Keeping Service Sacred in Wealth Management
Earlier this week, I took a quick day trip on Veterans Day. My flight home was delayed—thanks to the government shutdown—and as I finally settled into my seat, the gentleman across the aisle struck up a conversation. He was coming home from Ireland. Long day, long travel. But the kind of man whose presence immediately feels steady.
Over the next hour, I got the privilege of hearing his story:
30 years enlisted in the U.S. Air Force.
Retired as a Chief Master Sergeant.
Played athletics for the Air Force.
Stationed all over the world.
His 84 years marked by discipline, purpose, and service.
He talked about his time with a kind of joy that’s rare. Not nostalgia. Not ego. Joy. Like he understood something about life the rest of us skim over.
And it struck me—especially on Veterans Day—how different that culture is from the culture that dominates headlines today.
On one side: people who build their lives around service to something bigger than themselves.
On the other: the tech-celebrity treadmill we all know—what Sam Altman ate for breakfast, what Palmer Luckey turned into a weapon, what the next unicorn founder tweeted at 2 a.m.
One culture is built on service.
The other is built on spotlight.
And business culture is often guilty of worshiping the spotlight.
The Venn Diagram I Draw on Whiteboards Everywhere
If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a while, you know I’m on the road constantly—meeting with teams, borrowing conference room whiteboards, drawing versions of the same simple Venn diagram. I think it defines the identity of every modern company, especially in wealth management:
1. You must be a technology company. Because without leveraged tools, you can’t scale.
2. You must be a media company. Because without stories, the market can’t see you.
3. You must be a service company. Because without service, you don’t matter.
It’s that third circle—the service circle—that too often gets overshadowed.
But it’s in many ways the most sacred one.
Service Is the Differentiator
In an age where everyone wants to automate relationship—and the next generation thinks being a YouTuber is the ultimate career—it’s worth slowing down to appreciate the honor of serving people well.
Service is the foundation of trust.
It’s how you learn what your clients actually need.
Service is what makes technology meaningful—not the other way around.
Ritz-Carlton gets a lot of airtime as the gold standard, and for good reason. They’ve institutionalized “above and beyond.” But the truth is, examples are everywhere. In your firms. On your teams. In moments no one tweets about.
Celebrate those moments.
Make them visible.
Add them to your playbook.
Because while the world obsesses over speed—“how fast can we ship this?”—the real mark of excellence is dedication. The willingness to see something through. The patience to walk with someone from point A to point Z, especially when Z takes time.
That’s honorable work.
Why This Matters for Wealth Management
Anyone can build a portfolio.
Anyone can assemble a tech stack.
Almost anyone can follow a process.
But not everyone can create a truly transformative client experience—the kind that uses tech to help people see, hear, guide, and care for others.
That’s service.
The work that cant be commoditized.
That’s what separates the firms that grow from the firms that fade.
And if you’re building a technology company (or partnering with one), remember this:
the product isn’t the software—
the product is the service people experience through the software.
Everything else is just a fancy widget.
Your Turn
I’d love to hear your stories—moments of service that have transformed a client relationship or reshaped the way you run your business.
Enjoy your Saturday, and here’s to honoring the sacred work of serving others.
—Jud