| Greater Philadelphia Chapter October 12, 2024 | |
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Greater Philadelphia Chapter - SFSP KeyFacts e-newsletter October 2004 Every quarter we will send you this electronic email that will provide you with Chapter news and events as well as articles of interest. If you have a question, please email us at gp-sfsp@association-cba.org. President's Message Gail Brittingham, CLU, ChFC I am honored to be the President for the upcoming 2004-2005 term. I thank you for the opportunity to serve this chapter and commit to provide our members with timely, informative and thought provoking meetings in a professional and social environment that attracted me to the Society when I first entered the industry. I am fortunate to be working with the talented group of volunteers on the Board. Their energy and enthusiasm will benefit our members tremendously The Board spent this summer planning our Calendar of Events for 2004-2005. Our Board members have a diversified background of knowledge and skills, which are reflected in this program. We will be forwarding our 2004-2005 Educational Program to you shortly. This will help you to plan your schedule to benefit and develop your business. The Board Members have also committed to our Membership Chair to recruit new members. Please share your chapter experiences with your colleagues. It is important that our chapter continues to grow. We need your voice to spread the word to other professionals. Members are the lifeblood of our Society. Our 12th Annual Professional's Dinner is scheduled for March 16, 2005. Don't miss this networking and social event that continues to bring our financial services professionals together for an evening of entertainment. You are encouraged to bring advisors or clients to this enjoyable event. I am pleased to advise that The American College and SFSP have recently established a new working relationship. Each understands the importance of assisting the other in strengthening its relationships with its respective constituents. In this light, the Executive Committee of the Greater Philadelphia SFSP has agreed to establish an "American College Liaison". This volunteer's role will be to facilitate communication and mutual cooperation between the two organizations with respect to educational offerings, designation programs, alumni activities and other College programs. With the invaluable leadership of Immediate Past President Frank Branca, our Chapter received the 2003-2004 Excellence in Chapter Achievement Gold Medal of Honor award. In addition, our immediate past Board Member, Russ Bishop, was awarded the Paul S. Mills Scholarship Award. Well-deserved recognition for both! I cannot close without expressing on behalf of the entire GP-SFSP Board our sorrow for the unexpected passing of our friend, John Grimes, CLU, ChFC. John was a member of the GP-SFSP Board of Directors for several years. He continued as our good friend and support of the Society in his role of Associate Vice President of The American College where he spent 16 years. He will surely be missed - our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Michele and his two sons. Mark Your Calendar! For More Information or to Register online at www.gpsfsp.org Section Forum: Financial Planning Wednesday, October 20 - 8:30 to 10AM Fee: $15 SFSP member; $25 non-member Location: Bryn Mawr Trust Building, Lancaster and Bryn Mawr Aves, Bryn Mawr, PA. Topic: Fourth Quarter Planning - The Financial Planners Dream Come True Facilitator: Randall S. Cole, CLU, ChFC, CFP; Senior Consultant, Sagemark Consulting GP-SFSP and PICPA Greater Philadelphia Chapter Seminar Wednesday, November 3 - 12:30 p.m.Registration; 1:00 p.m.to 4:30 p.m. Program Location: Adams Mark Hotel, City Line Avenue & Monument Road, Philadelphia Fees: SFSP Member $79; non-member $89 CE Credit Topic: A Comprehensive Analysis of Business Succession Planning DVD/VTC Meeting Wednesday, November 17 at 12:30PM OR Thursday, November 18 at 8:30 AM Location: Karr Barth Associates, 40 Monument Rd., Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004 Fees: SFSP Member $40; non-member $55 CE Credit Topic: Understanding the Dynamics of Trusts in Response to Legislation Section Forum: Business and Compensation Planning Tuesday, December 7- 8:30 to 10AM Fee: $15 SFSP member; $25 non-member Location: Bryn Mawr Trust Building, Lancaster and Bryn Mawr Aves, Bryn Mawr, PA. Business Pulse: Effective Communication Chuck Martin Communication from the top leaders of organizations appears, for the most part, to be frequent and consistent, but not totally truthful. However, before business leaders start to take any of their communications capabilities and effectiveness for granted, they should know that many in the management ranks see it as not frequent enough, inconsistent and messages that will likely make the leader look good. In a survey over a base of 2,000 senior executives and managers nationwide, 62 percent of respondents said the amount/frequency of communication from their top leaders to managers and employees was high. However, only 17 percent rated that communication as "extremely high," while 38 percent rated communication from above as either somewhat or extremely low. Meanwhile, 59 percent of respondents said communication from their leaders is consistent, and 22 percent said it was inconsistent. Almost half of respondents rated their leaders communication as straightforward. When it comes to communicating in a way that will likely make them look good, leaders are viewed by a fifth of respondents to be in that category. More startling, 93 percent of managers did not rank their leaders communication as "totally truthful." "My organization is reasonably good about the frequency of communications," said one survey respondent. "However, the quality has much to be desired. Often the communications are much too long, and the main points are lost in the inundation of detail." Everyone realizes that with so much to do these days, it is sometimes difficult to find the time to properly relay an effective message. "Communications is always a problem," said a respondent. "Not that top leadership doesn't want to communicate or doesn't think it is important to communicate, but making the time is a real challenge." Said another: "When communicated, the amount is high and consistent and carefully worded, its just not frequent enough. The difficulty is when to communicate things. If too early, inaccurate conclusions can be drawn. If too late, complaints surface about not being in the know." True communication obviously means getting company information from more than just the top leaders. "To truly understand what is going on, communication with others in the organization is important," said one respondent. Although in general the amount of communication is pretty high, the messages are not consistent enough," said another. "We need to do a better job of being on the same page with each other." Not every organization has effective communicators at all levels, making it a challenge to get all the appropriate information to all the right people. "I am in constant communication with employees regarding sales matters for customers," said the vice president of sales at one organization. "Our president, however, is weak in his communications to the employees about corporate matters." There also are what might be considered routine communications, such as the here is the news of the new reorganization or we all need to learn to do more with less or the typical corporate motivational speech with self-congratulations for everyone. Sometimes effective communication becomes the victim of expediency. Business leaders need to take the time to add to their communication messages, so that rather than just concentrating on getting the work done, more in the ranks understand the why and how to go about those tasks. Chuck Martin is a syndicated columnist and best-selling business book author, his latest being Managing for the Short Term (Doubleday.) He lectures around the world and can be reached at chuck@nfiresearch.com.Not So Long Ago. . . Dave Watson, CLU, ChFC, AEP 1974 . . . Leonard Day replaced Jim Toner, who had to resign as chapter secretary due to business responsibilities. . . American College professors Steve Leimberg, Ed Stoeber, and Herb Chasman spoke at the 18th and Market Holiday Inn about the highlights of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, also known as ERISA. 274 people attended . . . . Chapter President Don Jordan, wrote letters thanking the local life insurance company presidents for providing liaisons to coordinate joint initiatives. The Presidents were Don Heth of INA; Rod Ross of Philadelphia Life; Ed Stanley of Provident Mutual; Frank Tarbox of Penn Mutual; and Joe Ladd of Fidelity Mutual . . . . Ed Mellor was nominated for a Paul Mills Scholarship. . . Richard Nixon resigned as President of the United States . . . Lee Trevino beat Jack Nicklaus by a stroke to win the PGA tournament . . . . The Oakland Athletics won their third straight World Series . . . Mohammed Ali regained the heavyweight boxing title with an eighth round knockout of George Forman in Kinshasa, Zaire. 1984 . . . Milt Whitehead arranged a program featuring Gwenda Cannon, Sid Friedman, and Bob Sims, entitiled Establishing a Financial Planning Practice. . . .Later that fall George Beyer made a presentation on 401(k) Plans . . . . Now president of the chapter, Herb Chasman welcomed new designees at the Philadelphia Marriott on City Line Avenue. Among the new CLUs were Vivian Fu, Mark Swartz, Stephanie Walsh, and Tom Vickers, III. New ChFCs included Ron MacDonald, Jay Sigel, Cary Toner, Joe Keleher, and Steve Hyde . . . . Democrat Geraldine Ferraro joined presidential candidate Walter Mondale as the first woman to appear on a major party presidential ticket. They were opposed by incumbents Ronald Reagan and George Bush . . . Indiana Jones was big at the box office . . . Count Basie, Richard Burton, and Truman Capote died . . . U. S. Olympic heroes included Carl Lewis, Mary Lou Retton, and Joan Benoit. 1994 . . . President Bill Howell welcomed new board members John Grimes, Howard Soloway, and Paul Masalski . . . . The latter chaired the Professionals Day committee that year. With the help of Tom Schirmer and Provident Mutual Life president Bud Rowell, the chapter was able to arrange for Penn State football coach Joe Paterno as the featured speaker. 650 people attended the program at the new Philadelphia Convention Center . . . . O.J. Simpson's trial was a media circus . . . Richard Nixon died . . . Forrest Gump was Hollywood's biggest moneymaker . . . The start of the National Hockey League season was delayed while players and owners negotiated a new contract . . . Figure skater Tonya Harding pled guilty to conspiracy charges in the assault on Nancy Kerrigan. Members News Do you have news about yourself or your company? If so, just send an email to the Chapter and we promise to print it here! Our own Board Member, Doris "Dodie" Theune, Senior Vice President of Bryn Mawr Trust Company informed us about her recent success: At an August 10, 2004 event hosted by the Women's Regional Business Council, Dodie Theune, was the guest speaker - The Difference Difference Makes. Dodie spearheaded Bryn Mawr Trust's Women's Advisory Council where local female entrepreneurs, professionals and executives share their perspectives on what women really want from their business relationships. And, Dodie was also on TV CNN financial news where she was interviewed by The Money Gang about Women's Retirement or as she calls it - the Gender Pension Gap. Editor's Comments KeyFacts is the Greater Philadelphia Chapter - Society of Financial Services Professionals (GP-SFSP) Quarterly Newsletter (publication dates 10/1, 1/3, 3/31 and 6/30). The purpose of KeyFacts is to inform our members of activities taking place at our local Chapter and National Society. We also strive to include appealing articles to expand the knowledge and curiosity of our members. Our Chapter welcomes for consideration any articles are members have written. Please email them to gp-sfsp@association-cba.org The GP-SFSP is working to improve the readability and ease of viewing the electronic format of KeyFacts. As Gail Brittingham referenced in her message, "membership" is the life blood of our Society. Please encourage your associates to pursue membership. Direct them to the National Society's Website www.financialpro.organd the local Chapter web site at www.gpsfsp.org. Invite a non-member to a Sections Meeting - they are great forums to discuss timely topics and display additional benefits to enhance the value of membership. The e-mail address (GP-SFSP@association-cba.org) and local Web site (www.gpsfsp.org) remain the same. Back to KeyFacts Main Page |
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