Over the past two weeks, I have talked about how a movie, The Intern, has helped me explain what Doescher Advisors does (Part 1, Part 2). In this post, I will continue to provide examples, and hopefully I won’t ruin the movie for you. The following are takeaways from the movie that we aspire to bring to our clients as we serve them:

8. Early on, Ben was slow to offer advice and express his views/opinions.
      We try to learn the client and their business first, before offering our thoughts. As I’ve been reflecting  upon Ben’s approach, I’ve realized that our clients will benefit if we’re more like Ben.

9. Ben was humble. Nothing was below him. He cleaned up a mess in the main office, and he helped deliver the interoffice mail.
      Our goal would be to follow Ben’s example, and do whatever needs to be done.

10. Ben wasn’t judgmental of Jules or any of her team.
      After years in business, we recognize that things often look simpler to an outsider who is unaware of all the circumstances and compromises that led to a particular decision.

11. Ben was others-oriented. He was there to help the team.
      At Doescher Advisors, our two primary metrics are:
      – As we’re driving to our monthly client appointments, we ask ourselves, “Are we really excited about meeting with this CEO/president/business owner today?”
      – Then, as we’re leaving the appointment, we ask, “Did we offer this executive anything that will help them be a better business leader, or a better person in general?”

      If the answer to either question is “no,” we’ll resign from the job. We believe our clients deserve our best.

12. Ben was willing to take the initiative to figure out how he could help Jules and her team.
      In our standard business advisory agreement we state, “During the first few meetings and ongoing, through active listening, Tom will quickly learn The Client’s most important goals, both business and  personal.”

13. Ben gave credit to others on the team.
      Doescher Advisors’ goal is to help our clients be successful, not to take credit for their success.

14. Ben was upbeat and positive.
      There is more than enough negativity in the business world. Our goal is to be a positive influence on our clients and others.

I will finish my list of what I’ve learned from Ben next week.