THE listening ADVISOR™

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Self Assessment

The Listening Advisor™ Self-Assessment

Do You Know What Actually Happens
In Your Meetings?

Most advisors believe they listen more than they talk, ask great questions, and create genuine connection. The data says otherwise.

This assessment measures the gap between how you see yourself and what your clients actually experience.

Take five minutes. Answer fifteen honest questions. Find out what John sees when he reads your answers — and the work he would recommend you commit to next.

15
Questions
5–7
Minutes
9
Behaviors
2
Dimensions
Communication & Connection
4
Profiles
1
Clearer Picture

Free. Confidential. Honest.

Answer each question based on what is actually true for you today, not what you wish were true. The value of this assessment is in the honesty you bring to it. Your responses are private. Your full report — every score, your profile, what John sees in your answers, and your recommended next steps — appears on screen the moment you finish.

Begin the Assessment
What We Measure

Nine Behaviors. Two Dimensions.

Every question maps directly to a measurable behavior, and to a specific The Listening Advisor™ framework metric that will validate or challenge your self-perception.

Your two scores: Communication Mastery and Connection & Growth. These place you in one of four advisor profiles. Each profile comes with a specific coaching path grounded in what the data actually shows about where advisors like you win and lose.

Communication Mastery

9 Questions · 5 Behaviors

Presence & Listening

Full attention, intentional silence, noticing what is unspoken, and the ratio of speaking to listening.

Questions & Discovery

Open-ended questions, following the client’s thread, clarifying before responding.

Empathy & Emotional Awareness

Acknowledging feelings before advice, reading the room, handling pushback with grace.

Clarity & Recommendations

Decisive recommendations tied to client goals, plain language, introducing new perspectives.

Meeting Structure

Purposeful openings, agenda alignment, consistent meeting structure, and follow-through.

Connection & Growth Outcomes

6 Questions · 4 Behaviors

Referral Conversations

Confidence in asking, quality and specificity of the ask, unsolicited referrals.

Opportunity Identification

Proactively raising financial opportunities, recognizing life moments, establishing clear next steps.

Advocacy & Retention

Whether clients would fight to keep you, how they respond to volatility, whether they actively tell others.

Authentic Connection

Knowing clients as people, carrying their story between meetings, trust versus satisfaction.

The Four Advisor Profiles

Your Two Scores Determine Your Profile

Your Communication Mastery score and your Connection and Growth score determine which of four profiles describes where you are today. Every profile comes with a clear picture of what the data says and what the coaching opportunity is.

Imagine knowing, specifically, what to work on next. That is what the profile gives you.

Elite

Communication ≥ 4.0 · Growth ≥ 4.0

The Listening Advisor

You have achieved the end game. Communication mastery and relationship outcomes are aligned. You are the standard that the book describes. Every advisor who aspires to where you are studies how you work.

Developing

Communication ≥ 4.0 · Growth < 4.0

The Skilled Practitioner

Your communication is exceptional. The gap is in converting that skill into measurable outcomes: referrals, advocacy, and proactive opportunity identification. The skill is there. The application is the work.

Most Urgent

Communication < 4.0 · Growth ≥ 4.0

The Instinctive Producer

You are producing through hustle and relationships. Not through consistent communication mastery. The numbers look fine today. But one competitor with stronger communication skills, or one technology shift, changes everything.

High Potential

Communication < 4.0 · Growth < 4.0

The Emerging Advisor

Both dimensions have room to grow. The good news: every skill measured here is teachable. The advisors who close this gap fastest are the ones who inspect what they expect. Starting with this assessment.

Free. Confidential. 5–7 Minutes.

No payment. No commitment. Just honest, structured feedback on where you stand and what to focus on next.

Start Now

The Listening Advisor™ Assessment

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Step 1 of 3

Rate yourself honestly.

For each statement, select the response that best reflects what is consistently true in your practice today. There are no right answers – only honest ones.

Part 1 – Communication Mastery

How you show up in the meeting itself.
Presence & Listening
In most client meetings, my client speaks more than I do.(Required)
1 – I do most of the talking.5 – My client speaks 60–70%+ of the time, consistently.
I am comfortable letting silence sit when a client is thinking – I do not rush to fill the gap.(Required)
1 – I jump in within a second or two.5 – I let pauses sit for 5+ seconds without rushing.
Questions & Discovery
I ask open-ended questions that invite reflection, rather than questions a client can answer with yes or no.(Required)
1 – Most of my questions are closed or yes/no.5 – My questions consistently start with “what,” “how,” or “tell me about…”
When a client brings up something I had not planned to discuss, I ask follow-up questions to fully understand it before moving on with my agenda.(Required)
1 – I redirect back to my agenda.5 – I pause my agenda and explore what matters to them.
Empathy & Emotional Awareness
When a client expresses worry, frustration, or grief, I acknowledge the feeling before offering advice or solutions.(Required)
1 – I move straight to solutions and reassurance.5 – I name and acknowledge what they are feeling first, then move to advice.
I read body language and tone in real time, and I adjust my approach when something is off.(Required)
1 – I follow my plan regardless of how the client seems.5 – I notice subtle cues and adjust pace, tone, or topic in the moment.
Clarity & Recommendations
My recommendations are clear, decisive, and tied directly to what the client said matters most to them – in plain language, not jargon.(Required)
1 – I present multiple options without a clear recommendation.5 – I give a decisive recommendation in the client’s own words.
Meeting & Structure
I open every client meeting with genuine personal connection before any financial content begins — and I present a focused agenda of no more than two or three items, inviting the client to add topics and confirming alignment before we begin.(Required)
1 – No connection, overloaded agenda, no client input.5 – Genuine connection first, focused agenda, client confirms before we begin.
I close every meeting with explicit next steps: who will do what, by when.(Required)
1 – Meetings end without clear action items.5 – Every meeting ends with a verbal and written summary of decisions, assigned action items, and deadlines.