , you know , I need to get people through this , you know , or at least , at the very least , I need to get myself through this , that starts for me with personal development . And personal development isn't something you can do when you need it .

It's something you should be doing on a on a continuous basis . So think about that . And one of the things that we often find is like going back to what lalani now was saying around you know , people not doing their cpd and leaving it until this afternoon at quarter to five , um , guilty , uh , you know it's . It's one of those things .

Well , not to do it , but to document it at the very least . So you , you sit with that situation where and I lost my own train of thought because I interjected myself with what lalani was saying uh , anyway , um , it'll come back to me now anyway .

So so , yeah , we , we , we think about that , um , and we say , well , you know , I'm not good at this , I don't have discipline like myself . If I look at my strengths , for example Kim was talking about CliftonStrengths phenomenal , I so agree . So discipline for me is number 32 out of the 34 .

So that means I should get nothing done , absolutely nothing , because I do not have the discipline . You go and listen to anybody else Alex Hermosi , what's that guy ? Russellsell , if you hear , you will tell me who's that willow , or jaco , willing , willing . What's his name ? Willow ? I can't remember his name , anyway , jaco , I know that guy .

That's mean and he goes like discipline , that's it right . So that means that I can't do this because I don't have discipline . It's not my natural thing , it's not a strength , right ? I don't even like routine , which is probably also why I don't have discipline . It's not my natural thing , it's not a strength , right ?

I don't even like routine , which is probably also why I don't have discipline . But what I tend to do is to not focus on that . I'm saying , okay , so you know , if I need to get something done , what am I naturally good at ? And I think that's probably the biggest mistake that we make is that we don't go to but what am I good at .

So if you maybe like , if competition is driving you or performance is driving you , or you know , I don't know you're a natural connector and you can connect people and you connect things , et cetera , et cetera , you know , or you're strategic For myself it's ideation futuristic and the responsibility is one of them , so I can use those in order to really help me

get through the change . So , instead of saying like you know , if you really battle with something , go to what you're naturally good at and see how you can use that , because I can strategize myself out of it . Maybe the next person can just push through and they just force themselves through it .

You know , and and there's many other ways that one can do that but that comes from personal development , that comes from knowing yourself , that comes from , you know , working on your emotional intelligence and having empathy , and all of those kinds of things are the things that we need to work on so that we can also sort of face these things .

So those things are very important for me . So , with that as a sort of a premise , I want to give you five C's that I believe , if you think about these five C's and you just jot something down for with some of these C's .

So so two of them were very easy and then , uh , well , three of them were very easy and then two of them I had to really think about . So what am I going to call those ? To also make it a C . So let's try this .

So first of all one you have to have courage . What does that mean to have courage ? But you can go listen to Brene Brown and listen to to to her and what she says about courage .

But for me , it's all about just embrace and accept the feelings you have , the fear you feel , the uncertainty you feel , uh , you know , the sort of not knowing what to do next . It's all okay , it's in the words of American Pie , it's a perfectly natural thing .

All of us will feel like that doesn't matter how much change that you've gone through , you're still going to go through and every time , because change is new , you're going to have those same feelings . So embrace them . So for me , that boils down to courage . Understand that you don't have all the answers , and that is okay .

In lockdown , when we started the show , I had zero answers . All I thought was let me do do a show , then at least I don't think about the things that I don't know .

And suddenly this became the thing that pulled a lot of people through this and that gave them courage and gave them ideas and inspired them to take a different kind of action , which was , I guess , part of the intent , but it wasn't . I never knew what the impact would be , because I was trying to save myself first , and this is the important part .

Just have the courage to do or to take that first step , very importantly . The second one is communication . You have to identify exactly who it is that you need to be communicating to your clients , your staff , your spouse , your children , like partners , you know whoever , but you have to communicate . So we've got courage , is the first one right .

Then we have communication . So you've got to be communicating with the right people and you've got to be communicating clearly with them . Now , the next thing that sort of now links for me onto communication is clarity . Okay , so that's clarity . Clarity is that it means that we have achievable goals .

So , even if the change is massive , can we break it down and say , well , let's just do this , and when we do that , we can do the next thing , and the next thing , and the next thing and by the end , we would have implemented the entire thing . But also , just by the way , if you think it's going to take you a day , make way .

If you think it's going to take you a day , make it two days . It's always double the amount of time . So we're very bad at estimating time . So that's very , very important and that is what brings clarity . Be very , very clear on what it is that we're going to achieve and what does success look like and what are the mini things .

And even if you don't know what all of them are , just what is the first one ? Because you need the first one . So probably you have an end goal and you have a first mini goal that you want to achieve . So think about that . So have the clarity . Then the thing that all of us struggle with , particularly not when it comes to ourselves .

We're very , very easy with this with ourselves , but with other people it's a very hard thing and that's candor , okay . So what is candor ? It means being brutally honest , okay , and open and transparent . When you have candor , like when you give somebody feedback , you know , are we doing this Like ?

Are we open and honest when they ask us was it nearly for you like my and DDD ? Are you saying like no ? You like yeah , you know that that looks fantastic . I don't know if this goes with that . Whatever , you know , I'm just like that's the thing . So when people are asking questions , that's the thing that was missing . Clarity was missing .

Communication , I think , wasn't bad in lockdown , right . Clarity was missing and candor was missing , because we knew they weren't telling us the truth . We knew that we didn't know everything , or at the very least , we suspected . And when you suspect , that means it's not good enough . So just make sure that you are transparent throughout the process and do that .

And sometimes we think we need to withhold information from people so that they are relaxed and that they don't stress about things , but then we cause exactly the opposite thing . And the last C is care . And what do I mean with care ?

Well , that means that we need to support the people that are going through this change with us , that we need to make sure that we train them and then make sure we train ourselves . So we need to take care of ourselves , but also the people in our teams , people in our networks , our partners who we've outsourced to , et cetera .

So those are the five Cs , right . So let me run them through again just quickly . So first one is courage . Second one is communication . Third one is clarity . Fourth one is candor and the last one is care . So we think about those things .

They can really help you and if we just , you don't need some weird and wonderful strategy that you write out of a 50 page document . Just go think about , like , what are the one or two things I can do for each one of these ? I promise you you're going to be a million times better at this than you already are .

The one thing that again , just going back to the show earlier , when we started the show , you know , I think that the one thing and you can tell me like you would know better than me , but if I were to guess what was it about the show that got people through is just simply because one , well , we did take their attention a little bit away from what was

going on , but also we had the courage to show up . So we were leading , I think , with courage , which again wasn't . It's something that I realized afterwards .

It's not something that I had a strategy around and thought like now I'm going to do this because for me it was just I've got to do this , but because one person had the courage and then there was another person who had courage and then there was another one with courage . People look at that and go like I can do this , I can do this .

If that person can do this , I can do this . So when we ?

The next step is that you don't know whether we're going to make this or not , but you can have a clear vision , you can have clear ideas , you can communicate clearly about what the steps are that we're going to follow , what really is the first step , and then we'll look at the next step and you involve people in the process .

That makes it so much easier . But I think the one thing it's easy to say that you need to lead with courage . What does that look like ? And for me , it's just about being authentic . If you're afraid , say you're afraid . It's not about being there and I'm the almighty boss and I have all the answers and just follow me , everything will be okay .

I'm going to run through walls , which I will , but ultimately it's not about that . It's about being authentic . But ultimately it's not about that . It's about being authentic . And I think more important than authenticity is probably vulnerability . Being vulnerable and saying guys , I'm as scared as you are . I must use another word I'm as scared as you are .

I don't know right , but here's a plan . I definitely see this is where we're going to get to and when we get there it's going to be absolutely amazing . But on the way there there's a couple of dragons that needs to be slayed , there's some rough terrain that we need to cross and I don't know exactly what's lying ahead .

But I'm on this with you and I'm just as afraid as you are . If you are , if you're not afraid , don't say you're afraid , don't fake it .

But that's the most important part , because then people know they're not alone , because otherwise they they're going to fear that if we portray this idea that we're ever knowing and all knowing and we can do all this stuff and we're not afraid of anything and we will , you know , come hell or high water , we will make it Then there's more fear that will build

inside of them because they will feel like you know , I don't know what to do next . I don't what if I fail ? I can't do this , let me rather quit . Next , I don't what if I fail ? I can't do this , let me rather quit , because I can't face that . So we need to be cognizant of that .

So , when you're leading with courage , it's about being vulnerable , it's about being authentic and being open-minded , but the one thing that you can't do is not show resilience or not be resilient . Right , so we've got to go through this , because when you're leading , we're fighting to the bitter end . Right ? So you've got to be resilient .

And that clear vision as well goes with that . Being clear , guys , this is where we're going through . Sorry , we're sitting in the mud right now , but when we get up and we move another step and another step , we're getting closer to this where we're going to and I'm in this with you that's the most important part .

So all of the five Cs combined with this , I believe , is the thing that's going to get us through any kind of change , and I'm really keen to see your comments as well on this and what your thoughts are . That's it from our side for change , all righty . So let's just see quickly . Oh yeah , I love this . Okay , so let's see .

Yeah , so , jocko Willink , I thought I had it right . Thank you , russell . Discipline equals freedom . Yes , it's true . But what if you don't ? Are you not naturally disciplined ? Is it something you can learn . Some people do , some people don't . But disciplined , is it something you can learn ? Some people do , some people don't .

Uh , but there's other ways to to get it done . Which makes you disciplined , but it's not discipline itself , it could be strategy , it could be other stuff . So fantastic , thank you . Uh . Yonita says discipline is one of the rarest skills out of all the skills in the strength finder , according to gallup . So thank you very much for that .

Um , here's carolcerity in what you say and do . Absolutely Another C is community . I really love that one . I think that's an important one because if you bring everybody in your team together , it does become a community . I think this thing about our business is our family .

Unless your family work in your business , it's not really true , but community is definitely something that you can have in your business . Terence says we're all in it together . We all bring different thoughts and ideas to help each other . Fantastic and fantastically well . Alrighty . Ladies and gentlemen , thank you so much .

My guest next week is Kim Potgieter , so I'm looking forward to next week Half an hour discussion with Kim , getting all into a recent trip to America where she spent time with Chip Conley , and all about midlife and learning , all about patterns . We're going to talk about what she learned , how she's applying it when , now that she's back and all of that .

So really looking forward to a fantastic , fantastic show with kim next week . Live same time , same place . Until then , stay safe , be blessed and prosper and continue to raise the ball . Love you . Thanks for being here . All right ,

folks . That's a wrap for this episode of propulsion . I hope you got as much out of this as I did . Remember to tune in every friday at 8 am , south african time for our live show called Propulsion Live . You can find it at wwwpropulsioncoza forward slash live and , trust me , you don't want to miss it .

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