A growth mindset seems to be at the heart of shared purpose relationships with our MQ Partners. Those who are consistently seeking ways to improve and expand how they interact with the profession and world resonate with us.
Whether it's our training, educational webinars, or annual events, we reference and quote several pieces of literature and research. It's probably no surprise that we're book nerds. We believe that at their best, resources to feed a growth mindset deepen the advisor's ability to understand their clients, and maybe more importantly, themselves. Here are some of our top recommendations.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us | Daniel Pink
We're fans of all of Daniel Pink's work, but this book is compelling when it comes to understanding what motivates human beings. He shares examples of how intrinsic aspirations (e.g., to help others, learn, grow) are much more motivating and satisfying than extrinsic aspirations (e.g., becoming wealthy or famous). He summarizes:
“…satisfaction depends not merely on having goals, but on having the right goals.”
The other important point he makes around how adults are motivated is through the concept of an autonomous supportive environment. Environments where we feel autonomy, mastery, and purpose are where we feel most satisfied. To learn more, watch Daniel Pink's entertaining video:
Start with Why | Simon Sinek
Amongst many concepts, this book describes the golden circle, with the innermost circle representing the purpose. Simon Sinek encourages business leaders to spend time focusing on that purpose and suggests that it will naturally lead to a powerful ‘how’ and ‘what,’ the two outermost rings. If you haven't seen this video of Simon describing the golden circle, we highly recommend it as a precursor to getting the book.
At their best, resources to feed a growth mindset deepen the advisor's ability to understand their clients, and maybe more importantly, themselves. Click To Tweet
Getting Things Done | David Allen
This book proposes that our brain is for having ideas, not holding them, and provides practical strategies for organizing your thoughts. We think it gives great tips for a busy professional, but there is also overlap with how you might work with your clients.
Encouraging a clear vision of where you're heading is one area where this overlap is apparent. Clearly defining what success looks like is key to making sure all the steps you're taking to get there are the right ones. Clients need to do this in developing meaningful goals. Advisors need to do this in developing a successful practice.
“…to access the conscious and unconscious resources available to you, you must have a clear picture in your mind of what success would look, sound, and feel like. Purpose and principles furnish the impetus and the monitoring, but vision provides the actual blue print of the final result.”
Other Books and Resources
These are just three from our recommended reading list. You can find a dozen more books that we love here.
As with all purchases, we encourage you to use your money in a way that supports your values. If that includes independent bookstores that are trying to do good in the world, here are our top three favorites:
- Powell's Books | As a Portland-based organization, we would be remiss not to mention one of the largest and oldest independent bookstores in the world
- Black Owned Independent Bookstore | A directory of black-owned bookstores across the United States
- BetterWorldBooks | Nonprofit organization that supports literacy worldwide
- Brenna Baucum, CFP® | Director of Education & Communications at Money Quotient