For Episode 66, we break the rules of a “roundtable” and have only one guest, Carolyn Armitage, joining Matt for a deep conversation around our industry’s continuing evolution of turning practices into businesses. It was a real thrill for him to interview one of his most respected RIA leaders for this conversation. As he states in the introduction, his Mount Rushmore of RIA practice management leaders consists of Mark Tibergien, Michael Kitces, and Carolyn Armitage. You will see very quickly why he holds Carolyn in such high regard. From her time heading up LPL’s enterprise business management consulting business, to acting as a “change management catalyst” as managing director at Echelon Partners, to running Thrivent Advisor Network, Carolyn has become an expert in strategic planning, organizational design, succession planning, and maximizing enterprise value. She has now hung her own shingle and started Carolyn Armitage Consulting, where she acts as a CEO Whisperer – helping RIA owners better lead their people, form more precise strategic plans, drive change within their organizations, and create better enterprise value and succession solutions. During this deep conversation, Matt and Carolyn discuss:
- The fact that the RIA industry is fragmented and in need of central leadership
- Whether or not there truly is a “Succession Planning Crisis” in our industry
- Why “We want more…” is not a complete strategic plan
- Advice for building high performance teams
- The pros and cons of relying on industry compensation reports
- How to use equity to retain your key employees
- A fantastic framework for successfully driving change within your organization
- And the most elusive question of them all: How to increase enterprise value