WOW, probably the best talk on leadership I’ve heard in a VERY long time. Worth watching all the way through. “People don’t care what you do, it’s WHY you do it.” Key to success right there, also just happens to align with what World Wide Dreambuilders teaches, funny how that is.
Tag Archives: leadership
Focus
Obviously it’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted here and that’s quite alright. I’ve been promoted yet again at work, three times within two years, which is a direct by-product of my personal growth in the last two years. Leadership has always been key for me in everything I’ve done through the years and with the additional personal growth I’ve been through recently its in essence put me in almost the top spot I could ever get to in IT. Pretty much I cannot go any further at my current employer and for me that’s quite alright. The additional leadership I’ll obtain in this spot will only help me in our other more important endeavours.
So aside from that we’ve actually be re-focusing our energy on our family and our business and that’s about it right now. We had a recent lull which was fine, we needed to find out our groove and there was no pressure from anyone telling us what we had to do or what we had to go to. That’s what’s great about our business and what we stand for. Everyone has their own path, their own goals and their own business. We needed to take some time to figure out how to build this business with a little one and we’ve done just that and things are moving a long great.
I may post less frequently however the posts I do post will be more meaningful and more insightful. I’m excited for the rest of the year and for what we are doing personally and in our business. It’s Autumn, with season changes brings fresh beginnings.
The Ultimate Social Business Model
If you ever thought that Direct Selling was a joke, a fad, or something that only a few people do, you may want to think again. In a recent special supplement to the Wall Street Journal by Direct Selling News called “The Ultimate Social Business” you might be surprised at just how long Direct Selling has been around and just how much impact it has on the economy.
“In 2010, direct selling companies generated over $125 billion in revenue in 150 countries through more than 75 million men and women who are changing lives serving others”. What I love about that statement isn’t the fact Direct Selling has generated $125 billion, but the fact people are serving others. While I cannot speak for others, that resonates the most with us because that’s exactly what motivates us to build our business.
What’s cool about Direct Selling that I didn’t know is that it’s actually the original social networking business. This was long before there were computers in every household and well ages before Twitter and Facebook. Direct Selling has been around for over 150 years and it ain’t going anywhere, in fact it’s picking up steam and here in Alberta it’s booming!
I know quite a few friends and acquaintances that are involved in some kind of Direct Selling opportunity. Now it doesn’t have to be Amway (which happens to be #2, a private company and one that continued to grow to $9.2 Billion in sales) that we happen to be involved with, there are many other opportunities out there. Sometimes people are looking at these opportunities to make a few dollars on the side, some are looking for leadership and mentorship, and some are just looking to fill in some extra time with a hobby.
The stigma about Direct Selling, Amway, and these other opportunities is old and to make fun of, criticize, or put people down that are involved in them just shows true ignorance. As the article says it’s Prime Time for Direct Selling and if your looking for an opportunity make sure you do your research, figure out who your getting involved in and make they are open and honest with you.
Check out the article here that covers all aspects of the Direct Selling industry and the top 100 companies – The Ultimate Social Business Model
Expectations
What I love about our business and the principals we stand on is that we have no expectations of our team members, we only have expectations for them. See there is a huge difference between expectations ‘of’ and ‘for’. For the most part in society we usually expect a lot of people and are always looking at what people can do for us. It’s that “take take take” and “what can you do for me” attitude we tend to have and how we live life. Not I’m not saying all people do this, don’t misunderstand me, but in my personal experience I see this on a day to day basis with where I work, my recent traveling and general day to day.
Unofficially we are in a leadership business where we coach and mentor people and part of that is having expectations for people based on their goals and what they desire out of their business. That’s the beauty of a people business is that we can never tell someone what to do and nor do we want to. We will only coach people that want to be coached and then coach them in line with their goals and out of that comes expectations for them.
I’ve heard in the past with the Amway business that people used to have quota’s or people expected them to be at a certain PV level or run a certain volume. That is certainly untrue of how we run business in our Line of Sponsorship and we would never expect our team to run certain volume. We will certainly help people achieve whatever goals they want and as their coaches that’s our duty and we gladly accept.
It’s funny because in my position there is no way that I can get by on expectations for me, I’m expected to perform and am held accountable to those actions. Nothing wrong with that in that area of life but if I could choose I’d rather people have expectations for me and then rise to those expectations on my own with my own efforts.
“Expectation is the root of all heartache” – William Shakespeare
Investment of Time
I’ve said before that you reap what you sow and the same can be said for time. If you invest time you’ll get time back; the reap what you sow concept is so simple yet so many people cannot understand it. What I love about our business and what we do (at least in this market anyway, I can’t speak for other markets) is that we invest time into people. We invest time into people and help them become leaders, I sometimes like to think this business we are in is a leadership business. Officially it’s not (I need to be careful of how I represent this opportunity since I’m sure some people may report me to the Amway police lol). Unofficially I think it’s a leadership business because we really do build leaders who take control of their lives in all aspects and then help others do the same thing. I may do a blog post on that later but for now I’ll leave it at that.
Back to what I was getting at, investment of time. We’ve recently been fortunate to receive coaching and mentorship from our sponsor’s sponsor who coached and mentored them in this business. They are now investing time into us and helping us to continue building our business and that’s awesome. Awesome because there is no “the guy”. We are able to tap into other leaders within this business and earn coaching and mentorship from anyone of them.
I was thinking last night as they were doing an open for our entire organization, that this business is so different from any other business I’ve seen and stands on some pretty phenomenal traditional values and principals. The amount of respect, transparency, integrity and trust shown in this organization is pretty amazing. I certainly do not see that in my current job, it’s far far from it. My job doesn’t invest any time into me, they demand time from me for as little amount of money possible to keep me there. That’s pathetic because we invest time into our team and honestly expect nothing in return. If they are not growing or moving on, oh well. We meet them where they are at and help them in whatever fashion they need. Some other “opportunities” out there would probably drop those people like its hot and move on, sorry not our opportunity, and that’s what makes our Amway opportunity stand the test of time. If people are moving on in a big way then we applaud that and help them continually grow and help them where they need it.
We develop honest relationships with these people and ENJOY investing our own time into them because they deserve it and want that helping hand. Like I said we help them in all areas, not just this business and that’s why I think we develop leaders and what sets us apart. They are able to learn from that and help others do the same, that’s just one aspect of a leader and something I’m pretty proud of.
Take a look where your investing your time these days and ask yourself are you reaping what your sowing?