In this exclusive interview, John Bowen, President of CEG Worldwide and CEG Insight, shares powerful research insights and practical strategies to help financial advisors create high-performing teams and accelerate their success.
Drawing on a study of 899 successful advisors, Bowen shares a striking gap: while nearly all advisors agree teamwork is critical to attracting and retaining clients—especially affluent households—only about 8% feel they’ve built a genuinely cohesive “dream team,” with many reporting siloed high performers, damaging turnover, or even lost AUM and revenue due to team issues. The conversation frames many advisors as “accidental CEOs” who were never trained to hire, lead, or build a self-managing culture, and it ties these leadership gaps to high turnover and looming succession/transition pressures. Bowen introduces a “hierarchy” from dysfunctional teams to high-performing collaboration to “co-elevated” dream teams (where members actively commit to each other’s success), then outlines a practical framework to get there—centered on aligning self-interest into shared purpose, building self-responsibility instead of top-down management, and executing with clear systems, cadence, and transparent communication—arguing that the ultimate payoff is not just performance and growth, but a practice that’s resilient, scalable, and enjoyable to run.
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