Keeping a
study group
together for
50 years
Strong principles and commitment to
learning create buy-in from all members.
H
“To be the
best, you've
got to be
with the
best.”
— Larry Ricke
14
ow does a study group celebrate its
50-year anniversary?
For Show ‘N Tell, a study group of
high-producing advisors founded in 1968 to focus
on pensions but expanded to include advanced
planning, it was a meeting at the historic Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. “We
made this one special,” said Larry E. Ricke,
CLU, ChFC, a 41-year MDRT member from
New Albany, Indiana, who primarily works with
small-business owners and other professionals.
It’s been 20 years since Ricke was asked to be
in the invitation-only group, which still contains
two original members and various past association presidents, including 34-year MDRT member and 2013 MDRT President D. Scott Brennan.
The group’s operation and benefits may not
be unusual — one in-person meeting each year,
frequent communication whenever anyone has
an issue in their practice, and occasional collaboration on business — but its longevity is a sign
of principles that continue to reap rewards after
decades in existence. These include:
MDRT.ORG | MAY/JUNE 2017
1.
You pay whether or not you come to the
meeting, and all airfares are split equally.
This gives members extra investment to attend
and prevents anyone from paying more than others because of the location of the meeting, which
has previously been held in Rosemont, Illinois;
Las Vegas, Nevada; and Austin, Texas. The group
also shares expenses for the first night’s dinner
and various meeting expenses. This does not
include hotel costs.
2.
Work, not play. “Some study groups really
socialize a lot. Our group is not a play golf/
go fishing/go hunting group. We hole up in a
meeting room for 2½ days with a full agenda,”
Ricke said. “We socialize at night, but during the
day we work.”
3.
Nothing said leaves the room. “We’re
not publicly sharing ideas with anybody,”
Ricke said. It’s not about secrets but maintaining privacy, openness of discussion and
benefits of membership, and preventing expert
AGE FOTOSTOCK
BY MATT PAIS
techniques from making it to the competition.
That’s part of the reason members have veto
power over a possible new member nominated
in their region.
Members can be added at any point, but the
group generally sticks to around 15 people at a
time and has neither lost nor gained anyone in a
few years. Prospective members may be invited
THE POWER OF STUDY GROUPS
In 1995, I joined a study group that I met
with every 90 days. Over a period of four
years, each and every person in the study
group made it to Top of the Table because
we took the time to help, support and motivate each other. It’s safe to say the power
of study groups, focus and goals are huge to
get you to and keep you at the top.
— Karl Hartey
Oswestry, England, 22-year member
to attend a meeting (without having to share in
all expenses) to test out the group and see if both
sides feel like a fit, Ricke said.
To ensure quality meeting content, a new
chairperson and co-chairperson are tasked with
planning the agenda each year, leaving enough
time in the schedule to go longer than planned
on certain topics as needed. It is determined in
advance which member will lead each discussion
topic.
“I learned a long time ago that to be the best,
you’ve got to be with the best,” Ricke said. “That’s
why I joined the Million Dollar Round Table, and
that’s why I go to the study group meetings every
year. I want to be with the best. We learn from
each other. It makes us all better.”
While he can’t, of course, share his specific
gains from the group, Ricke has seen improvement in his sales techniques, the language he
uses and his access to new information. “I may
not know the answer, but I can make one phone
call and get the answer,” he said. “It’s knowing
who to make that phone call to.” RTT
CONTACT:
Larry Ricke
lericke@
financialguide.com
MAY/JUNE 2017
| MDRT.ORG 15