Tom Mathews is Senior Executive Vice Chairman of World Financial Group, Inc.  He is also Founder and CEO of WealthWave.

In describing Tom Mathews in Nightingale-Conant’s AdvantEdge Magazine, Editor-in-Chief Carson Conant reflected that “Tom is one of those rare people who consistently demonstrates the characteristics of a great leader, though he attributes all of his business success to his team, over 30,000 people (and still growing) across North America.”

For over three decades, Tom and his team have relentlessly pursue their singular vision to offer anyone willing to work hard and serve others first the opportunity to achieve their personal hopes and dreams.

Tom's leadership philosophy, woven throughout his book "Aim for the Heart" and exemplified by his team, has sparked a revolution and significantly affected how financial services are delivered to mainstream America.

"Vision is seeing something before its time. A Visionary is a person who does something with what he or she sees. A Leader takes people someplace they would not go alone. Leadership is actually going there."

To hear Tom speak about his vision is to understand that he and his team are just getting started. He believes that the unique moment we find ourselves in today opens wide the door to serve struggling middle-income families, renew hope for retirees, and bring financial education to every American.

Tom lives in Johns Creek, Georgia with his family and spends the majority of his time speaking, writing, training, inspiring and leading his organization to success.

Over the last 34 years, Tom has established himself as a respected leader in the financial industry through his commitment to building other leaders. Tom truly represents what it means to "pour into" the people around him through speaking engagements, webinars, podcasts and one-on-one relationships.

Tom has inspired thousands of people to get out of their own way and make their dreams a reality. Sit through one conversation with him talking about his journey to success and outlook for the future of the financial industry and you'll understand what makes him so magnetic to thousands of people around the world.

START WITH WILD DREAMS

Since the beginning of history, the world’s most important achievements have started with a dream. In most instances the naysayers will line up to tell you it can’t be done. But dreams fuel passion, and passion plus perseverance equal success. Shortly after Orville Wright flew his historic first flight at Kitty Hawk, a North Carolina reporter asked if everything was the way he thought it would be. He said, “Actually, I preferred the dreaming of flying to doing it. I would lie in my bed at night and imagine the wind passing by, the view from above like a bird, and the exhilaration of it all.” As a leader, you must know and teach the power of dreams, for “nothing happens but first a dream,” as Carl Sandburg said. Every member of a team must see and truly dream as vividly as you do.

Tom has been captivating audiences with his passion and spirit for over thirty four years. He has had the privilege of speaking to audiences all over the world on leadership and the financial industry. From conferences to business meetings, large audiences and small groups, he has inspired people from all walks of life to chase their dreams. 

In his last speech before he died, Vince Lombardi shared the key to success. He said, “The secret, in a word is..., ‘heartpower.’ Capture the heart and you’ve captured the person. Get people to fall in love with your company.” Tom Mathews exemplifies this belief and has lived it to great success. Embrace these powerful lessons of leadership from the heart and learn the secrets to great success that is only possible through a great team.

Tom has mentored thousands of entrepreneurs over his 34 years in the financial industry. A selfless leader, Tom has made it his goal to help others achieve the success they've always dreamed of. Through inspiring others to take action and mentoring them along the way, Tom has put thousands of men and women on the right track to financial independence and a better life for them and their families. Tom truly invests in the people around him and takes pride in the strong relationships he has built with so many.

Tom explains that leadership is not about motivation or inspiration. Leadership is about capturing people’s hearts. Too many business owners, executives, entrepreneurs, generals, and fathers and mothers fail to achieve great success through leadership because they are focused on how to motivate and inspire their teams and subordinates to follow their vision. True leaders, however, don’t focus on how to get people to follow their vision. Instead, they take the time to learn about the people they are leading — their hopes, their dreams, and their visions — and then show them how to achieve their dreams by following the greater vision.

People follow great leaders, not because they are so hyped up on motivation and inspiration to achieve the leader’s dream. They follow when they see (that they have) the ability to achieve their personal hopes and dreams ... by achieving the greater vision the leader has laid forth. “You must aim for the heart in order to inspire the mind,” Tom explains. “As soon as people see in your vision the ability to reach a future they can only dream of, they will follow you to the ends of the earth.”