Creating Your Culture: Independent but not Disconnected

As you recruit and train your team you will want to avoid the urge to be overly-mothering.

Independence is a vital ingredient for success.

In Go Pro, Eric Worre talks about how one of his mentors, Michael, conducted his game plan interviews.

One of the first things Michael said to a new team member was:
“If you succeed in this business, it’s going to be you who creates that success, not me… I’m here to guide you every step of the way, but I can’t do it for you. I’m here to work with you but not for you.”

This was contrary to what Eric had experienced with his own group up to that point. He did most of the work for his team and they were very dependent on him, so this was a radical shift in thinking for Eric.

Michael would then say, “My job is to help you become independent of me as quickly as possible.” What he meant by this was – as your mentor, I am here to be a resource for you so you can learn the skills of a network marketing professional, but you are going to drive the culture and direction of your own group.

Katy and I had sort of an opposite experience. We didn’t ask for help from our mentors enough in the beginning. We didn’t even know there was training to be had. But in the long run it has been a blessing for us because we discovered our own way and have created an independent culture for our group.

Part of our cultural development has been to find the balance between supporting our team members and empowering you to take initiative and flourish on your own. You have made this easy for us because we don't have co-dependent team members nor do we have rogue pioneers. We have achieved a good synergy. Thank you.

Adam Green stresses the importance of focusing, not on the individual(s) at the top of the group, but on the tools that are easy to share. The resources we use (a hand-full of guidebooks, audio presentations, networking books, etc.) become the experts, not one charismatic leader. This orientation makes rapid, efficient duplication possible.

The way that we share these resources and the language we use creates an independent culture. Think of it as a family. If you want to start a family, you have to get married and move out of the house. You have to have your own way of running your household. You may adopt many of the practices of your parents, but you have to find your own way – i.e. create your own culture.

It is the same with network marketing. There are a lot of ways to do this, but the most important thing is to be yourself, lean on your strengths, and work on your weaknesses.

In creating our own culture, there are several considerations: Where do I like to meet people?  Am I better with face-to-face relationships, or social media? What am I passionate about? What is the enemy? What drives me to share Young Living essential oils? What is my cause?

The other part of independence from the mother group is exposure. Marcella Vonn Harting says in her book, The Harting Training System, that those who find ways to put themselves in front of the most amount of people, are successful in network marketing. We can’t do that if we are still hanging on to the shirt tail of our sponsor.

As far as Intro classes go, Debra Rayburn had a very simple training program. She would teach the first class while her new distributor observed, the next class they would teach together, and the third Debra would attend, observe, and give feedback.

Adam Green uses a few books and copies other people’s systems. The resources we recommend are mostly all from his recommended list.

There is no substitute for reading our way to the top of this profession. Personal development is key. We don’t have to know everything; we just need to know a few key principles.

For a beginner, probably half of their allotted work time should be devoted to training himself and becoming familiar with the resources. The other half of his time should be spent on doing the FOUR STEPS.

So where do Katy and I come in for our leaders? Everyone needs a mentor – or several.  We have several mentors ourselves – up-line, cross-line, and virtual mentors. Our job is to help you become mentors to others.

Motivation is a key component of mentorship, as well. A regular dose of motivation can help your team establish the habits that will keep them on track with their goals.

ACTION POINT for today:

I want you to visualize going to the Young Living Convention in four years with dozens of leaders from your own organization – the organization you have built.

What sort of culture have you created in that group? What kind of people are they? Where did you meet them – online, at church, in the grocery store? How did you train them to be the leaders they are? How did you create momentum for your group? What resources did you use?

If you can’t think of the answers to these questions within a few minutes, you either need more training or the system you are imagining is too complicated and not duplicable yet.

If you need more training, let’s schedule a face-to-face interview or phone meeting. We can help you chart a course for the future!

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