Ron Carson says Monica Lewinsky can teach advisers a thing or two

Peak Advisor Alliance founder Ron Carson has announced an unexpected name as keynote speaker at this year's Excell fall conference: Monica Lewinsky. The choice, which came after Mr. Carson heard Ms. Lewinsky speak about cyberbullying and shame in a TED talk in March, has received mixed responses. But Mr. Carson poses one question as a rebuttal to all the critics: Would you be willing to talk, in public, about your darkest moment? Ms. Lewinsky was, and is — that's why he thinks she'll be a breath of fresh air for advisers serving as a keynote speaker at the event, as first reported by RIABiz. "It's a great example of how we can use that same transparency," Mr. Carson said. "We are not perfect, but here, I have learned from it." In the late 1990s, Ms. Lewinsky was the focus of intense scrutiny and the center of a White House scandal after she and then-President Bill Clinton had an extramarital affair. There are a few lessons that she can impart to advisers, Mr. Carson said. The first will be to think about what you say and how you say it, because the person on the other side of the phone or desk isn't some "zero," he said. The second lesson is that this is an era where everything is out in the open and nothing can really be taken back once it's out there. "If you are committed to our profession, really be careful how and what you communicate to anybody," Mr. Carson said. "The consequences can be not only big for you but the person on the receiving end." While some may debate Ms. Lewinsky's relevance to the wealth-management industry, Brian Hamburger, founder of MarketCounsel, a business and regulatory compliance consulting firm, said he doesn't question Mr. Carson's decision. He said it would only be speculation to discuss what Ms. Lewinsky will talk about in her remarks to the advisers attending the event, but he said that there's a fine line in what makes a keynote speaker good versus great. "You can always look on YouTube and see some of the most well-respected and expensive speakers from your own living room, but the question is, when you bring them into a conference, how will it make people feel and how will it make them talk?" Mr. Hamburger said. "If you can move people to the point where they really feel engaged, it's time well spent at a conference," he added. Dave Grant, an adviser with Finance for Teachers in Cary, Ill., said the Internet constituted a substantial part of Ms. Lewinsky's past, considering that news about her relationship with President Clinton broke on the web and subsequently went viral in the days before social media was mainstream. That's why she'll be able to speak to the pros and cons of using it so well. "Advisers need to be aware that they need to treat the Internet with respect," Mr. Grant added. "It's invisible, but it's still very powerful for the positives and negatives." Ms. Lewinsky discussed her experience and the responses she received online during her TED Talk. "There is a very personal price to public humiliation," Ms. Lewinsky said. "The growth of the Internet has jacked up that price. "I was Patient Zero of losing a personal reputation on a global scale almost instantaneously," she said. Ms. Lewinsky's public relations spokeswoman declined an interview. Her appearance and recent breakthrough after being silent for more than a decade may help clear her reputation, Mr. Grant said. "People need to understand, or don't understand and need to hear, what she's gone through," he said. "She still has the label of that woman with the president." Mr. Carson said that's why people shouldn't jump to conclusions. "My response has been, you're in for a treat," Mr. Carson said. "I would ask you to stay open-minded at least until the conclusion of her talk."