About Don Connelly’s Wit & Wisdom
Hello.
I’m Don Connelly.
I speak about, write about and coach the human side of being a Financial Advisor.
I’ve been doing that for nearly fifty years.
During that time, our profession has changed dramatically.
Products have changed.
Planning has changed.
Technology has changed.
Now AI is changing everything.
But here’s what’s interesting.
The more technology changes, the more valuable human skills become.
For years, our industry has done an outstanding job teaching Financial Advisors the technical side of the business.
Somewhere along the way, though, we stopped teaching the basics.
How to earn trust.
How to ask thoughtful questions.
How to become a professional listener.
How to explain complicated ideas in plain English.
How to care more than people expect us to care.
How to build the kind of relationships that last for decades.
Those are the skills I’ve spent my career teaching.
Sometimes I joke that I may be the last person on earth still coaching Financial Advisors how to have great conversations.
Then AI came along.
All of a sudden, the skills everybody stopped talking about became the skills everybody is talking about.
I jokingly tell people I’m so far out...
...I’m back in.
Thank you, AI.
Here’s what I’ve learned after working with thousands of Financial Advisors.
This business is simple.
Not easy.
Simple.
People have to like you.
People have to trust you.
People have to believe you’re smart enough to solve their problems.
Most prospects aren’t looking for more information.
They’re looking for someone they can trust.
I’ve believed that for decades.
AI hasn’t changed that.
If anything, it has made those ideas even more important.
I’ve often said we’re not really in the investment business.
We’re in the people business.
Investments are simply the subject matter.
That’s what this publication is about.
Every Monday I publish a short column that takes about five minutes to read.
My goal is simple.
I want you to finish each column a little better than when you started.
I hope you’ll learn something.
I hope you’ll smile.
I hope you’ll have at least one “aha” moment.
And most of all, I hope you’ll use what you’ve learned with a client that very day.
If you’ve ever heard me speak, you’ve probably heard someone say,
“I loved your energy.”
Or...
“It was obvious that you know exactly how Financial Advisors think.”
That’s exactly how I want this publication to feel.
Simple.
Practical.
Encouraging.
Maybe even a little entertaining.
Wit & Wisdom Plus
The Monday column is free because I believe good ideas should be shared.
But some Advisors want to go deeper.
Wit & Wisdom Plus is where we do that.
It’s not “more of the same.”
It’s a different conversation.
It’s where we explore the judgment, communication, relationships and life lessons that separate good Advisors from exceptional ones.
You’ll also get to know Gator Marcom.
Gator is an experienced Financial Advisor who’s still learning. So am I.
Along with his wife, Lila, and the people around him, Gator helps me explore the challenges, decisions and conversations that every Advisor eventually faces.
Over time, I hope you’ll come to think of them as old friends.
My hope is that Wit & Wisdom Plus becomes more than something you read.
I hope it becomes something you think about long after you’ve finished reading it.
How I Write
People occasionally ask whether I use AI.
I do.
Not to create my ideas.
Not to tell my stories.
And certainly not to replace the experience I’ve gained over nearly fifty years of coaching Financial Advisors.
I use AI the same way I would use a good editor. It helps me tighten a sentence, catch repetition or organize a thought that’s been rattling around in my head for years.
But the ideas are mine.
The stories are mine.
The opinions are mine.
If you’ve heard me speak over the years, you’ve heard many of them long before AI existed.
Whether you read the free Monday column or decide to join me in Wit & Wisdom Plus, thank you for being here.
I hope you’ll stop by every week.
I think we’re going to have some interesting conversations.
