A philosophical lesson in servant leadership

As president and CEO of one of America’s most esteemed financial institutions, one of the things that George Nichols III says makes him a standout leader is his philosophy around leadership.

“My philosophy of leadership has always been servant leadership; I serve the people who follow me,” Nichols says.

He points to his faith in Jesus Christ, who he believes to be the greatest leader. “His belief was, ‘My job is to wash the feet of those who I serve and your ability to get things done as a result of that'. That is my philosophy. That's how I start the day. That's how I start thinking about what it is I'm supposed to do as a leader,” Nichols said.

Reflecting on his career at the American College of Financial Services, Nichols says while he was recruited to turn around the business of the college to be more higher education focused, it’s been a challenge but “it’s working.”

“I would like to accelerate our repositioning within financial services. I think there is an opportunity that the college can be a bigger convener, a bigger provider, a bigger thought leader around things that are going to make the financial services industry better. If we can now take this transformed institution that's almost 100 years old and continue to modernize it for both what's today and tomorrow, that would be cool,” he says.

His passion to make the college a better player in the space is one of a few reasons why he’s being recognized as an InvestmentNews Awards 2024 Excellence Awardee, with the winners announced on June 20 at 583 Park Avenue, New York City in a glitzy, red carpet ceremony. Click here to register to attend.

Citing the college’s mission of benefiting society, Nichols recalls him first feeling “hokey” about it.

“If we educated an advisor who has 1,000 clients, then just imagine multiple advisors. How many people, we through the college, are touching other people? We’re benefiting society. It wasn't hokey anymore and that was really powerful to me.”

For more details about the InvestmentNews Awards, including a list of all finalists and details of how to attend, follow this link.