Here's the last part of our five part series on what makes a network marketing profession. The skill set we're going to discuss today is the most important one: leadership development.
At its core level the business is about developing leaders more than anything else. Whether we are talking about retailing, recruiting, or training, the ultimate success of all of these depends on your ability to lead - and then groom others to replace you in leadership positions.
What we're shooting for here is to create a leadership factory in your team: a self-perpetuating process that creates new leaders coming up the ranks every month.
Some years back, I was asked to contribute a chapter to a book on leadership. The editors asked me to define exactly what it is. I wrote that the essence of leadership is:
"To lead people to willingly do things that they would normally not want to do themselves."
Think about WWII. Hitler and the Nazi propaganda machine led millions of people to do things they wouldn't normally want to do.
This was a demonstration of great leadership ability - perverted to evil purposes.
Churchill & Roosevelt led others to sacrifice and do many things to support the war effort. Things they would not normally want to do. This kind of leadership was demonstrated all through the ranks of the military.
How many people do you know that would willingly charge a nest filled with machine guns? Yet many were led to do just that?
Of course in our profession we need not lead people to do such extreme things. We may lead them to want to buy their first tie or suit, make their first prospecting call, or conduct their first presentation on stage.
As great leaders we don't force people to do things. We demonstrate and model the behavior, and inspire them to want to duplicate us.
So what are some of the ways we can develop leaders?
Well, first is our old standby: recognition. We know that recognizing people is one of the things that inspire them to do more.
So as you review your organization, you always want to be looking for those people with strong potential. Once you identify someone, you want to recognize and celebrate their early achievements.
Build their confidence and enthusiasm - by recognizing their accomplishment on team calls, events and newsletters.
Another great way to get people developing is getting them involved in event management. This may start with small things such as being a greeter or ticket taker. Move up to things like being responsible for displays, to finally being in charge of venue selection or managing the entire event.
The next way to encourage leadership is to get people involved in the presenting process. This may start with local opportunity meetings and graduate to regional events and webcasts and/or conference calls. Just giving someone a five or ten minute session in the bigger meeting is a great way to start. Then increase the length of their presentation as their confidence and skills develop.
After people have started doing some of the presenting and achieving some success, the next step is to involve them in the training events. Putting people on stage to help deliver content on business building is one of the greatest honors you can give someone. And it's a great way to get someone stepping into his or her leadership potential.
Later, as people develop into the higher pin ranks, you want to keep them involved in all major decisions, such as any changes to the system, marketing materials development, and team branding.
The more you give people a chance to practice leadership, the more likely they are to step into the role. Of everything you will ever do in the business, this is the most important.
Make your organization an ongoing leadership factory and you'll develop true residual income, and create a duplication model that allows your people to do the same. And then you've got it licked.
One last note: If you are already a leader yourself, you should be attending Mega-MLM. It's the first generic training I've conducted in more than five years, and it's also the most intensive. It's for people who want to build multi-million-dollar businesses. The room block was filled last week, but we were able to negotiate the hotel to give us a few more. But they'll be gone in a couple days.
If you're serious about going to the top, get to this event. You can find the details at: www.Mega-MLM.com
