Be a Direct Selling Superstar by Mary Christensen

Author:Mary Christensen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AMACOM
Published: 2018-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Be a Strategic Mentor

Give your attention to those who deserve it,

not those who demand it.

—MARY CHRISTENSEN

It’s natural to feel responsible for everyone you sponsor. You want the best for them, and you know your success will be determined by how successful they become. But every direct seller signs on as an independent business owner and they are all responsible for their own success.

Time will always be your most precious resource, and the only way to use it effectively is to spend the bulk of your time with those who are actively working. Your team members will have different experiences, expectations, circumstances, and priorities. You have to invest in those who will benefit the most from your support, and that means new people and those who are producing results.

Just as a bird teaches its young to fly by nudging them out of the nest, it is never too soon to start steering new Distributors toward independence. That means giving them access to the training they need, when they need it. This may not always be when they feel they need it. Growing a business is a steep learning curve, and many direct sellers wrongly assume that the more training they get, the easier it will be. The only way to learn the job is on the job. More training is not the answer—more experience is the answer.

To express it bluntly, give the bulk of your attention to those who deserve it, not those who demand it. One of the greatest mistakes a leader can make is working with the wrong people. Women are more likely to make that mistake. A disconnect between what we instinctively do as parents and how we run our business is where many leaders go wrong.

Before you start shouldering the responsibility for your team members’ success, think of how you raise your children. You know that if you do everything for them they won’t learn to survive on their own. You expect them to take responsibility for their actions, and the consequences of their actions.

You reinforce those principles when you teach your children board games. You explain the game and then take turns to move. They make a move, you make a move, and it’s their turn again. The only way they’ll master the game is to play the game. In the same way, instead of thinking that the more you do for your team members the better chance they will have, take the same your move, my move, your move approach to mentoring.

Establishing expectations based on the goals they set for themselves, giving them support and guidance when they need it, and offering honest feedback along the way is the only way to empower your recruits to discover their true potential. To carry them is to cripple them. Being overprotective and accepting promises over performance and excuses over action is a surefire way to stunt their growth.

If you allow your team members to dump their problems on you, you’ll teach them to depend on you. By solving their problems for them, you deny them the experiences they need to grow.

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