All entrepreneurs understand the intimate connection between work and life. Most of us have given up on the notion of balance in favor of seeking alignment. It shouldn’t be surprising, then, that the way you run your business can impact your energy, stress and health – for better or for worse. Today I’ll argue that by making intentional choices about how you structure your business, you can enhance your energy, reduce stress and impact your outlook and health. And I’ve got the data to prove it. This is a story about Absolute Engagement, what it means, why it matters and how to get there. I’ve written about the concept in the past but today is all about sharing new evidence, based on fresh study that we’ve conducted among more than 600 advisors.

Absolute Engagement is achieved when you build a business that reflects exactly the work you should be doing for the right clients and with the right team. It reflects a perfect alignment of personal, client and team engagement. And the impact can rock your world.

Talk to 600 Advisors and You Find Some Answers

For years we’ve studied advisors at the top of their game as well as looking beyond the industry at the drivers of both meaning and momentum. In order to test and validate those findings, we conducted a new study to assess how advisors approach to their work, their clients and their teams. This first phase of a more extensive study involved an in-depth, online survey among 609 advisors. (Read on for access to a high-level summary of the results.)

15% of respondents were among an elite group of advisors we identified as having achieved Absolute Engagement.

The Impact of Absolute Engagement

Today I’ll argue that by focusing on the strategies that drive Absolute Engagement, you’ll not only experience growth, but greater fulfillment. To be more specific, the results suggest that the advisors who have achieved  Absolute Engagement experience positive results, including:

• Increased growth
• Enhanced focus and productivity
• Reduced stress
• Greater energy

Advisors who are among this elite group also report better health, take more time off and feel more in control. Not bad at all.

The Transformation

Advisors who had achieved Absolute Engagement experienced significant impact on their businesses and their lives. The chart below highlights the key differences; the impact is real and it’s extensive.

Access to the Research Summary

To provide more detail on the transformation, you can access a high level summary by clicking the link below. In that report I’ve gone deeper on each aspect of this powerful transformation and it’s a small preview of a bigger report that will be made available. Click to access the research summary

How Do You Quantify Absolute Engagement?

So let’s dig into how we defined Absolute Engagement. Armed with extensive data, we went through a two-step process to identify the strategies that had the greatest impact on the businesses and lives of advisors.

• First we identified the activities that were most closely associated with a range of positive personal and professional outcomes. This involved some testing on the broader data set.
• Then we isolated the group of advisors who were executing on those activities to understand how they approached their work, their clients and their teams.
• Finally, we examined the behaviors of this exceptional group of advisors to allow us to get more prescriptive.

It’s important to note that the advisors who had achieved Absolute Engagement did not self-identify as such; they were isolated based on their actions. Those actions were connected to positive outcomes.

The 3 Strategies that Drive Absolute Engagement

Advisors who've achieved Absolute Engagement have both defined and are living the ideal in three areas:

• Clients. The kinds of clients that energize them and for whom they can do their best work
• Work. The kind of work they want to be doing for clients
• Role. The role they personally want to play on the team

In fairness, they were intentional in other aspects of the business as well, but these three strategies statistically explained the transformation we described earlier. Here’s how this group compares to all others. The chart below shows the percentage of advisors who responded that they have both defined and were living their ideal in each area. The ‘others’ had not defined their ideal or had defined the ideal but had not made significant progress toward bring that ideal to life.

From an analytical perspective, this chart simply describes the group we isolated. Highlighting these strategies provides important insight into the drivers of both meaning and momentum in a business. Just as importantly, however, the process allows us to go further to inform a model that will help you achieve the same transformation.

How Do You Achieve Absolute Engagement?

Advisors who have achieved Absolute Engagement have executed an intentional plan to align personal, client and team engagement.

• Personal engagement means they have clearly defined the work they want to do, for whom and with whom, aligning the vision for the business with their personal vision.
• Client engagement means that have designed and co-created a client experience that reflects that vision.
• Team engagement means they have designed and co-created a team experience that supports that same vision.

The not so subtle key to this process is the fact that your personal vision needs to inform your client and team experiences. They cannot be viewed in isolation and they need to work in concert.

I’ve shared this model in previous posts and it's the heart of the path to Absolute Engagement.

Not a Feel-Good Strategy

I think it’s important to highlight two characteristics of Absolute Engagement.

• This isn’t a ‘feel-good’ strategy. It starts with personal vision but is as much about how you execute that vision with the business. It’s like passion with teeth.
• It’s a journey, not a destination. Those who have achieved Absolute Engagement are on a journey marked by constant improvement. As they achieve higher levels of success, they refine what success means and take action.

[Tweet "Absolute Engagement is like passion with teeth."]Absolute Engagement is aspirational and is as much an approach to how you live your life, as a description of a great business.

The Possibility of Something Greater

Achieving Absolute Engagement requires a hefty dose of grit and determination. The more I study this concept, however, the more I realize that hard work isn’t what holds people back from getting there. Too often we stumble on the first step – coming to grips with the possibility of something greater and giving ourselves permission to envision a different future. Transformation starts with your ‘why’. And while this post was focused on sharing new evidence, I'd suggest you take a moment with the chart that highlights the differences among advisors who are Absolutely Engaged. Ask yourself if you are willing to challenge the status quo in an effort to experience those benefits? And then it’s time to get to work.

‍

Thanks for stopping by,

Julie

P.S. These concepts are at the core of my upcoming book. If you would like to receive the preview chapter when that is available, click here.