Growing trust in business relationships is not all thatdifferent from coaching a college football team, according toCoach PhillipFulmer, former head coach at the University of Tennessee, now apartner for business development at Finworx, a behavioral financefirm that works with financial advisors.

Related: What it takes to inspire insurance clientconfidence

In his keynote on the first day of the Financial PlanningAssociation's (FPA) annual conference in Nashville, Tennessee,Fulmer laid out his recommendations for how advisors can build asolid foundation for their team members and clients:

1. Be a mentor but do it well.

He described a time when he failed at that task with DustinColquitt, a punter for Tennessee who eventually went pro with theKansas City Chiefs. Colquitt was kicking high and long when hejoined the University of Tennessee Volunteers (the Vols), so Fulmerplayed him in a game where he subsequently kicked out of bounds thefirst two times, followed by a short kick that rolled back to thesnapper.

Fulmer had failed to establish a true mentoring relationship.Once he did and cleared the air, Colquitt performed better.

Related: Why mentoring is critical

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2. Set goals and work to achieve them.

“Know where you can realistically go and don't get paralysis byanalysis,” Fulmer said.

Related: Why goal-setting is essential tosuccess

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3. Surround yourself with the people who lift you up, then askthem what can be done better.

Fulmer recalled a time when the Vols were one in three, lookingfor a way get more wins. “The first thing we did as a team was ascoaches we evaluated ourselves. Then we asked the staff what wecould do better. Then we shared that with everyone on the team towork together.”

Related: Building your insurance agency 'dream team' in2017

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4. Remember that talent cannot do it by themselves.

“As good a leader as Payton Manning was [he played for the Volsfor four years], we had to get into the silos of other positions,”said Fulmer, “…to the linebackers, offensive line, support staff,folks in the training and weight rooms.”

One way to do that, said Fulmer, is to make an example of thebest player; coach them the hardest, then others watching will alsowant to be coached as hard, and put the best players in a positionof authority.

Related: 11 ways to attract and keep youngtalent

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5. Fix problems as they arise.

“Fix the divot,” said Fulmer referring to the piece of turf thatgets gouged out by a golf club. In other words, fix problemsas they arise.

Related: Enhanced leadership abilities can multiply yourinsurance agency's results

(Photo: Shutterstock)

6. Find something to motivate the team.

He recalled a carved walking stick he received as a gift, whichled some players to call him Moses. He took advantage of thenickname, gathering the team in a circle and lending each memberthe stick for a certain period of time. “They took good care of it;it was the first thing on the bus and on the sidelines,” and theykept it as a secret among themselves, as a team thing, that helpedunite them.

Related: How to motivate employees to work toward agencyprofits

In addition to developing a winning team, Fullmer counseled theaudience, advisors must know their own strengths and weaknesses andthose of their clients.

Be humble, confident

He cautioned advisors to be humble; confident, but honest withthemselves; and to “count their pennies,” knowing what's essentialin their life in business and family.

He concluded by recommending that advisors in the audience “lookfor one bit of knowledge” that they can take back and use in theirbusiness.

Bernice Napach is a senior writer at ThinkAdvisor. Contacthere at [email protected].