Leadership in finance with Adam Elliott

Ashleay: Hello and welcome to the “In Your Interest!” podcast. My name is Ashleay and, as usual, I’m joined by my colleague Sébastien Mc Mahon, Chief Strategist. Today’s guest is Adam Elliott, president of iA Private Wealth. Together we’ll discuss his career, professional path and vision of leadership. So, hello, Sébastien! Hi, Adam!

Adam: Hi there, Ashleay. Hi, Sébastien.

Sébastien: Hey, Adam. Great to have you here. It’s good to finally have you on the podcast; we’ve been trying to make this happen for a few months, and here we are. So excited to talk to you!

Adam: Thank you. I’ve listened to many episodes, always enjoyed them, and I’m thrilled to be a guest myself.

Ashleay: So, Adam, how about we dive right in? What were your ambitions when you entered the job market?

Adam: You know, I’ve kind of had an interesting path. From a family perspective: I’ve got two sisters and they both knew they wanted to be doctors, I think, since they were in early high school, maybe even earlier. And they’re both doctors today. They had a very clear vision, from a young age, of the path they would take in terms of the education they needed, the career learning they needed to become doctors. One of my sisters is a GP; one is a surgeon. And they had that vision from a really young age. I wish I’d had that same clarity, but I didn’t. When I was at McGill, I certainly didn’t aspire to the role I have today. You know, I think I knew I wanted to work in business from a young age, and after starting my career in insurance, I quickly knew that I wanted to work in finance. So, I made that move. But that was mostly from learning from my colleagues and my friends in the roles that I had at the companies I worked with. You know, I wished I’d had a little more vision, but instead I kind of took one step at a time. I think not everybody is lucky enough to see their full career path ahead of them from a young age. Personally, I just tried to get very good at every role I had and then put myself in a good position for the next opportunity when it came up. In some cases, I just made a case for a new role for myself at the firms I was working at.

Sébastien: Yeah, it’s hard to know from a young age exactly what you want to do with your life. I knew I wanted to work in business, too. I also loved math, so I started there and kind of stumbled on economics. How about you, Ashleay? What did you want to do when you were growing up?

Ashleay: I wanted to be a teacher, like my parents. And then I realized what a job that was, so I deviated.

Sébastien: Yeah. Your sisters are very fortunate to have known what they wanted to do at such an early age, Adam.

Ashleay: Absolutely. And, Adam, did you have any specific goals, either in terms of time or achievement at the beginning of your career?

Adam: I think I did, but I would say that I only had them kind of one step at a time. You know, I didn’t know the path I would take from the junior roles I had at the start of my career to the more senior role I have today. I certainly didn’t think in my early 20s: “Here’s a path to become president of a full-service brokerage firm!” That was not part of the dream. I think I kept it really simple and just tried to work really hard. I try to continuously learn through reading, studying, working with my colleagues and clients. I was consistent in making sure that I committed to performing my best at every role I’ve had. I would also say that I’ve had a fair amount of luck, and I always tell people: “Never underestimate the role of luck in your career or in your personal life.” For example, I’ve been really lucky to work at two great companies in my career, most recently iA. You know, I’ve had friends just as talented and hard-working as me, but they worked at companies that were not as successful or didn’t provide the same opportunities. So working at a great company that offers great opportunities for advancement is really important. And if you’ve got that great work ethic, but you realize you’re in a firm that’s not going to give you those opportunities, I think you have to take it upon yourself to make sure you position yourself or find a company where you can have great success. I’d say most of my promotions have come from simply seizing opportunities as they’ve emerged. The one lesson I can maybe offer here is something I was told early in my career, that you should always jump to the next role while you still love the role you currently have. I’ve seen many smart people get stale by staying in the same role for too long because, you know, you can get comfortable. So personally, I’ve never been afraid to make that jump before I was fully ready, and then I focused on learning as quickly as I could in that new role. I’ve never allowed myself to tire in a role before jumping on the next opportunity.

Sébastien: Yeah, it can be a mistake to say: “I’ll stay in this role until I’ve accomplished everything I want to.” You can always, as you said, learn new things. What’s more, you could also influence the direction from a higher role if you do climb the ladder. So yeah, I agree with you. I agree with your approach, here.

Ashleay: Absolutely. And would you be willing to share some insights on leadership and career development?

Adam: Yeah. Actually, I’m fortunate that there are always young people coming into this firm, a lot of whom ask me questions like the one you just asked, Ashleay. For one thing, I always say: “Educate yourself, especially through courses when you’re young.” You know, the more formal education you can get before you have kids and before your work responsibilities become too intense, the better. I’ve got two kids who both play rep hockey, so they’re on the ice four or five times a week; add that to my own  efforts to stay in shape, to be present with my family and my work responsibilities, and I can tell you it doesn’t get any easier to find the time to study as you get older. So, before you have those responsibilities, I’d strongly encourage people to take additional courses to help them on that side. The other advice I would give, which is a piece of advice that I think has become necessary since Covid, is I do think it’s really important to go into the office, work with your colleagues in person as much as possible, and also get out and meet clients if you’re at a firm which has clients. You know, I still do this today. At iA, I really appreciate and respect how our firm has embraced a flexible workplace—and I think that’s the right decision—however it is easier to get noticed and to stand out when you work in person. So, don’t hide at home; don’t wait for your manager to tell you to come into the office but take the initiative. I also really think that everybody at a firm should go out and meet clients in person. This can be a real danger as you get into senior roles. You can end up working with your leadership team all the time and not going out and meeting your clients. I personally make a real effort to do that to this day, because too many decisions are made by businesses without enough consultation with their clients. That’s why I always tell our team to go out and meet clients.

Sébastien: Yeah. And I think, Ashleay, that that was one of the insights that Claude Sirois had when he was here.

Ashleay: Yes.

Sébastien: For the young folks entering the job market, he said that you’re the CEO of your own career. Basically, you need to put the work in, you need the direction, you need to show up. This is all good advice that applies to any field, I would say, and it’s great advice for someone starting in a career. I know that you’re a great leader and that you study leadership, too. Do you have any insights or favourite books or any recommendations for someone who wants to develop as a leader?

Adam: I think about this a lot. I mentioned earlier how important it is to be reading all the time. I actually try to alternate between one non-fiction and one fiction book—and in the summer, maybe a little bit more fiction, and from September to May, maybe a little bit more business books and leadership books. And I read a lot of biographies or autobiographies of business leaders. One of my favourites is Simon Sinek’s book, Leaders Eat Last, which, I think, has great lessons for aspiring leaders to follow. One key lesson is, not to ask your team to do something you wouldn’t do yourself. So, lead by example. Don’t ask your team to work late on a project if you’re not working hard too. Don’t take first-class flights on a plane and expect your colleagues to sit in the back in economy. Go into the office and make sure you’re accessible, not hidden away in a corporate head office, away from your colleagues. I, for example, like to sit out in the open. I’d also say that it’s vitally important to be empathic: put yourself in the shoes of others. One mistake you can make as a leader at a firm is to assume that everyone thinks the same as you do. Not everybody has the same ambitions that I do. Some colleagues are very happy in their current roles, and they do great work but don’t aspire to a management role, for example. And that’s great. And a company needs that just as much as they need people who aspire to go into management. You know, one really simple principle I’ve mentioned a lot to our team is, “ask more questions and spend more time listening than talking.” I’d also say, in terms of career development: be a continuous learner; read a lot. I spend a lot of time reading. I consider it a pleasure, which my wife sometimes finds kind of strange, but… I’ll read The Economist every week; I’ll read The Globe and Mail, the New York Times and industry publications every day. I also follow business leaders from many different professions, not just finance. I’m trying to learn not just from financial leaders, like Jamie Dimon, for example, who’s one of my mentors in finance, but I’ll also try to follow on LinkedIn, for example, Bill Gates or a historian like Yuval Harari, whom I’ve learned a lot from. So, don’t be too narrow in your interests. Also, I’d say make sure that you remember that your health, your friendships, your family are just as important as your career. So never put all your efforts into one at the expense of the other. And perhaps one other tip I’d give is, always build your network and not just at your own company. I think some people build a good network at their own firm, but don’t build one outside of it. I’m a big believer in the concept of collaboration, not competition. I’m not trying to beat other companies that we supposedly compete with. I just want to learn from them and make continuous improvements in the way I work, in the way our firm works. For example, I really pride myself on having great relationships with the heads of many of the firms we compete with. We’re not in a quarter-by-quarter game where we’re in, to quote Simon Sinek again, “the infinite game.” You’re not trying to win your career; you’re actually trying to leave a legacy and you have to make sure that the company you work with leaves a legacy long after you’ve gone.

Ashleay: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Adam, for coming in today and discussing your career and sharing your leadership advice. That concludes today’s episode. But not to worry, dear listeners, Adam will also be featured in next week’s episode, in which we’ll be talking about the current job market. Thanks also to you, Sébastien. And, of course, to our listeners. Don’t hesitate to drop us a line if you have any questions. We’ll talk again next week. Loved this podcast? Want to know more about economic news? Follow our “In Your Interest!” podcast, available on all platforms, visit the economic news page on ia.ca or follow us on social media.