Even with years of experience, stepping into a new role often means building new skills, developing confidence in different areas and becoming comfortable with not having all the answers – that was the case for Grant Moors of Anglebury Financial Associates LLP.
“Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” – Theodore Roosevelt
For paraplanners and others working in financial services, there often comes a point where the focus shifts.
The focus is no longer on passing the next exam, securing the next promotion, or developing deeper technical knowledge. Instead, it becomes something slightly different.
What difference do I want to make?
For some, that question leads towards advice, not that that necessarily makes the decision any easier.
One of the less talked about aspects of moving into advice is that it can mean becoming a beginner again.
That was certainly the experience for me.
After twenty-six years in financial services, I made a decision that surprised many people.
I spent sixteen years at Barclays before joining J.P. Morgan, where I spent the next decade, finishing my corporate career as an Executive Director leading Global Policy & Standards.
It was a role I was immensely proud of, working alongside exceptionally talented colleagues across the world on governance, regulation and risk.
On paper, I had achieved what I’d spent much of my career working towards. I’d completed an MBA, become a Chartered Manager and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, and led global teams through significant regulatory and organisational change.
Then I chose to become a trainee financial adviser.
Not because I’d fallen out of love with financial services, but because I had the opportunity to become the next custodian of my family’s independent financial advice firm, which has served our local community for more than thirty-five years.
I use the word custodian deliberately. I’m not simply taking over a business. I’m inheriting decades of trust that have been earned through thousands of conversations and countless moments where clients have relied upon good advice during some of the biggest decisions of their lives.
That responsibility felt far greater than any job title.
If I’m honest, I thought the technical exams would be the biggest challenge. They weren’t.
The hardest part was becoming comfortable not being the person with all the answers.
For years I’d built a career by being the person others came to for guidance. Suddenly I was studying again, sitting professional exams alongside people starting their careers, learning entirely new technical disciplines and asking questions I’d not needed to ask for decades.
It was humbling. And, looking back, incredibly healthy.
For anyone considering a move into advice, there can be a temptation to wait until everything feels settled before taking the next step.
But one of the greatest lessons in any career is remembering what it feels like to be a beginner. Growth rarely happens when everything feels comfortable.
I also discovered something else.
While the route into advice varies from person to person, many people describe a similar experience once they begin working with clients.
The technical knowledge still matters, but it starts to feel different when there is a real person sitting in front of you.
I’d spent years helping large organisations implement regulation designed to protect customers I’d never actually meet. Now I was sitting across a desk from those customers.
The conversations were very different from those I’d become accustomed to in boardrooms.
Nobody wanted to discuss governance frameworks. They wanted to know whether they could retire, whether their husband or wife would be financially secure, whether they could help their children, and whether they’d made the right decisions.
Suddenly, the technical knowledge I’d been working so hard to acquire had a human face.
Consumer Duty stopped being a regulatory initiative and became something much simpler – doing the right thing for the individual sitting opposite you, every single time.
Another surprise was discovering how little clients care about corporate job titles.
Nobody has ever asked me what level I operated at within J.P. Morgan. They don’t ask how many people I managed, and they don’t ask about governance committees or operating models.
They ask if I’ll return their phone call, whether I’ll explain something without jargon and whether I’ll look after them.
They’re far more interested in who you are than where you’ve worked and that was one of the most valuable lessons of all.
Looking back, I don’t feel that I’ve left my previous career behind.
I’ve brought the best parts of it with me. The discipline, the appreciation for good regulation, the importance of consistency.
But I’ve also gained something I wasn’t expecting – perspective.
For twenty-six years I helped global organisations manage risk. Today, I help families manage their futures.
In my former role I helped change policy. In this role, I change lives.
For anyone considering a move into advice, whether from paraplanning or another area of financial services, that may be one of the most reassuring lessons of all.
You don’t start from scratch; you bring your experience with you.
The challenge is having the courage to become a beginner again.
Main image: beginning, aamir-suhail-ATlRqTCbvV4-unsplash
