I just received a plaque celebrating my 25 years in Shaklee. When I began selling and building in earnest my goal was a new car. Once that was attained, my goal was Ex. Coordinator because that's where the goodies kick in: the residual income, the paid for trips, the recognition.
I've always considered myself to have commitment, to be committed. But I've never reached that goal in 25 years. I must not have been committed after all.
What I want to say is, if I were truly committed, I'd be an Ex. Coordinator now. When I look at my Shaklee work history, I see times when my commitment and my level of work were congruent and I see vast periods of time when I was not committed to that outcome enough to do more than dream about what it would be like.
In Everything Counts, Gary Ryan Blair knocks the wind out of my sails when he says, "either you honor your commitments, or you don't. Success is the result of making and keeping commitments to yourself and others, while all failed or unfinished goals, projects, and relationships are the direct result of broken obligations."
Whoa. In the beginning, when my health change was so dramatic and when I hated my job so much, Shaklee became a passion for me that nothing could stand in the way of. I actually didn't learn how to cultivate new customer/believers, but talked lots of people into buying product. I accomplished my goal of coordinator and car owner.
Then I relaxed. My husband got sick. I had the time and the leisure to pay attention to my oun wounds from childhood, turn my passionate attention to my relationships with others and with myself. My business grew from its own momentum often reaching 10,000pv.
After my husband, Don, died, I worked harder still, but I lost confidence in finding and training people to leadership. Five different people became sales leaders or got so close they could taste it and then fizzled. K and E. so close; JC and FL, strong associates but not quite there. LJ bought her directorship and then never talked to her friends and family. J. built, came to meetings, made director and so did DC, but neither had the capacity to continue for the long hall and I did not know how to train them. They went to meetings with me and we tried everything the latest hot shot rising star suggested but just couldn't make it go. I mustn't forget the P's who sought me out to be their leader and then wouldn't take direction or coaching. They made it to the new Director convention and walked across the stage in San Francisco. They weren't honest, refused direction, got mad at my transparent leadership and direct contact with their downline and left me with over 100 dead beats on my recap. Only one of P's relationships lasted and in the end they got courted away by another MLM.
My romance, courtship and marriage with Chuck and our wonderful 10 years of travel undermined my commitment to my business. My selling and recruiting didn't match the goals we set. He was terrifically supportive, but not a good recruiter or sales person himself and at 75, he was ready to retire from that sort of thing. He was in sales his entire career of 55 years. Money was no incentive either as we had plenty to do all we cared to do. The Shaklee trips, while enticing, interfered with our own travel schedule.
Money is not the primary motivator for me today. But the commitment is. Shaklee offers great rewards to the people who really transfer belief and commitment to others. That is a skill I want to develop. I have not done that in my life. No one has taken over the championing of the causes I have promoted with passion and belief. I haven't learned to be a team player, to help others develop, focusing only on my own development.
True leadership develops other committed leaders. My mind plays with me. I think no one else has what it takes. No one else is as persistent as I. No one else really loves these products as much as I do. No one else would ever buy without my monthly push.
The way my Shaklee business is now, it would die in a few years if I quit doing the necessary newsletters, calls and follow ups. Oh, a dozen or so would find another active Shaklee distributor, or continue ordering on line no matter what. But the bulk of my customers are not Shaklee-ized in their homes and are open to competitive products.
So what I'm saying here is that I want to see if I can spend the next 6 months with a new commitment. Using the StarAchievers Team system, I am going to see if I can really build some loyal Shaklee-ized customers and some committed builders who actually make it. i'm going to get my personality out of the equation and teach and train in a way that anyone can find their own belief.
I have passionate commitment to this goal. I have passionate commitment to change whatever I need to change in myself to accomplish this.
I wish you every success in whatever goals you set for yourself. Blessed Be. Betsy
www.HiHoWealth.com
www.starachieversteam.com
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