BY: Chris Pitrof
Chief Strategy Officer, Argent Financial Group
When you plan for the future, how do you start out? What is your foundation? At Argent, we are fortunate to have four cornerstones on which we build both our corporate planning and our client planning processes. Each of these cornerstones, on their own, provides solid footing on which to set a direction, but together, they define our vision and establish clear expectations for our staff to execute and our clients to measure us against.
Our Purpose Statement is foundational to everything we do at Argent, and it is our North Star: “To Impact Legacies by Serving Others.” Each word was carefully selected and placed in such an order to clarify exactly what we do and who we do it for. If you’ve ever been on a boat and felt a little queasy, you were probably told to look to the horizon to steady yourself. We at Argent look to our Purpose Statement to be that horizon, and we set appropriate goals aligned with that Purpose.
Our Vision Statement defines our goal for the business, which is “To Be the Leading, Independent Client Asset Services Firm.” Again, the words and their respective order are intentional. Argent will never stop striving to be the finest client service organization possible, all while maintaining our independence from outside ownership or interests.
Our Brand Promise to clients is simple yet direct: “You, First.” The discussion starts with the client at the forefront, and the independence defined in our Vision empowers our team to do what is right for our clients. Argent brings an individual, customized solution set to the table for every discussion.
Our Culture Promise to our staff defines four “CORE” principles or conditions that Argent is committed to instilling and inspiring in every office it operates from. Those principles are Collaboration, Organization, Relationships, and Excellence. We seek to serve our clients as “One Argent,” a cohesive unit spanning each Argent legal entity trusted by our clients to serve them generationally and with excellence.
From a corporate perspective, the first thing Argent’s senior management does at its annual strategic planning meeting is review those four cornerstones. That reflection sets the tone for the meeting and serves as a reminder of why we are in business. From there, a review of all tactical (near-term), strategic (mid-term), and visionary objectives, each of which is aligned with the cornerstones and supportive of one another, is performed. Successes are celebrated. Objectives that did not succeed or were not yet initiated are reviewed for future relevance and carryover to next year’s plan. New initiatives are discussed and decided upon against carryover initiatives for placement in the new plan as well. The final step in building the new plan is determining which 2–3 initiatives best align with the cornerstones in support of our clients’ needs and our staff’s ability to serve.
As Chief Strategy Officer for Argent Financial Group for the past 15 months, I have had the privilege of seeing our team place these cornerstones on the ground each day in front of our clients, supporting them and their family legacies. These cornerstones are ingrained in us, individually and organizationally. I look forward to every opportunity I get to help set the course toward that North Star, the Purpose for which Argent and its staff come to work each day, and the trust we earn each day by doing the right thing, always.
What does your growth strategy look like? Is it deeply rooted in, and aligned closely with, the principles you live by? Can we help you in your planning for the future?
