Eric and I discuss his path from joining the Army right out of high school and gaining alot of experience through it and gaining early insights into how leadership works. We discuss his entry into financial services on the advisor side, eventual move to the investment management side and ultimately taking on leadership roles overseeing high performing sales teams. Eric also shares insights into his current work helping Fortune 1000 firms and executives develop high performance teams and cultures.
In this episode I interview Dr. Eric Downing who is a top consultant on leadership and development of top performing cultures through his company Proven Paradigm Consulting. Previously Eric had a lengthy and distinguished career in sales leadership within Investment Management.
Episode 12: The art and science of Leadership, a conversation with Dr. Eric Downing.
In this episode we discuss:
• Joining the Army right out of high school and developing a passion for flying
• Life and leadership lessons from the military experience
• Finding his way into financial services through a financial advisor position
• Discovering managed accounts and growing his advisory business
• Learning valuable lessons about how to care for clients on an individual level
• Importance of empathy and emotional intelligence for salespeople
• How supervision, management, coaching and leadership are interrelated but different
• Leading people based on how they prefer to be interacted with
• How the role of the wholesaler has evolved over the years
• Understanding your team’s motivations in order to be a better leader
• Deciding to pursue a Doctorate in Leadership at age 53
• How to build an elite performance culture
• The importance of trust as a component of elite team cultures
• How assessments can be useful tools to identify potential growth areas
• Eric’s passion for flying and work to support veterans
Episode Contributor information:
Dr. Eric Downing: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-downing/
https://provenparadigm.com/
John Keavey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnkeavey/
https://careerconnections.us/