Posts Tagged “leadership”
The other night I listened to a business training call about making decisions. It got me thinking about how great leaders are good at making decisions. They decide what to do and do it.
If you want to make money in network marketing, you have to be a leader. That might sound scary, but once you understand how to be a leader, you just have to do it.
Leaders get to be leaders by making decisions. If you want to be a leader, start making decisions. When you start making decisions, people will notice you. Some will follow, and you’ll be a leader.
The act of making a decision is more important than the decision itself. In fact, making a bad decision is better than making no decision. If it’s the wrong decision, you can change it. You can revise it. There’s no rule locking you into your initial choice. Change course if needed, but get on the road.
photo credit: dougtone
There’s an old saying that the only person who never made a mistake is the person who never did anything. Truth is, not doing anything was his first mistake.
Doing something is the most critical element of reaching your goals. As one of mentors says, you have a lot better chance to be successful by acting without thinking than you do by thinking and not acting.
I’ve noticed how people react to different leadership techniques.
I thought about this today when the pastor made an interesting observation during his sermon. He pointed out the difference between cows and sheep.
Cows, he said, have to be prodded. Cowboys herd them in a direction by yelling, shouting and carrying on in various ways to make the cows move in a certain direction.
photo credit: Antikris
Sheep, on the other hand, prefer to be led. They know the shepherd’s voice and follow him where he wants them to go.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with cows. That’s just the way they are. Similarly, sheep act the way they act because they’re sheep.
It got me thinking about how prospects act when presented with a home-based business opportunity. Some are like cows. They have to be cajoled into joining. Others, like sheep, are open to new experience and are willing to follow someone they know, like and trust.
This reminded me of two important keys to success in MLM or in most any business endeavor.
First, recognize when someone is hesitant. Trying to herd them into your opportunity probably won’t work. Even if you convince them, they’re likely to regret it later and either quit or shy away from doing what’s needed for success.
Realize, also, that there’s nothing wrong with folks like this. They often just need to make a decision on their own time. They might need more information or just need to think it over.
Second, be willing to lead when someone is willing to follow. If you’re open, likeable and trustworthy, it’ll show in your actions, your attitude and your voice.
As time goes on, these folks will need your confidence until they realize the success they need. There’s nothing wrong with these folks either. They just need you to show the way.
Using these important leadership techniques will greatly increase your chance of success.
Steve DeVane
Teamwork is one of the leading indicators of a strong network marketing system.
photo credit: ArtemFinland
I considered that recently while reading “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” by Patrick Lencioni. The book, which is described as a “leadership fable,” is a fictional story about how a newly hired CEO leads the executive staff of a troubled technology company.
Lencioni then follows the narrative with an overview of the model it describes. As a strong proponent of using teamwork to build a network marketing business, I appreciated his work.
According to Lencioni, dysfunctional teams have an absence of trust, a fear of conflict, a lack of commitment, an avoidance of accountability and an inattention to results. Or, spoken positively, functional teams trust each other, engage in unfiltered conflict about ideas, commit to decisions and action, hold each other accountable, and focus on achieving results.
As I read the book, I was struck with how the characteristics applied to network marketing.
• Trust. In network marketing, people have to rely on each other. When you sponsor someone, that person has to be able to trust you.
At times, you might want to sugarcoat something your company has done. It’s especially tempting to make network marking seem easier than it really is. As my sponsor likes to say, “There’s a reason they call it net-‘work’ marketing.”
If you want to be a good upline, be upfront with folks. No matter what’s happening, it is what it is and they’ll probably find out eventually anyway.
• Conflict. This one might seem counter-intuitive. Most people think conflict is bad. But conflict can be good if it’s centered around ideas and not around personalities. Healthy discussion and debate is a good thing.
When someone on your team is on the wrong track, call him or her on it. The person might not appreciate it immediately, but later on, if you’re being truthful and trying to help, they’ll realize it and be grateful.
• Commitment. One of the most important factors that will guarantee your success is to decide that you won’t quit until you’re successful.
When you make that kind of promise to yourself, the way you conduct yourself will show it. You’ll be confident, because you know that success is only a matter of time.
• Accountability. One of the best things you can do for your business is to find an accountability partner. Once you have someone who will recognize your excuses, you’re less like to make them.
After a while you’ll even start making those excuses to yourself.
• Results. Many times in business, we feel like we’re like spinning our wheels. Often it’s because we are spinning our wheels.
One key to success is learning the difference between busywork and efforts that bring about results. If it’s not clear to you, talk to someone who’s already successful. Chances are, they’ll set you straight.
Any successful networking system will be run by a well-functioning team. Find such a team and you’re on your way to living your dreams.
Steve DeVane