RAJ Lawyers & Condon Associates
By Schon G Condon RFD
At Condon Associates we are often approached by numerous people seeking to more fully understand the aspects of our profession and what we do. They very quickly begin to appreciate that a large part of what we do involves not just dealing with the financial facets of matters, but also the many and varied emotive and egotistical issues. In fact this is so much part of the job that we can sometimes miss its significance as we simply seek to just get on and do what we must in terms of tidying up the financial disaster that confronts us.
This is even more so the case given the current upheaval in financial markets and an increasing level of concern as to the potential outcome of these unpredictable movements, it is probably timely to consider all the issues that surround financial distress or discomfort and I can assure you they are not necessarily just financial.
The importance of the softer aspects of our job was dramatically brought to mind recently when I received news of an attempted suicide that in part related to the diminution of the individual’s retirement investments. Having already had to deal with suicide from both a very close personal level and more than one professional perspective, the revelation of this reaction to the reduction of an individual’s financial position was quite disconcerting.
Throughout life now much time is devoted to the maintenance and development of the concept of personal future wealth. So much focus is given to financial growth that it is easy to lose sight of the fact that life is not necessarily always positive and easy. Notwithstanding the financial difficulties that may be encountered, it can be possible to turn bleak situations around and achieve positive outcomes for all.
One fundamental premise that must be understood to achieve positive turnaround is the fact that the world, in particular the business world, is not a level playing field.
Today more and more people turn to all manner of advisors to seek leadership and guidance. These advisors take many guises, business leaders, family members, media personalities, and increasingly sportsmen and women and their coaches. It is not to say that the efforts and achievements of some or all of these should not be acknowledged and applauded but are they the best role models for the individual concerned?
Chris Lowney, a former managing Director of J.P. Morgan in New York challenges the perception of sporting guidance in his book “Heroic Leadership”. Here he challenges the concept of the function of the sportsperson and that of life: – “Given the tidal wave of sports wisdom, it would seem that the challenges faced by coaches must be highly analogous to the challenges we all face in life…How many of us live in an environment that even remotely resembles professional basketball? (Used as his example) The rules of that game rarely change, and even then only marginally. Three people with whistles ensure that everyone obeys the rules, stopping play to deliver immediate justice for even miniscule trespasses. Those dissatisfied with or overwhelmed by the course of events can stop things with a timeout, regroup, and head back onto the court. Every coach is restricted to producing only one product…so no one needs to be outflanked by competitors introducing new products…Nor, in this little world, need any one agonise over the optimum staffing levels, (it’s always the same and even). The employees always work together in the same location; they work on only one project at a time, and it’s always the same project: beat team X.
Accepting that the world is not a level playing field is essential in coming to grips with the fact that success can be real and that through a process of gaining responsible control and turnaround all stakeholders can benefit. However for ALL to benefit there must be an acceptance that ALL must compromise and work forward. The failure of one party to work toward the goal will most likely result in failure, potentially for everyone. For whenever one party goes out after victory it dictates that there must be at least one corresponding loser.
The most common tactic we see is the practitioner’s ability to play parties or groups off against one another. Most commonly no one really wins and a significant level of funds can be expended on the journey.
The focus must not be the journey, it must be the result. Remember the journey is not easy because the playing field is not level.
That is not to say however that you cannot achieve and share success. It’s all about taking positive steps to get the whole situation under control and focused on the best positive outcome for the situation at hand.
