Why Reinvention Is the Ultimate Leadership Strategy: Lessons from Carina Diamond

If there’s one truth I’ve learned from the most extraordinary leaders in wealth management, it’s this: the best never sit still.

Enter Carina Diamond, CEO of GFP Private Wealth. Carina isn’t just running a firm—she’s rewriting the playbook on leadership, brand, and growth in real time.

When I sat down with her for In The Suite, three themes rose to the top:

1. Legacy Isn’t a Constraint—It’s a Launchpad. Carina stepped into GFP with the weight of a founder’s legacy—Sally Gries, one of the first women to build and own an RIA in Ohio. Instead of feeling boxed in, Carina doubled down on honoring Sally’s vision while rebranding and propelling the firm into the future. Lesson? You don’t erase history—you build from it.

2. Innovation Isn’t Optional. Forget “AI is coming.” Carina made it clear: AI is here now. She’s experimenting, hiring consultants, and rolling up her sleeves while other firms hesitate. That’s how you stay ahead of the curve—by deciding to.

3. Change Is the Secret Weapon. Carina swears by one principle: change things up. Whether it’s her leadership style, her workouts, or her firm’s approach to tech and talent, she believes staying static is the fastest way to become irrelevant. (And if you’re still running the same playbook you used three years ago, that’s your wake-up call.)

The most striking takeaway? Carina isn’t afraid to say yes when the opportunity appears—even if it means reinventing herself. From launching Stella Segunda Partners to leading GFP, her career is proof that reinvention isn’t a fallback. It’s a strategy.

So here’s the challenge for you: where are you resisting change out of habit or fear? Because as Carina reminds us, “things will never be changing as slowly as they are now.”

That line should stop you in your tracks. It did me.

Now, go change something.