The significance of quality education

If a house is built on a strong foundation, neither strong winds nor pouring rain will be able to pull it down.

 

The same applies to your business. You cannot build a great business on a weak foundation. You must have a rock-solid foundation if you want any chance of success in an extremely competitive and onerous financial services environment.

 

Alan Greenspan, the former chairperson of the US Federal Reserve, made this very profound statement about the significance of a foundation:

To succeed, you will soon learn, as I did, the importance of a solid foundation in the basics of education.

 

It is worth noting that the financial services industry is founded on quality education. With a strong foundation of quality education, we can build, grow, and sustain our practices, and on that foundation, we will be able to innovate to stay at the cutting edge of our profession. Without it, whatever we try to build will come crumbling down at some point. It is for this reason that we must ensure that the education courses in our industry are not simply there to tick a compliance box.

 

Sadly, with some providers education has been reduced to finding the quickest way to tick a minimum standard compliance box. Many advisors are lining up for all the free CPD modules and courses, mainly because they are made available at no cost, and not necessarily because they add fundamental value to the quality of the business. Whilst we appreciate the taxing cost of compliance, we believe that quality education will always come at some cost.

 

Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mine worker can become the head of the mine, and that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.”

The difference between the two equally gifted advisors is the quality of education and ongoing professional development. We believe that, when it comes to the investment in quality education, providers should consider a value-for-money approach rather than simply selecting the free modules on offer.

 

Remember:

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. – Nelson Mandela