Advisors looking to grow their business already have the tools they need right at their fingertips. They just need to be willing to embark on a journey of self-discovery. At the end of that road is every advisor’s “Advisor Point of View” (APOV).

Finding your unique APOV is key for advisors who want to unlock exceptional outcomes, impact their clients more significantly and better utilize their greatest gifts. Once advisors identify, understand and live their APOV, the trajectory of business growth becomes aligned with who you and your business are.

The APOV is the essential message that you want to communicate to the world. Which means that this is different for every advisor.

Why is this such an important step? Here’s an analogy from the construction world: Your business already has a strong foundation. You’ve done the work to pick out the right piece of land and pour the concrete. You may have even built the wooden frame of your perfectly designed home using the best materials. Now it’s time to make sure your foundation (you) and your wooden framework (your business) of your house are connected. Think of your APOV as a sill plate, the plate that attaches the frame of a house to the concrete foundation using metal bolts. Without a sill plate, the frame of the building would move and shift during turbulent storms or earthquakes. Having an APOV allows you to attach who you are—all your history, experience and value into the framework of your business.

It would be easy to start with your business’s mission statement. Your mission statement already exists—can’t you just take that statement and dust it off for your APOV? You’re probably using that language on your website and in your social media profiles. Maybe your clients, prospects and staff members have seen it. Maybe they remember it, and maybe they don’t. But your APOV is not a mission statement, it’s something deeper. It’s about who you, as an advisor, truly are and most importantly it’s highly unique to your personal story.

To find your APOV you’ll dig deeper into four topics:

1. Journey. What is the journey I took to where I am now, and what are the key experiences that have molded and shaped me?
2. Values. What are the values that are the most important to me in the work that I do?
3. Purpose. Why am I driven to do this work?
4. Expectations. What expectations do clients have of my business, and how do those align with what I provide?

Once you can answer these questions, you’ll be on the road to unlocking your APOV. These four questions may sound simple, but the journey to answering them truthfully and completely requires dedication, time and the often-difficult work of looking inward.