At Viridian, we believe in building a company that really understands people to help them live the life they choose – but what does that actually mean?
What our purpose means
Many organisations talk about understanding their staff and customers. To me, this means building a deep connection so we truly get your ‘why’ – what defines you and drives where you want to go in life.
Each individual has their own why. When we really understand that, coupled with the expertise our advisors have, we can develop a plan that helps you live the life you choose.
Living the life you choose is about prioritising what’s most meaningful to you. For example, I was talking to some clients recently who’ve been with us for 10+ years. They are now able to fly up the front of the plane for the first time. For decades they’ve sacrificed their own wellbeing for the good of their family and community. Now they’re able to live life on their terms and that’s immensely rewarding.
How we’re aligned
You can’t get to a real depth of understanding in a single transaction or engagement. It involves finding a deep-seated alignment between every client’s values and ours. When the two of those align, we can then start a journey that doesn’t last for a single transaction or year, but potentially lasts a lifetime.
This level of trust is really important. As advisors, we have to find the weaknesses in someone’s situation. Sometimes that will mean hard conversations. But you can only have those hard conversations if you have a real level of understanding and trust.
At a company level one of the ways that we are trying to reinforce this alignment is through our structure. We are 100% owned by people who are aligned with our company – our staff and clients – and that’s quite unique in our industry.
We’re also looking at how we can strengthen this alignment by having client advocates on the board, so that any key decisions consider more than just quarterly financial results.
Holding us to account
There are too many organisations (especially in financial services) who have a purpose that is just hollow words on a page.
A big part of making our purpose transparent is asking clients to hold us to account – are we doing what we said we would do? Do we really understand you? Do you have confidence that we’re helping you live the life you choose?
I hope we’re building the kind of organisation where every customer feels empowered to say “Hang on, I’m not sure you really understood me there”. Ultimately, that’s the kind of culture that guarantees we’re building a firm that’s meaningful for our customers, our staff and our investors.
Glenn Calder is Chief Executive Officer at Viridian Advisory
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