Leadership # 5

So what's the second way to get leaders?

The second way to get leaders is to build them
from scratch.

In other words, we are going to find a distributor
who is not a leader now. Then, we're going to
teach him exactly how to become a leader. But
there is a challenge!

If this distributor is not a leader now, he is
going to look exactly like any other temporary
distributor, right?

So how do we know who to build into a leader? How
do we avoid wasting time building the wrong person
into a leader?

Have you ever worked with someone who is
coachable, committed to action, wanted to be a
leader -- and that person never became a leader?

Has that ever happened to you? Have you
experienced the wasted time and effort?

Well, I spent my first few years in network
marketing with this same frustration.

I did this. I said:

'If you want to be a leader, let's go for it.'

So I moved in with the committed distributor. We
drove all over the country together. We made phone
calls together. We gave meetings together. I
taught the distributor everything I knew.

>> And most of the time, he didn't become a
leader.

I ended up wasting a lot of my time. The distributor
wasted a lot of his time. And nothing permanent was
accomplished.

That all changed when I met a guy named Mike.
He came up to me and said this:

'You're an idiot.'

Of course this immediately got my attention. I
said to myself:

'I'd better listen to this guy. He's right. He's
telling the truth. I've been wasting all this time
working hard - but training the wrong people.'

Mike. He said:

'If you're going to train everybody who says that
he wants to be a leader, it's not going to work.
Talk is cheap.'

So I asked the obvious question:

'So how do you know who to train and who not to
train? Everyone wants to be a leader. They told me
so. How do you know which one to work with?'

Mikes' simple answer was this:

'You simply give them a test.'

I smacked my forehead - I'd just wasted so many
years! Why hadn't I given these candidates a test?

Well, because . . . I never thought of it. And now
that I know I should give the candidates a test,
what would be my next obvious question?

You're right! What kind of test should I give them?

Again Mike had a simple answer. He said:

'You give them a book! Tell them to read the book
and that you'll check back with them in three days
to discuss the book.'

>> Now it all made sense.

Let's say that you were in a business and you
sponsored me. I said that I wanted to learn to
become a leader, so you say:

'Here's a book that's really going to help
you build your business. I know you want to be a
leader. Today is Monday. Why don't we get together
on Thursday and discuss what's in this book? I'll
show you how you can use it in your business.'

Of course I'll thank you for the book and say that
I'm looking forward to our Thursday meeting. Well,
Thursday comes and you call me.

I start making excuses over the telephone and say:

'Well, I couldn't read the book on Monday, because
that's when Monday Night Football comes on
television. And then on Tuesday, I had to work
overtime on my job. Wednesday night is family
night. That's when the family goes out and I can
watch television in peace. So I really haven't
read the book yet.'

>> What would that tell you about me?

That says:

'Hey, if I can't put forth enough effort to read
the book, what chance is there that I would put
forth an effort to take guests to meetings? To go
to other training and listen to tapes? To drive to
conventions?'

This doesn't mean that I will always be a non-
leader. It just means that at this time in my
life, I'm not willing to make a commitment. It
doesn't mean I'm a terrible person, it just means
- hey, I'm not going to be a leader right now.

It's important that we give this test before we
invest time in training a distributor to become a
leader. If we don't perform this test, any time
that we spend with an uncommitted distributor is
wasted.

We may be stealing time from somebody who
desperately needs to be a leader.

So what happens if you give me a book and the next
morning I give you a call at 6 a.m.? I say:

'I know it's early, but I am wired with
excitement. I've highlighted the book and made an
outline. I know it's 6 a.m. but let's get together
for breakfast. If we hurry up, we can have
breakfast at 6:30 a.m. and talk about this book
before I go to work.'

What would that tell you?

>> Ka-ching!

We have a winner here. This is a simple test but
it makes all the difference in the world.

By the way, I haven't mentioned which book to give
as a test, have I?

>> It simply doesn't matter which book you give as a
test!

Why? Because it's only a test. You're only
checking for action from your potential leader.
Remember, almost everyone will say that they want
to become a leader, but talk is cheap. You have to
check for that action commitment.

So if you don't have a brilliantly written book handy, you can give them a National Geographic Magazine, right? It doesn't matter.
You're only checking for action.

By the way, if you don't have a book or a
magazine, what else can you give as a test?

You could use videotape, an audiotape, or have
your potential leader listen to a conference call
- or send him to a store for milk and cookies.
It's only a test.

But if you don't have a book, an audiotape, or
even videotape, you might reconsider your
leadership capabilities.

Leadership # 4

What is my definition of a leader?

I have three definitions of a leader. These aren't
the only three definitions. They're not all-
inclusive. These are just three definitions to
give us an idea of what we are looking for.

The first definition I heard is from a man named
Rajbir in Bangalore, Karnataka. He says that
leaders are professional students of the business.

In other words, leaders actually read the sales
manual that came with their distributor kit. By
this definition, everybody reading this newsletter
would be a leader. We're students of network
marketing - always looking for new ideas and
information.

Leaders listen to audio training tapes, read
books, go to upline meetings and, whenever they
can, they attend company conventions. You'll see
leaders hanging around with the upline leaders
hoping to pick up a good idea.

I like this definition. It makes it easy to spot
leaders. Just go to any training meeting and
you'll see the chairs full of potential leaders.

>> Sounds good, but what is my second definition
of a leader?

This definition is a little harder to explain but
easy to observe.

Imagine that you decide to take a vacation to
Hawaii. You're going to miss your local weekly
opportunity meeting. Somebody will have to conduct
your weekly meeting.

A leader is someone who will do the opportunity
meeting, make sure the product display is there,
pay for the room, and assumes the responsibility
that everything runs smoothly - and you don't have
to call from Hawaii to see if it was done.

In other words, you're on vacation and you don't
have to worry or check on anything. This leader
was glad you left town so he could take the
responsibility!

This is a pretty good definition of a leader. He
is someone who does his business without your
constant motivation and checking. He is someone
you don't have to worry about.

>> The third definition of a leader is the
toughest.

This definition separates the so-called leaders
from the real leaders. Here it is:

A leader is someone who handles problems.

Let's say there is a problem in the downline. Raj
didn't get his order or Puja talked longer than Ankur
or there was some bad news in the local press, or
whatever.

A leader handles the problem.

Your leader will call the home office to trace the
order, will help Ankur understand why Puja talked
longer, or support and counsel a devastated
distributor who is upset over some bad publicity.

The leadership test is this:

Will the problem filter upline to you?

If you have a distributor whom you think is a
leader -- but the distributor is still passing
problems upline to you, this distributor doesn't
qualify to be a leader.

This is a tough test, but it separates leaders
from the crowd.

Now we have three clear descriptions of a leader.
We know exactly what we are searching for.

Now that we have a really good grip on what a
leader is, the next question in your mind should
be:

>> Step #2: How do I find leaders?

That's simple.

There are only two ways to get leaders.

The first way to get leaders is to steal them.
That's right, steal them. We're all leaders here,
so let's be honest. People try to steal leaders
all the time, don't they?

They say:

'Come over to my business and I'll give you $5
more than what you're making over there.'

So the leader changes loyalty and moves to another
company.

What's the downside of this?

Well, if the leader will change allegiance for $5
more income, then what's going to happen when
someone else offers this leader $6 more income?

Ouch!

If this leader can be bought once, he can be
bought again.

So we could steal leaders, but the problem is that
we will only end up with temporary leaders. This
means we'd have a job for the rest of our lives,
replacing leader after leader, wouldn't we? This
isn't what we're looking for.

You see, a lot of distributors advertise for
leaders. They try to persuade leaders to come over
with the newest hot deal because it's a tenth of a
cent lower or it pays 1% more. But what happens
when someone else offers two-tenths of a cent
lower or 2% more?

The temporary leader is gone.

It's just a full-time job replacing temporary
leaders. It's not really building a permanent,
loyal network marketing organization.

So I would like to eliminate further discussion
about stealing leaders because that's not really
what we want to do.

We want permanent income.

We'll learn the second way to get leaders in
Lesson #5. The second way will be the easiest
way to get that permanent income.

Leadership # 3

>> Generals make a difference.

Imagine that you are dictator of your own country.
That's pretty good - you have your own army and
you have five loyal generals. You also have
100,000 infantrymen. (Of course, the generals
represent leaders and the infantrymen represent
distributors in case you're not following this
analogy.)

What happens next is that one night I sneak across
enemy lines and attack your army. I use my black
belt in karate and go chop, chop, chop and I beat
up all 100,000 of your infantrymen.

The next morning you wake up and you have five
generals left. All of your infantry went home to
their mothers for sympathy.

Now, here's the important question.

>> With only five generals left, could you rebuild
your army?

Of course you could. That's the importance of
leaders. When things go bad and everyone abandons
the ship, you can still rebuild your organization
if you have loyal leaders.

What if the opposite were to happen?

What if I were to sneak across enemy lines and
kidnap your five generals? What would happen then?

The next morning, you wake up and all you have are
your 100,000 infantrymen with no leadership or
direction. They start marching in circles, firing
inward, stepping in latrines, getting lost - it's
a disaster!

So as you see, generals are everything.

>> Some networkers build leaders. Other networkers
are just busy.

That's the difference why some networkers can work
for a few years and finally retire from their
business. These networkers focused all their
activity on building leaders.

The other networkers? The ones that were just
busy? Well, they're still busy.

If you're not convinced that building leaders is
important by now . . . well, you can save yourself
some time by not reading any further.

>> Okay! Okay! Let's get some leaders!

We need a step-by-step plan. And that's easy. If you're not
familiar with engineers, we need a step-by-step
plan for everything. That's why we're incredibly
cool people with a keen sense of fashion design.

For instance, when we walk, we have a plan. We're
thinking:

'Left foot, then the right foot. Left foot, then
the right foot, etc.'

So, back to our plan. We're going to create our
master plan in three easy steps. By mastering each
step, one at a time, we'll end up with an
organization of leaders.

Here are the steps to master:

Step #1: Define what a leader is.

Step #2: How to find leaders.

Step #3: What to teach leaders.

Step #1 is very important. Before we go looking
for leaders, wouldn't it be a great idea to know
what a leader looks like?

It's a lot easier to find somebody if we know what
he looks like.

On a recent teleconference training call, I asked
the group:

'Does anybody on tonight's call have a good
definition of, what is a leader?'

The answers were:

* Someone who is willing to step up and help to
encourage others.

* Someone who makes sure that he gets done what
needs to be done.

* Somebody who is coachable.

* Somebody who is good with people -- a good
communicator.

* Someone with a vision.

* A leader is somebody who wants to learn and
wants to succeed.

* A leader is someone who commits to taking the
action that's required to make it to the top.

And that was the list. The rest of the callers
were silent. I don't think they ever thought about
this question. I can't imagine how they looked for
leaders if they never even knew what a leader
looked like.

All of the above definitions are nice, but we
need something more useful.

In Lesson #4, I will share with you my THREE
DEFINITIONS of a leader.

Once we know exactly what we are looking for,
it gets easy.

Lesson #4 in a few days.