You are here today at MDRT Miami because you are successful.
You are here today because someone believes in you.
Think back: Who was the person who first invited you to MDRT?
Who is a first timer? Congratulations.
Who has been to more than 10 Annual Meetings? Well done.
So, if you are a first timer or a life member, the journey started because someone believed in you and the benefits of MDRT and encouraged you to come along to this meeting.
You are here today because you are on a journey, maybe to grow, to improve or to adapt to the environment that continues to change and challenge.
We are all on a journey. Come with me on a journey.
The year is 2005, MDRT New Orleans. I will never forget landing at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, coming out into the warm humid air of New Orleans, driving down Canal Street, the smell of Cajun food in the air, the sound of jazz music and the lights of New Orleans.
I was there because of one person, a mentor and a friend who believed in me.
I will never forget the first morning of the Annual Meeting. It was 8 a.m., and I was feeling jet-lagged. There was a jazz band, smoke machines, bright lights and an auditorium packed with 10,000 MDRT members.
The first speaker, Patrick E. Moore, talked about “balcony people.” Balcony people are those people who see something in you that you do not see yourself. They might be a colleague, a teacher or a friend. The balcony person sees that spark of something special, believes in you and seeks to elevate you to a better and higher place.
Sitting next to me was my balcony person and mentor. That person, six weeks earlier, had put a ticket in my hand to go to that amazing meeting. His name was Tony Bongiorno.
At the end of Patrick Moore’s presentation about balcony people, Tony turned to me and asked me two questions:
- What is your unique ability?
- Who is your ideal client?
I’m embarrassed to say that in 2005, after 10 years of being an advisor, I could not answer either of those questions.
Following that session with Patrick Moore, we went to listen to the icon of MDRT, Dan Sullivan. Dan talked about unique ability, that ability you have inside that is special, the thing that makes you enjoy doing what you do.
His question and challenge were to work on the things you are good at doing and stop doing the things you shouldn’t being doing.
In 2005, I would take on any or all clients. I was a successful advisor. I had been in practice for 10 years, but I did not know what my unique ability was, and I could not describe my ideal client type.
So I ask you today: What is your unique ability? What are the things that you should do more of? More importantly, what are the things that you are going to stop doing?
As result of that amazing meeting, I went back to Adelaide, and I changed my practice. I decided that I would specialize. My area of specialization is medical professionals.
What is it for you? What is the ideal client type for you?
Roll the clock forward now 13 years on, and I am now a director of a practice that specializes in advice to over 800 medical professionals with a staff of 48 people.
It started with that balcony person, that mentor who believed in me and asked me those two critical questions.
So the questions again: What is your unique ability? Who is your ideal client type?
The longer I have been in business, the more I have realized that we are not in control. We do not control the business environment. What we do control is our reaction to what happens.
As John Maxwell said last year at the Annual Meeting, this is the time for intentional change. Identify the important things you can do, and develop yourself to adapt to the environment that you face.
The questions to answer are:
- What are you going to start doing?
- What are you going to stop doing?
Answer these questions, and you will see success.
Pay it forward by being a balcony person and mentor who believes in and gives to others.
Now, a big round of applause for our balcony people.
Adam McCann, CFP, DFP, is an 11-year MDRT member with two Court of the Table and seven Top of the Table qualifications. A director with Bartons Chartered Accountants and Wealth Advisors, McCann helps medical professionals and practices access deal with taxes, accounting, wealth management, risk protection and lending. McCann draws on his specialized insights to help Bartons’ professional and executive clients ensure long-term financial independence and security.
