In our business there is a leadership continuum that looks something like this:
A Prospect You are open minded and consider opportunities for advancement. You are dissatisfied enough to take time to learn how to improve your situation.
A Pro-sumer You are a Quixtar® cardholder. You have the right to order products at cost, register other IBOs, and sell products to customers. What you do with the opportunity can only be seen over time. An IBO who has all the right information and does nothing is basically a Pro-sumer.
An Apprentice You are an enthusiastic learner. You read books, listen to business building audios, associate with your team through seminars and strategizing sessions, show the plan, and produce product volume. With a bit of time and commitment, an apprentice will quickly become a Producer.
A Producer You have registered other IBOs and hit the 1,000 PV level on the bonus chart. You execute the five action steps – list, invite, show the plan, follow through, and repeat the process – on a consistent basis and your activity is adding IBOs to the team.
A Leader You have placed yourself a notch above the crowd. You overcome small thinking, criticism, circumstances, and obstacles that threaten to undermine the success of your team. You are a problem solver and help people focus on solutions. You breathe conviction and practice positive promotion consistently. You press on and fight for your goals and fight even harder for the people in your organization. In essence, you are a great servant to your team and are therefore trusted to lead.
You work hard, work smart, and most importantly, work in such a way that you produce results that make a difference. Your personal efforts have helped people in two or more legs hit new pin levels on the bonus chart. You’ve passed the acid test of leadership by creating growth from stagnation. As a leader, hitting the Platinum level and breaking Platinums in your group is only a matter of time.
A Mentor You are at the pinnacle of the leadership continuum. You have a deep sense of purpose and direction that ignites the hearts of others. You have absolute conviction, you fight for the cause, and have faith in the limitless potential of people. You develop deep- rooted relationships and build up Leaders and Mentors who carry on the cause without you.
*Note: The terms Prospect, Prosumer, Apprentice, Producer, Leader, and Mentor, used to describe the levels of leadership in this continuum are for descriptive purposes only and are not recognized by Quixtar® as achievement levels.
Regardless of where you see yourself on this leadership continuum, understand that nobody on your team wants another boss. People want to be understood first and they want to know that you have their best interest at heart. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.”
Most new IBOs don’t think like business owners. They don’t know that it won’t kill them to stay out after 10:00 pm on a weeknight. They don’t know to focus on majors, not minors. They don’t understand the difference between spending and investing and they don’t stomach delayed gratification well. Many of them have never developed a strong work ethic or endurance. And oftentimes, they haven’t had anyone ever tell them that they have what it takes. They don’t know that they are capable of creating the lifestyle of their dreams.
As leaders we have to see the potential in others before they ever live up to it. And we have to walk them through the process of learning to believe it for themselves. Like a great athlete, a musician, or skilled surgeon, your leadership skills will not develop overnight. It is a journey of learning, doing, and teaching the basics over and over again. And with each new person you add to your team you strive to continually grow – that is leadership.
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.
-Dr. Kent M. Keith