- From Fine Answers podcast – Aimee Lucas
Why relationships, clarity and leadership at every level may matter more than simply adding more people.
Growth can look exciting from the outside. More clients, more opportunities, more ideas and more momentum. But inside a small business, growth can also expose the parts of the team structure that were previously held together by effort, memory and goodwill.
In Fine Answers Podcast #173, host Jay Burke from Burke Britton Financial Partners speaks with Aimee Lucas, Practice Manager at Burke Britton Financial Partners, about what it can take to move from “getting things done” to building a team that may be able to grow with the business.
Key idea: A growing business may not need more activity first. It may need better relationships, clearer priorities and people who are supported to lead from where they are.
The shift from doing the work to building the people
Aimee describes herself as a doer. Earlier in her career, the work was simpler to define: make the list, get the work done, come back tomorrow and do it again. That approach can work for a while, especially in a small team where knowledge sits close to the people doing the job.
But as the business grows, the job can change. It may become less about personally holding every detail and more about creating the conditions for others to understand, decide and lead.
“There’s a bit more to this than just people doing things.”
That line captures one of the strongest themes in the conversation. Small business leadership often becomes more complex when people bring different goals, motivations, recognition preferences, personal circumstances and career pathways into the same operating rhythm. The work is still important, but understanding the person doing the work can become just as important.
Relationships create the context for better conversations
Jay and Aimee return several times to the idea of relationship capital. When a team member is honest about what they want, what is not working or where they are feeling stretched, that usually does not happen by accident. It often comes from a relationship where the person feels there is enough trust to say something real.
Aimee makes the point that each person may be motivated differently. For one team member, the next step might be professional development. For another, it might be flexibility, responsibility, recognition or a clearer path into a different role. Without a strong enough relationship, those signals can be easy to miss.
For business owners and leaders, that does not mean becoming everyone’s best friend. It means taking enough interest to understand the person behind the role, so conversations about performance, capacity and growth are more useful when they need to happen.
Clarity needs to be repeated, not announced once
Another practical theme from the episode is that business direction needs to be communicated more than once, and often in more than one way. Aimee notes that people learn differently, so a single team meeting or one written update may not be enough for everyone to understand where the business is heading and where they fit within it.
“It’s not a one and done. You’ve got to keep reminding them.”
That clarity can become especially important when a business is trying to connect its broader direction with each person’s own development. If someone can see how their role, priorities and measures connect with the business mission, they may be better placed to make decisions day to day.
Some useful questions for leaders to keep testing are:
- Do people understand what the business is trying to achieve and why?
- Can each person explain what success looks like in their role?
- Are priorities visible enough that people can make decisions without waiting for direction?
- Are career conversations happening early enough, rather than only when someone is ready to move on?
Busy may not be the problem to solve
The conversation also touches on one of the more common traps in a growing business: assuming that “busy” automatically means the answer is to hire quickly. Jay and Aimee reflect that, historically, it can be tempting to respond to pressure by adding people before the business has properly measured capacity, clarified priorities or understood why the pressure exists.
Aimee’s more recent approach starts with questions. What is actually on? What are the timeframes? What is coming next week? Is support needed, or does the person need help stepping back and thinking through the order of priorities?
That distinction matters. Sometimes the issue may be workload. Sometimes it may be unclear priorities, lack of confidence, a missing process, or simply a moment where someone needs reassurance. Asking better questions can help avoid solving the wrong problem.
Leadership can come from every level
One of the more encouraging parts of the episode is the way Jay and Aimee talk about leadership as something that can come from across the team, not only from the most senior person in the room. Newer team members may bring fresh questions. More experienced team members may bring pattern recognition. People in the middle may help translate between strategy and practical work.
“You can learn from everyone up and down and around you.”
That mindset can also change how technology is viewed. Rather than treating AI and digital tools as a replacement for people, Aimee describes the goal as using technology as a force multiplier. In a relationship-led advice business, that means using tools to help the team serve more clients and improve the experience, while keeping human judgement and client relationships at the centre.
So what does this mean for business owners?
The episode is not a blueprint, and Jay and Aimee are clear that Burke Britton Financial Partners has learnt many of these lessons through trial, error and reflection. That honesty is part of what makes the conversation useful.
For business owners, the takeaway is not to copy another firm’s structure. It is to consider whether the team has enough relationship, clarity and leadership underneath the day-to-day activity. Growth may feel smoother when people know where the business is heading, how they contribute and where they can take ownership.
A good question to sit with is this: if the business kept growing, would the current team structure grow with it, or would it rely on the same few people holding everything together?
This blog contains information that is general in nature. It does not take into account the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. You need to consider your financial situation and needs before making any decisions based on this information. If you decide to purchase or vary a financial product, your financial adviser, AMP and other companies within the AMP Group may receive fees and other benefits. The fees will be a dollar amount and/or a percentage of either the premium you pay or the value of your investment. Please contact us if you want more information.
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