Across Network Marketing, you will find a lot of diversity.  Skin care companies, cosmetics, diet programs, nutrition and wellness.  Binaries, breakaways, unilevels, matrixes and enough hybrids to make you dizzy.  Yet you also find striking similarities in the ultra-successful people in all these companies.

We’re talking about mindset…

Because there are ways of thinking that transcend product lines, comp plans and other variables.  These are the common traits, which are the prerequisites for long-term success in the business, and you find them in all top leaders across the profession.  Let’s look at them:

Everyone in the group is a dreamer. They stopped buying the gloom and doom of the masses and reconnected to the vision of greatness we all once had for ourselves.

If Morpheus were to offer them the red pill or the blue pill, they would always choose the trip down the rabbit hole rather than the safety of the Matrix—because they know that in today’s economy, safe is the new risky.  They know that those who choose being “safe” become the worker drones in the collective. The people who are willing to take what the herd would perceive as risks are the ones who reap the reward of a life worth living.  Bold is the new safe.

Everyone in the group is a critical thinker. They reject herd thinking and practice discernment. They are curious by nature and open to challenging their most deeply held foundational beliefs. They are not cynics, but they are skeptical of conventional wisdom, they question authority, and they want to know the reasoning behind a premise. They know that any beliefs they have that serve them will survive a healthy skepticism, and any beliefs that don’t stand up under scrutiny need to be replaced.

Everyone in this group is a worker. They don’t look for the free lunches and get-rich schemes. Far from running away from work, they wake up, throw the sheets off the bed, and actually look forward to work! Being a network marketing professional means welcoming challenge, growth, and adventure and helping others while helping oneself. So they love what they do, and don’t need a weekend, a six-pack, and ten DVDs to escape from their “job.” They have discovered how to balance work and life and bring meaning to both.

Everyone in this group is a good teacher. They recognize that real duplication comes from their possessing good teaching skills much more than selling skills. They follow a formula that allows large numbers of people to replicate their actions.

Everyone is this group is also a student. They have a passion for lifelong learning and set aside daily time for quiet reflection and self-development. It’s important that you continually sharpen your saw. Books, DVDs, CDs, or online seminars—the medium is not important. What matters is that you dedicate yourself to always being a little better today than you were yesterday.

When I first started in the business, my biggest mistake was thinking that success would come from changing others. I soon learned that success would come from changing myself. The actions you take and the examples you set create a ripple effect that impacts everything around you in a positive way. To change the world, you must first change yourself.

Everyone in this group is a leader. They weren’t born a leader. Nobody appointed them to the position, and they couldn’t care less about titles, hierarchy, or conformity. They are called to lead from the small, still voice in their soul.

So how are you doing on these?

We looked at six qualities in the mental makeup of leaders.  How do you rate, and where do you need to get better?  Because the answers to those questions are where the breakthroughs are!

-RG