Opportunities and Benefits for Minnesota Members

President’s Message -

FPA and FPA Minnesota are the communities that foster the value of financial planning and advance the practice and profession of financial planning. This statement is our overarching purpose; our primary aim stated both nationally and in our own FPA MN Bylaws. It is the very reason for our existence.

Our primary aim is achieved through a variety of initiatives and strategies, implemented by each of us whether as individual members, as volunteer members within FPA MN, or as Partners of FPA MN. We are after all a membership organization. As a membership organization we stand for certain values that go to the very core of our being. Our stated and published values for FPA MN, important I think to be restated as we begin a new year include:

• Competence: Our dedication to competence requires not only lifelong learning, but also that we continually assess our ability to appropriately and effectively address the needs of those whom we serve.
• Integrity: We strive to have ever more congruence between our words and deeds, and to deliver genuine value to those whom we serve.
• Relationships: We are committed to open, inclusive and respectful relationships, including collaboration among diverse parties on common interests.
• Stewardship: We recognize our responsibility to act with vision, ever mindful of the effects of our actions on the future.
  

I have had the pleasure to serve on the FPA MN Board for the past three years with a tremendous group of colleagues and now have the honor to serve as your President during 2012. These past three years and the two years prior to then, I think you would agree, have been one of the most challenging periods ever for our world, for our profession, our careers, and at least for me in my personal life.

Despite all the challenges and all the change with more change to yet come, one thing remains the same, our Primary Aim and our Core Values. These remain the back-bone of who we are as an organization, what we stand for as an organization, and what we are to do as an organization. My pledge to each of you is that we will continue to keep these at the forefront of our FPA MN efforts so that we will move forward to foster the value of financial planning and advance the profession and practice of financial planning here in Minnesota.

In any organization, it takes engaged and committed team members to accomplish a primary aim. FPA MN is no exception. While we have a tremendous group of engaged and committed team members, we could still use your help. Some of you may not know that each year we hold a Strategic Planning meeting for FPA MN Board and Committee members, with special invitation to all Past Presidents. We held ours on November 18th with approximately fifty individuals in attendance. At our meeting, in addition to planning future strategies, we learned five lessons from what geese can teach us about teamwork. I would like to share the first lesson with you.

It is no coincidence that geese fly in a V formation. As each goose flaps its wings, it creates uplift for others behind it. There is 71 percent more flying range in V-formation than in flying alone. The first lesson we learned is this: People who share a common direction and sense of purpose can get there more quickly.

If you are a new member or an existing member and want to be actively involved in supporting the Primary Aim for FPA and FPA MN during this extraordinary time in our profession, we have opportunities for you. Opportunities range from “Doing One Thing,” which are smaller tasks i.e. one time projects or repeated tasks that require less of a time commitment. We have expanded opportunities such as serving on a committee or larger committee projects if you would rather not serve on a committee but have a passion in a particular area. Just think, if we had most of our members “Doing One Thing” how quickly we could advance our primary aim which in turn benefits each and every one of us as well as the consumer community that we serve. Please let me, or any one of our board members know if you will help.

Flying together who knows how far we can go. Who knows how far you can go.
Let’s go together and find out.

Mike Miller, CFP® President of the Financial Planning Association of Minnesota