Are You Looking for MLM Leadership?

Leadership in MLM is not the usual mix of skills associated with leadership; integrity, dedication, motivation, inspiration, authenticity, etc.  While those are nice buzz words and identity traits, Stalin, Hitler, Genghis Kahn each had them all and not one could be a great MLM leader.

MLM is not sales as much as I wish it were so.  MLM is an overlap of enrollment, recruiting and coaching.  The beauty of MLM is each of us can bring to our organization our skills and leadership sets melding with others to create a team culture we can support and promote.  The ‘mission’ is not about power, personal or company, it is about empowering people to be the best they want to be.  MLM leaders give people a safe space to grow into the leader they are capable of being without force of any kind.  Leaders appear if the space is clear.

I believe leaders in this industry support the industry first and their program or opportunity second.  Anyone who has to belittle or denigrate another program, product, group or organization may be using the tactics that my three examples earlier used to maintain power.  Something about being right by making everyone and everything else wrong is not leadership in MLM. It may not be true leadership anywhere.

The industry, if looked at from one vantage point, puts everyone in it, in competition with everyone in their company (upline and down), every other network marketing opportunity and every brick and mortar operation in their area. This vantage point makes regulators, government and anyone voicing critical statements, valid or not, the enemy.  This Lone Ranger, me against the world, mentality attracts many people.  It does not generate large checks however.

I say if you are interested in leadership and growing large checks in the people you and they sponsor you have to ask if people are looking first.  It might be wise to look for the signs that indicate they are looking. There are a lot of people looking today. They are looking for money; they are looking for personal growth, a challenge, leadership coaching and many for some ‘unknown’ wordless opportunity that no longer exists anywhere else.  Being an MLM leader allows you to offer all of this without measure.

Once we begin growing the industry instead of maligning it among ourselves we will make a difference. People are not interested in confrontation and all the battles this industry does not have to fight.  MLM leaders are looking for lookers.  Who are you looking for?