By SJS Investment Services Founder & CEO Scott Savage.
When I founded SJS Investment Services 26 years ago, self-confidence was not in short supply. How hard could it be to grow SJS into a billion-dollar firm? 2 billion? 5 billion? In retrospect, it was much harder than first thought, and landmines called “mistakes” were more numerous than I care to admit!
26 years later and having tasted every flavor of humble pie, I offer a number of experienced-based ways to reduce the risk of making the next big mistake.
Separate “Stimulus” And “Response”
We’ve all been there, immediately responding to a call, email, text, or something said in a meeting. Often upon further review, your response would be much more constructive with the gift of time. “Walking to the proverbial refrigerator” or getting a good night’s sleep after receiving an emotion-filled stimulus almost always leads to a more thoughtful and constructive response.
Learn From Past Mistakes
A mistake is a terrible thing to waste. Making the same mistake over and over again is often detrimental to a business. My past mistakes tend to stick around in my head for years, and often teach me the strongest and most important lessons.
Assemble A Great Team
This has probably been the most important factor in the growth of SJS Investment Services. I have never met a person who has built a great enduring business alone. I learned early on to prioritize assembling a great team to serve our clients. I always say that I would put the SJS Team up against any other team in the investment services business. I am proud of the work we do, and a great team makes it much more fun to come to the office each day.
Delegate To That Team
If my business has a great team in place, why wouldn’t I delegate as much as I reasonably can to each team member? I try to delegate work that suits each team member’s strengths and preferences. This allows me to focus on what I most enjoy, which is meeting with clients and helping them with their financial goals. Additionally, I try to give each team member time and freedom to naturally gravitate to projects and work that most intrigue them. Given the low employee turnover at SJS, it seems that the SJS Team enjoys coming to work each day like I do.
Ask Mentors For Advice
Having a group of mentors was immensely valuable early in my career, and still is today. I keep in touch with old friends, former bosses, former teachers, etc., and when I want advice on something, I ask one of my mentors for their advice. Generally, I think that most people like giving advice. Particularly since I don’t have all of the answers, I am more than happy to listen to the advice of those people I trust.
Study History
If something has worked for someone in the past, it may work for someone else in the future. Similarly, if something worked out poorly in the past, it may work out poorly in the future. I spend a lot of time studying history - financial as well as US presidential. As opposed to making my own mistakes or trying to figure out everything on my own, I try to learn from others' experiences, which has given me the answers to many of my past difficult situations.
Expect For Some Decisions To Go Wrong
Investment management is a competitive business. We have to make both short-term and long-term strategic decisions without perfect information, as we don’t always know how the markets will perform, how clients will react, or what our competitors are doing. By expecting for some of our decisions to go wrong (though we don’t know which ones), we give ourselves permission to make important decisions while helping us not be overly affected by bad outcomes. This also helps to keep overconfidence in check.
Have Backup Plans
Many people - including some of our family members and closest friends - and organizations trust SJS Investment Services with managing their financial assets. This is a huge responsibility that we take very seriously. That’s why we always aim to have multiple backup plans for any significant process that we implement. Stuff goes wrong, and we usually can’t predict what will go wrong and when. By having backup plans, we try to minimize the impact that clients experience.
Keep Going Onward And Upward
It is very easy for a big mistake to knock and keep someone down. Particularly when others are hurt by one of my mistakes, I often feel terrible, embarrassed, and annoyed with myself. Yet dwelling on these mistakes and focusing on the past has rarely helped me. By learning from my mistakes and forcing myself to move onward, I have typically made better decisions over time as well as kept the impact of my mistakes relatively smaller. Focusing on getting better and serving our clients & team well improves my decisions much more than focusing on the negative effects of my mistakes.
Starting and growing SJS has been a humbling experience. It has been a series of one mistake after another. Yet growing SJS has also been one of the most rewarding ongoing experiences of my life. Particularly now, working with a world-class team makes the experience even more enjoyable.
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