Arrogance Is Out

A CEO of one of the independent brokerage shops told me a story the other day. He and his team normally fly a prospective recruit in the night before a home office visit and they all go out to dinner. During the first fifteen minutes, the recruit was just plain rude to the waiter. His attitude said: “I'm spending the money (though the CEO was treating!) and you're my servant this evening. So I am entitled to treat you like dirt.” When the recruit went to the restroom, the CEO turned to his team: “Put him on the first plane back in the morning. We're all wasting our time.” As I look for Advisors and Managers for his staff, the message is loud and clear: Jerks need not apply. The CEO of another relatively new shop for retail brokers has never needed to illustrate his thoughts about this more clearly to all of his staff, at all levels: “Sarch, we have a no ***hole rule here. Period.” An Advisor with impeccable credentials ($2 million fee based business, $300 million in assets) showed up for an interview in shorts. The meeting was set up at the last minute, and it was a summer Friday. The meeting was a positive one for both sides and the Branch Manager overlooked the shorts. Another meeting was set, two weeks in advance, with the head of Managed Accounts. The Advisor again showed up in shorts. He never got an offer. Make no mistake: the recruiting world is still mostly about numbers. Being polite and well-mannered will not get you a deal if your production stinks. But being overly self-important, rude, condescending, and showing you to be miserable to work with could blow the deal of a lifetime.