Last night I was watching a Chick Christmas movie with my husband and daughter (want to give your wife a big free Christmas present? Watch a girl with her, hold her in your arms and pass her a Kleenex when she needs it and all without making a single comment about how stupid she is and she will love you..
It’s called The Santa Suit and it stars Kevin Sorbo (Hercules and Andromeda) as a tight-fisted Grinch who owns a toy company called Drake, who gets a gift from Santa himself and that gift is that everyone now sees him (Drake) as Santa Claus.
He ends up homeless, broke and escapes a jail sentence because the judge would have to face his children if he jailed Santa so close to Christmas. They send him to a social worker who gives him a place at the homeless shelter where she works. He ends up working at a toy store as guess who, Santa, where he meets a girl who changes her life forever, and that’s where the MLM leadership part comes in.
Over the course of the film, he worries about this girl and her problems, which include her not believing in Santa due to the experience she had the previous year. She desperately wants to believe, but a bad financial year for her mother left her disappointed and hurt. Drake’s caring and patience in getting to know her, and a special gift that he had wanted for a long time, restores his confidence and hope again, and like all good chick flicks, there is a happy ending where everyone wins.
The only thing about leading a team is this. If you don’t genuinely care about the people on your team and want the best for them, you will never be successful. People are not numbers and you will not build a loyal team that will take you to the top if all you care about is their results.
Sometimes there will be people on your team who desperately want to believe that network marketing works, but have been disappointed and hurt by a bad experience and need you to care and be patient with them while they regain hope again.
One other thing before we talk about the skills you need to lead effectively, if you do the things I’m going to tell you without caring about the person, ultimately you will see them as manipulative and either leave them or you won’t perform at your best. So what are some of the skills needed to lead successfully?
1. Time with them
You need to invest time with your team members to train and accompany them. One of the best ways to create duplication is to have them with you while you do your business. When you settle somewhere, take them with you. Let them see you interact with people. Go to the house and make some phone calls, let them figure out what to say to people over the phone. Role play with them. Let them see that there are good days and bad days and that in the end if you keep persevering you will win. Be sure to do all your company training with them. Walk them through things step by step so they know how to do it, and as they start to build a team, they’ll do the same things.
An advert. Not everyone on your team will want this and if they don’t show their interest by following the action steps you give them, then you wouldn’t spend a lot of time trying to push them into doing something they don’t really want to do. MLM is for everyone, but not everyone is for MLM. Being a good leader is also knowing when to let the person go.
2.Communication
I had to become proficient in just about every form of communication there is, from phones to texting to email to social media. Because? Because everyone on my team communicates better in different ways. My generation and older are fine with phone and email, while the younger generation, I couldn’t even communicate with them if I didn’t text and chat on Facebook. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to include the younger generation as part of your team, because you won’t be communicating in a way they understand. There are plenty of amazing young entrepreneurs out there who could help expand your team massively if you’re willing to communicate the way they communicate.
3. Recognition
Do you recognize your team and reward them accordingly? I had my team Christmas party last night and one of the new team members said to another team member, “Does Kim always give that much?” and the team member said, “yes, that’s the way she is.”
Your team needs to know that you value them and that their contributions are important.
How do you recognize your team?
- personal words of thanks and affirmation
- publicly in meetings
- via email
- throught social media
- Make videos for your team to see.
How do you reward them?
- make contests for them
- small gifts from time to time
- invite them out for coffee or send them a gift card
- Christmas party. I covered the cost of everyone’s drinks and gave them a Christmas card with a small gift. The cost for me was less than $5 per person and everyone loved it.
You don’t have to spend a fortune to reward them. If you are creative, you can do it and not break the bank. It is not about the cost of the reward, but the spirit in which it is given. My team members know that I love them, so even a small gift is received with great joy.
Leadership is all about relationship. Don’ts and don’ts. It’s about guiding your team members to success, not lording it over them and trying to trick them into doing what you want. It’s about bringing out the best entrepreneur in them, not creating a carbon copy of you. If you can guide and nurture at the same time, you build a team that can’t be beat and will leave others wondering how you can build such a massive following.
For your success,
Kim Thompson-Pinder