The Strength of the Wolf, The Power of the Pack

In his early days of leadership, Mike did what a lot of high-performing advisors do when the pressure’s on.
He blew up.
Not always. But often enough. A missed deadline.
A dropped ball. A poorly handled client call. You could count on a storm.
Then came the moment that changed everything.

‍It wasn’t a dramatic rock bottom. Just a quiet realization:
“I’m not building a business. I’m building a battlefield.”
He’d just finished yelling at a team member for the third time that week — and instead of walking away feeling like he’d gotten his point across, he noticed something different.
His team had stopped speaking up.
The mistakes weren’t going away. They were going underground. No one wanted to tell the truth anymore. They just wanted to avoid the next explosion.

‍That’s when I introduced him to a quote that hit him like a freight train:
“The strength of the wolf is in the pack, and the strength of the pack is in the wolf.”
Up until that point, Mike had only focused on the wolf part. His own strength. His hustle. His hours. His expertise.
But he’d forgotten the pack.
So he flipped the script.

‍Here’s what changed:

1. He stopped waiting to explode. Hard conversations didn’t get easier — he just got better at having them before they boiled over.
2. He built a "speak-up" culture. (Check out a book by the same name by my friend, Stephen Shedletzky) No more silent resentment. He invited feedback — even if it stung. Team meetings started with one rule: “If something’s not working, say it before it gets worse.”
3. He replaced fear with clarity. Instead of reacting, he set expectations. Defined roles. Built systems. Coached instead of corrected.‍

The result?
He didn’t just build a high-performing team. He built a high-trust one.
And the business? Grew faster than ever — with less stress and more buy-in.

The Lesson:
If you're leading a team — especially in a high-pressure business like financial advising — remember:
Strength isn’t just in how hard you push. It’s in how well you listen. How early you speak up. And how safe you make it for others to do the same.

‍Don’t wait for the next fire.
Start the conversation before it’s too late. The wolf and the pack are counting on it.
Want help building that kind of team culture? Let's talk.
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In all that we do, let us seek wisdom, discipline, courage & justice.

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