10/28/2026
Last week, I had the opportunity to head to Dallas for our quarterly ClientWise workshop, spending time with leaders from some of the top financial planning teams across the country.
One of my biggest takeaways came from our discussion of The Octopus Organization by Phil Le-Brun and Jana Werner.
The concept is simple, but it really stuck with me: an octopus is incredibly coordinated, yet its arms also have the ability to sense, respond and act independently. The book uses that as a model for organizations where decision-making doesn't always have to flow through one person at the top. Instead, you create clarity around where you're going and give the people closest to the work real ownership.
It got me thinking a lot about what it means to build a great financial planning firm, and what it means to be a leader in all aspects of life -- home, community, and business.
Leadership isn't about having your hands in everything. It's about building a team of really talented people who understand where we're going, feel ownership over how we get there, and have the ability to make things better along the way.
There were plenty of notes and ideas I brought home from Dallas, but that one will stick with me.
