One of the biggest surprise shows in the last few years has to be Ted Lasso. In fact, they just recently received 20 Emmy nominations and absolutely dominated the award show.
In his acceptance speech for Best Actor, lead actor Jason Sudeikis summarized the show and success in such a beautiful way:
“This show is about family. This show is about mentors and teachers. This show is about teammates. And I wouldn’t be here without those three things in my life.”
On a side note, I can’t help but appreciate the positive yet real depiction of what life and a desire for unity can look like, especially during these unique times in history.
What stood out to me almost more than anything else isn’t just that a story about an American football coach taking over an English football club was unusual, but rather the powerful demonstration of what being a team truly means. We learn throughout the show that being a team takes real work. Leadership from one, and often from all. And that winning as a team is more enjoyable then winning by ourselves.
Why does that matter for you, or for our clients? Because anyone who wants to succeed at life, in business or in their finances has a successful team around them that they trust. I appreciate that it can look different for everyone, but I have yet to meet a single client who doesn’t have at least one or more people around them that they can trust with proper planning, structuring, implementation and monitoring of their finances.
Who’s at Your Table?
So the question then is who do you need to have at your table, something we often refer to as our Professional Planning Table?
It goes without saying that you are the central person or family in this equation. But who do you trust to help you make planning, insurance, or investment decisions? What about tax and legal decisions as your wealth continues to grow and your situation continues to become a little more complex? Do you have a single Advisor who provides all of these services and expertise? Or do you work with a team of Specialists who work together with your direction, and usually the assistance of your most trusted Advisor?
When it comes to planning, insurance and wealth management, there are a lot of options for who you can trust and eventually work with. Some of our clients prefer to have our firm manage all three of these “seats” at the table, while others prefer to engage us in one or two of the three. The choice is always personal, but the need to have these three seats clearly and properly represented at your table is essential.
This team does not replace the need to have the right tax and legal team members also join you at your table. These are definitely different technical skills, different education paths, and usually quite different personalities and belief systems. Helping you build, manage and implement a proper tax strategy or structure is something that is inevitable as you continue to growth your wealth, and a tax-focused Accountant or Lawyer plays an integral role in ensuring your structure is soundly built and put together.
Whether you watch Ted Lasso or not, we can learn one final lesson from him. We are only as good as each other working for your benefit. If we are collectively committed to ensuring your success whether you trust one firm with all of these roles or multiple firms, the end result is that you win. Knowing who you can trust to take the single seat that helps orchestrate and coordinate your financial future is entirely your decision to make, but by all means, it’s in your best interest to find that person, firm or even entire team to help make you get everything you want and more from your personal team of professionals.
Team is powerful. Team is essential. Team is everything. Make sure you find and trust the right people to join your team who are wholly and undeniably committed to your success as a family.
