Leadership Archives - The Certior Group

Illuminating What Really Matters

June 30, 2021 by Avi Kantor

Now that the worst immediate consequences of the global pandemic appear to be abating (at least in the U.S.), I’ve been reflecting on what we might take away from the experiences of the last 16 months.

A crisis has a way of illuminating what really matters to us. Clearly, having good health has never been more obvious and important to living a good life. Having contracted COVID-19 myself, I can imagine how devastating the virus can be to those who are immune compromised or weaker because of age or physical condition. Thus, I can understand how fearful, anxious, and insecure the virus has made many people.

Yet, I also value my ability to interact with others without the restrictions we’ve been under for much of the last year. We all sacrificed a part of ourselves that thrives on human connection. Thus, many of us were less able to live life fully. Perhaps, as a result of the constraints we’ve had to live through, we’ll become better at recognizing the fears, anxieties, insecurities, and self-sabotaging patterns that prevent us from living life fully. Maybe we’ll question why we allow these emotions to have such power over us. Perhaps some of us will even vow to overcome them. Perhaps some of us will simply decide to let these negative emotions go and replace them with better, more positive thoughts and patterns of behavior.

Our experiences sheltering in place, social distancing, and mask wearing might motivate us to become more curious about the world around us and the people we come in contact with. We might now have a higher value for our everyday freedoms. I know for myself, I’ve enjoyed getting out and traveling again with family and friends, dining in restaurants, and being able to interact with others without wearing a mask and without many concerns about Covid infections. Like many, I’d like to forget about what we’ve been through and leave it all behind me forever. Yet, it also seems unwise to quickly forget what the pandemic revealed about what matters most to us as human beings.

Here are a few insights that I’ve gleaned from my pandemic experience:

1. Human beings are social creatures who thrive on connection and suffer in isolation. Perhaps we’ve experienced certain advantages of a lifestyle based solely upon telecommunications, interacting with others only via electronic devices. Yes, now more than ever, location matters less when it comes to some business and personal matters and transactions. But without real, authentic human connection, we suffer in the long run.

2. Disruptions create unavoidable transitions in one’s life. Navigating these transitions well is what optimizing True Wealth is all about. One of the key factors in navigating transitions is to see crises, adversity, setbacks, etc. as opportunities. Because so much in our lives has been disrupted, we have choices to make that we might not have had otherwise. For example, we might ask ourselves:

What reliable old patterns of behavior and beliefs will we maintain?
What old habits, patterns, beliefs, will we discard?
What new ideas will we explore and experiment with?

Perhaps we’ve learned that we must adopt a growth mindset; that we can’t go back to the way things used to be or the way things have always been.

3. The military has an axiom that In a crisis, we revert back to the level of our training. That’s why the military places such an emphasis on training and preparation. By analogy and from my own experience, I see practicing Gratitude as a way to sustain the insights gained from the pandemic. If we’re grateful for our health, for the people who matter most to us, for the experiences we’ve had and can have, for our ability to contribute to the wellbeing of others, and for our faith, we can continue to be connected with the experiences and emotions that support our priorities.

“Gratitude is the way the heart remembers––remembers kindnesses, cherished interactions with others, compassionate actions of strangers, surprise gifts, and everyday blessings. By remembering, we honor and acknowledge the many ways in which who and what we are has been shaped by others, both living and dead.” – Robert Emmons Have you had a chance to reflect upon what we might take away from the experiences of the last 16 months? Have you any insights that you’ve gleaned from your pandemic experience? We would love to hear. We would love to learn!

The Empowered Abilities of Nature

May 18, 2021 by Avi Kantor

With longer days and warmer weather signaling spring and summer to follow, it feels as if the worst of the pandemic might be over (at least for now). I’ve been reflecting on the past year and our collective pandemic experience. I’ve also been looking ahead, trying my best to imagine what the future might be like.

“In each of our lives at various points along the way, we find ourselves in the Fog of Not Knowing—a period of transition, when the path, the plan, or the project is not yet clear. This period in between—whether for minutes or for months—is to be respected and honored; it is fertile and full of promise. If you can meet this void without grasping for the most convenient way out, what you discover will be beyond your expectations and imagination.” – Victoria Labalme

I have the sense that we all can use a little healing and some time to recover from the pandemic. Fear of unknown consequences of the virus, vaccines, etc.; anxiety and depression caused by isolation; concerns about the long-term effects of over-reliance on telecommunications, social media, and mass media in our daily lives…these are a few of the circumstances from which we might seek some healing and recovery. A couple of things come to my mind as ways we might do so.

First, it’s apparent to me that social isolation has been detrimental for us all. We need to be with other people; not just on Zoom calls but actually in person with other people without fear of being infected or infecting others. We suffer when we can’t interact freely with other people.

Second, being out in nature is a reliable way we can all begin to heal ourselves from the pandemic. I recently reflected on two events that we organized a few years ago that embodied these two points. The first was a hike on the Black Butte Trail in Grand Teton National Park.

One highlight of that experience was a 15 minute silent climb to the top of the trail, noticing the sights and sounds of the forest and quieting our own thoughts.

The second event was an overnight hiking-camping trip at the Darwin Ranch outside of Jackson, WY.

I remember sleeping under the stars without any ambient city lights, the constant sound of a magnificent waterfall in the background. It’s the sort of healing experience I’m imagining.

Finally, we all could focus on growing from our experiences; we could re-engage our curiosity, our sense of wonder and awe. Any hike in Grand Teton National Park is awe-inspiring because of the mountains and the scenery. In addition, our guide, naturalist Trevor Bloom, drew our attention to the wildflowers that he studies. To get a sense of the amazing details of the lives of these fragile plants was both interesting and again awe-inspiring. We are always grateful for the opportunity to spend quality time in nature with our clients and their families. Given the progression of combatting the pandemic, we intend to coordinate similar events in the upcoming months. Interested in an event for your family? Please contact us.

Focusing on Post-Traumatic Growth

April 22, 2021 by Avi Kantor

Our colleague, Ron Nakamoto, recently spent 6 weeks on the beach in Mexico, and as he put it, “recovering from pandemic-driven ‘VUCA’ – volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity” (his words). Since his return, he has remarked that the experience gives him a sense of how we might better shape our post-pandemic futures.

Having had time to rest, recover, and rejuvenate from his pandemic experience, Ron now believes that we are experiencing (or will experience) broad-based, societal post-traumatic stress. He’s not alone in thinking this.[1] New York Times writer Sarah Lyall suggests that grief, depression, and malaise have become commonplace.

“…Margaret Wehrenberg, an expert on anxiety and the author of the book “Pandemic Anxiety: Fear, Stress, and Loss in Traumatic Times ” (said), “A year of uncertainty, of being whipsawed between anxiety and depression, of seeing expert predictions wither away and goal posts shift, has left many people feeling that they are existing in a kind of fog, the world shaded in gray. When people are under a long period of chronic, unpredictable stress, they develop behavioral anhedonia (meaning the loss of the ability to take pleasure in their activities). And so they get lethargic, and they show a lack of interest…”[2]

Not surprisingly, Ron’s focus has been on post-traumatic growth. Again, he’s not alone in his thinking. Several studies have indicated that the pandemic has the potential to trigger:

1. Positive growth in important personal relationships;

2. Greater appreciation for what’s good in one’s life;

3. Spiritual growth, appreciation for nature and the environment; and

4. A newfound ability to embrace new opportunities, possibilities, while accepting uncertainty.[3]

What Ron and all of us at The Certior Group believe we can contribute to this notion of post-traumatic growth are our fundamentals: practicing Gratitude, a True Wealth mindset, and a focus on building community. The brain’s hardwired negativity bias has been fully activated by the pandemic and other recent events. Our research-backed Gratitude practice has demonstrated empirically over time to be an effective antidote to the negative emotions that the events of 2020-2021 have precipitated. Having and maintaining the energy and discipline to remain focused on what truly matters most (i.e., having a True Wealth mindset), while others are faltering is vital…but it can be very challenging. That’s why having the support of a handful or a community of like-minded people can be invaluable.

By remaining true to our fundamentals, we at The Certior Group intend to support all of you in recovering from 2020-2021 and creating a better post-pandemic life.

[1] Post-COVID Stress Disorder: Another Emerging Consequence of the Global Pandemic, Phebe Tucker, MD, Christopher S. Czapla, MD, Psychiatric Times, Vol 38, Issue 1, Volume 38, Issue 01, January 8, 2021

[2] We Have All Hit the Wall, Sarah Lyall, The New York Times, April 3, 2021.

[3] Study Identifies “post-traumatic growth” emerging from Covid-19 lockdowns, Science Daily, February 8, 2021.

A New Model of Leadership

September 1, 2018 by Avi Kantor

Starting in the 1960’s, professional football began to see the rise of the star quarterback as the key to winning championships. Quarterbacks like Bart Starr of the Green Bay Packers, Terry Bradshaw of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Joe Montana of the San Francisco Forty-Niners, and currently Tom Brady of the New England Patriots have become legendary sports figures, largely because of the many championships each has won.

New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady

What the era of the quarterback brought to professional football was a highly structured and – most importantly – hierarchical approach to organizing football teams that has subsequently carried forward, metaphorically, in business and culture today. The quarterback of the team calls the plays and leads with authority and control.

The quarterback model has come to represent a common, perhaps prevailing model for the way effective estate planning should be done. Led by a dominant advisor – the one who has the closest relationship with the client – a team of advisors develops and executes a plan focused on tax-minimization, asset protection, and efficient distributions. Respect for this unspoken hierarchy and cooperation among advisors represents best practices in this approach to estate planning.

Miles Davis

In 1958, Miles Davis released an album “Kind of Blue” that revolutionized the way that jazz was played and performed. The music that Miles Davis inspired and modeled is now called “cool jazz”; it was a major departure from the music of the past because it created a new freedom of expression, of human emotion and spirit through music.

Another giant of jazz John Coltrane was a member of the ensemble that recorded that album. American culture has for many years been built upon competition – at times cutthroat competition – for money, power, and recognition. Jazz musicians are part of this culture. Yet, somehow the conditions that were created in the preparation and execution of this album, allowed many talented musicians to perform in collaboration like never before. The result of their efforts is now legendary.

By analogy, multi-generational planning and wealth management could be conducted like a jazz ensemble; that is, with a collaborative team of advisors working to bring out the best in their individual and collective efforts. We suggest that the way to improve our prospective success as a multi-disciplinary profession is to become more like a jazz combo than a football team; that the future of multi-generational planning is not about vying for dominance and control but rather more about collaboration.

Jackson Institute for Wealth and Wellbeing Wilderness Adventure

August 20, 2018 by Avi Kantor

Continuing our efforts to develop “The Jackson Institute for Wealth and Wellbeing”, a small group of us experienced a unique wilderness adventure in August. Led once again by Jackson resident, botanist, educator, and outdoor adventure guide Trevor Bloom, we hiked, camped, and fished in a remote, private, permit-only area outside of Jackson.

Jackson Institute for Wealth and Wellbeing Wilderness Adventure

What was so special about this particular hiking, camping, and fishing experience (after all, aren’t such experiences commonplace in Jackson)? Inspired by our vision for the institute, we were exploring how we might capture and capitalize on the abundance surrounding us in Jackson to facilitate and create experiences for families and family leaders; experiences that might elevate joy, connections, and gratitude; experiences that might foster curiosity, wonder, and imagination.

The next Jackson Institute for Wealth and Wellbeing community learning events will be held later in September. Together we will build a platform to gain clarity and be intentional achieving a life well-lived and creating the impact we desire. You will:

Be introduced to breakthrough learning techniques;
Experience how Gratitude can transform negative experiences into positive outlooks; and
Learn how to turn life experiences into learning opportunities and positive outcomes.

Please contact us info@certiorgroup.com to RSVP.

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