March 17th

Speakers include:

Michael Kitces

Craig Zablocki 

"After all is said and done...more is said than done." 

I help coach the Brecksville High School debate team. This is a great group of students! However, when it comes to working on a case for an upcoming debate, I find the students would like to spend more time talking about the case than actually writing it and debating it. It is fun to talk and your Board of Directors has spent a great deal of time talking about the strategic direction of our Chapter. However, we are now in the Action Phase and I would like to tell you a little about what actions we plan for this year. 
 

Our starting point was the Chapter Mission Statement:

The Mission of the Northeast Ohio Chapter is to be the primary organization in our community:

�       To support and encourage the promotion of financial literacy for the general public;

�       To increase awareness of financial planning as a profession to both the public and to other professions; and

�       To enhance the ability of our members to serve their clients in accordance with the fiduciary standard by being the premier provider of professional development programming,

Using this as our guide, we have decided to focus on the following projects:

1.    We will promote financial literacy through partnerships with local civic groups and governments by sponsoring financial planning days which may involve workshops and other events to allow the public to access the expertise of financial planning professionals.

2.    We will combine our emphasis in financial literacy with our role in governmental relations to address the problems of managing debt both on the personal level and at the government level. We plan to sponsor an effort to continue to highlight the national debt (now that the election is over and the hype has died down) while helping people to avoid the traps associated with debt.
 

3.    We have already built an array of monthly programs to address technical topics facing financial planners and their clients. In addition we have already secured some speakers for our October Symposium who will be some of the top technical experts in their fields while also bringing in a speaker who will help you gain the motivation and inspiration to take your business to a greater level of success!
 

4.    Our Membership committee is rebuilding to reach out to new and existing members to make sure they understand the benefits of FPA membership and to gain their input about their involvement in our Chapter.
 

5.    In Governmental Relations, we will continue to bring the latest insights from our national FPA leaders and ensure we get them personally to meet our members about what is happening in Washington, on Wall Street and how it affects those of us who live on Main Street.

We will tackle other areas as well. However, to be successful we need your help. I ask you to consider which of these areas might be of interest to you. If you can give 2 hours a month or a few hours to help on a project, we will appreciate your help. While it may be true in some cases that "...more is said than done" your Board of Directors is working hard to ensure that a significant amount will be done for your benefit in 2011.

PRO BONO  by Adrienne Love, Chair
 

Happy New Year!!!

I hope that each of you enjoyed the holiday season and are gearing up to have a wonderful new year.  I am excited  to join the FPA/NEO Board and look forward to the many prospects of the year ahead. 
 

Our pro bono initiatives in 2010 have definitely served towards our mission in providing financial literacy throughout the community and we are eager to continue the momentum in 2011.
 

Among some of the accomplishments are developing a relationship with a local college to mentor financial planning students,  continuing our annual involvement with a local newspaper to provide financial planning advice to the community, and a free public showing of a movie bringing awareness to the national debt. 
 

Our chapter will continue to have a strong focus in creating and participating in events that promote and support the importance of financial literacy.  If you have an interest in participating on a committee to develop our pro bono initiatives and / or if you are aware of an organization or an event that aligns with our mission, please feel free to contact me: Adrienne Love 440-995-2119 or

[email protected]

Send response to:  [email protected]

Job Description:

Fast-paced, growing financial services firm is looking for a motivated, hard working customer service specialist with experience in the financial services or securities industry and a passion for delivering amazing service.  This is a growth opportunity for the right candidate, as we hope to grow this into a customer relationship manager role in two to three years.

As a critical team member, you will provide support and service to new and existing clients. As a small firm, all team members work to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction and meet deadlines and everyone must be willing to do the unexpected to achieve organizational goals. The customer service specialist must have a strong attention to detail and discretion with confidential information while completing client documents and communicating directly with clients. In addition, you will have the opportunity to work with leading edge technologies to enhance service delivery with efficiency. 

Requirements:

The customer service specialist must have strong customer service and organization skills and be able to handle many tasks simultaneously with a high degree of accuracy and timeliness. It is imperative that you are friendly, helpful, flexible, approachable, professional, and diligent. Excellent verbal and written communication skills are a must with a top priority in maintaining and promoting a positive can-do attitude with clients and team members.

Three to five years of relevant industry experience is desired and experience using dbCams, ACT, Laser App, Netx360 is preferred. Strong skills in Excel are critical to success in this role.

Craig Zablocki, a keynote speaker for our 2011 Symposium in October, will have you rolling in the aisles.  He presented at the Chapter Leadership Conference in Denver last year, and he challenged all of us to look at the REAL obstacles that were holding us back in our business and in life - not the money, not the kids, not the marriage, and not the economy.  Craig focuses on the INTERNAL obstacles that inhibit success; most are attributed to fear we've faced as adults.

Here are three lessons from the experts of powerful living:  four-year-old children.

Laughter:            Four-year-olds laugh more than 300 times a day, and adults are lucky to laugh seven.  Laughter has been shown to reduce stress, promote innovative thinking and health.   Have you ever laughed till you cried?  How did you feel?   

Presence:              Four-year-olds live in the moment.  Most of our stress comes from all the worry we have over things that have happened in the past or things we think will happen in the future.  More times than not, there is nothing wrong "right now."

Creativity:              Did you know human beings are nine times more creative at age four than in adulthood?  Creativity can't be learned; it is innately who we are.  As adults, we have to break-down our belief systems that say we are not creative, and may fail if we try.

Next time, you are spending time with a young child, or observing a little one in public, challenge yourself to take an honest look of what you need to UNLEARN about being an adult.  Those of us in the financial services world have learned a lot on life - it's how we become successful in our industry.  But, what can we UNLEARN this year that will lead to the success we're striving for in 2011.

Craig Zablocki is a nationally ranked speaker and workshop facilitator based in Denver, Colorado.