Lessons from Life & Leadership Season 4 Episode 3: The human side of long-term planning

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Lessons from Life & Leadership Season 4: The human side of long-term planning

The conversations across Season 4 of Life & Leadership offer a thoughtful lens on long-term decision-making and leadership. Below we continue to reflect on some key insights and consider their relevance for advisers supporting clients across different life stages.  

You can catch up on our previous reflection on Episode 2 with Aine Kerr here. 

 

Nevin Maguire on optimising for meaningful relationships and return-on-investment  

In episode 3, renowned chef, entrepreneur, and cookbook author, Nevin Maguire reflects on a business shaped by care, relationships, and long-term thinking. While his career spans restaurants, television, books, and retail partnerships, a clear philosophy threads through it all: success comes from optimising for meaningful connections with customers, staff, business partners, and the wider community.   

“Michelin is a fantastic guide, but it was never the holy grail for me. My reward is a full restaurant, happy customers, bookings in the book.” 

 

Staying relevant through regular feedback  

From weekly feedback forms to nightly staff briefings, Nevin describes a business authentically shaped by listening to the people it serves. Change doesn’t come from assumptions or trends, but from paying close attention to customers, staff, and the experience of the business.  

“We listen constantly to customers. Feedback forms. Weekly management meetings. Staff briefings every night. Listening shapes the business.” 

For advisers, this reinforces an important principle: long-term planning works best when it remains a conversation, not a transaction. Active listening creates the space to revisit decisions as needs, priorities, and circumstances evolve.  

The same principle underpins our approach at Standard Life. We actively encourage adviser feedback, whether through our NPS surveys, or directly through Business Managers. Your feedback helps us continually enhance the adviser experience, so you can stay focused on strengthening trusted relationships with your clients.

 

Balance, boundaries, and sustainable living 

Nevin also speaks about slowing down and protecting balance post-Covid, whether that’s prioritising family time or reshaping business boundaries to create sustainable ways of working for his team. Success, for him, isn’t about doing more, but about being intentional with where time and energy have the greatest impact.  

Nevin’s approach is synonymous with the Second Life approach to retirement planning. At Standard Life, we encourage people to think of retirement as a change of gears rather than a complete stop. Planning for this phase of life should build in time for clients to take stock of how they want to spend their time, who they want to spend that time with, and shape a life that feels purposeful rather than prescriptive.

 

Takeaways and resources for advisers  

• Optimising for relationships requires deliberate choices. Long-term trust is built by prioritising consistency, care, and quality of interaction of speed, scale, or short-term thinking.  

  The value of regular feedback – Open, consistent feedback helps keep long-term partnerships relevant, responsive, and successful.

Resources to support adviser conversations 

• Bringing retirement into focus – explore insights and reflections from our experts that highlight the value of relationship-based planning and the role of regular advice in supporting better long-term outcomes.
• Second Life questionnaire –  – a simple, but powerful tool designed to help clients reflect on how they want to spend their time, who they want to spend it with, and what choices they can make going forward to lead a purposeful life to, and through, retirement.  

We hope you’re enjoying the conversations this season. You can catch up on the latest episodes here.