The days of barbecues and lobster bakes are over as the grills for many Wall Street executives are stashed away for the beginning of a new season. The yachts are docked. The sun is setting earlier and reality is setting in. Low-key Friday afternoons and dark summer tans are becoming a distant memory.

If you went against the advice I offered in my previous column and treated this summer as a time to just relax at the expense of building up your business, Labor Day weekend signifies the end of your hibernation. Wall Street executives will get back to toiling with the same irrational markets and stocks that had terrorized them only three months prior. When this cruel and harsh reality starts to set in, many advisors can freeze up and feel as if they are losing control over their performance at work.

The truth is that the job description of an advisor or wealth manager is fraught with a lack of control. One must accept the fact that there is only a limited amount of certainty to be gleaned from the exploration of data points before a trade is executed. An advisor or broker can conduct a very thorough due diligence of a stock or mutual fund before a trade is executed and still be very wrong about the outcome. My performance-coaching practice now comprises many advisors who feel as if their ability to predict the future has gone completely awry. For them, certainty and predictability have become a commodity in every aspect of their lives, both work and family.

Over the summer I was retained by a large wealth management firm to conduct a team-building retreat on the chief executive officer's yacht. The CEO, who is also the investment visionary for the firm, is one of the most intuitive and experienced wealth managers with whom I have ever worked. He had unflappable confidence and conviction about his investment strategies and trades. And I could see the parallels in the way he helmed his yacht.

It was interesting to watch him steer the ship with such authority. As we skimmed through the water, a storm began brewing and the wind and rain eventually picked up. The waters became rough and as I peered over his shoulder out of the window, I saw three lightning bolts strike the water up ahead of us. He was calm as he steered the boat toward our destination island. He never lost his focus and he stayed on course despite the swelling waves.

This story depicts a visionary who has the one trait or attitude necessary for being successful as an advisor: He felt as if he was in control of his own destiny. Many successful advisors or wealth managers share this characteristic. They develop this perception once they've started reaching their business goals. This wealth manager had the courage to stare off into an oncoming lightning storm—and keep going. (He even made some daring stock trades while on this excursion that made his clients millions.)

Never once did he change course as a captain, and likewise he has developed a confidence in his abilities at work that paved the way for strong relationships with his clients. That has afforded him the ability to follow his hypotheses. He never questioned his predictions, nor did his clients. A confident advisor begets a confident investor, plain and simple.

Once we landed at Useppa Island, off the coast of Florida, I sat down on a bench overlooking the water. I looked out and saw a shark fin gliding ominously through the water—reminding me of just how dangerous and murky our markets have become for advisors and brokers. It's becoming increasingly difficult to get prospects or clients to become excited about investing their hard-earned money. In order to ride out uncertainty and attempt to control one's destiny, I realized that advisors and brokers must develop certain habits. I pulled out a notepad and jotted some down.

1) Be a captain, not a deckhand

If you want to be a top advisor, you first have to believe that you are. Confidence, after all, is the companion of success. The CEO captain commanded respect from his team because his focus and discipline never wavered even under the most chaotic conditions. And I saw this calming effect firsthand. As nervous as I was, seeing the lightning up ahead, I was calmed by just watching the way the captain controlled the boat and his general lack of fear.

2) Don't operate on cruise control