Wow, it’s a privilege and an honour to be writing for this month’s special celebration of women in the world of Network Marketing.
There are very few places in the world where you can truly be yourself in the world, so why do so many of us pretend to be something different?
For many years, successful women have portrayed themselves as being “women in a man’s world”.
To be successful, it was felt that you had to hide away many of your natural qualities from maternal instincts, and nurturing personalities and set aside family life in order to be treated “seriously”. Thankfully this is only a concept, an idea that you must be a certain type of woman to do this. We’re actually all just people regardless of age, race, gender, faith or identity. When women try to be men in a perceived men’s world, we are not being true to ourselves and not creating a world for equity but encouraging the stigmas of them and us.
It’s time to say it, we are beautifully and uniquely different, and a woman’s style of leadership is markedly different to a man’s. And our teams are too!
The word “Amen” in Christian prayer literally means “so be it”, in Hebrew it is a word that means to be firm, fixed, reliable and trusted.
What a wonderful word to be able to transfer over to our team building ethos. That as female leaders we are to stand as we are, and so be it. If we are mothers, then embrace it, if we are dominating then so be it, and if we are nurturing then so be it. What we are striving for is to be that firm, fixed, reliable and trusted person within not only our team as a unit, but to our company. To be the anchor, the rudder and the ballast.
But let’s dive further into saying a firm AMEN to female leadership and values, I love a good acronym, don’t you?
Acknowledge. Dale Carnegie, despite sometimes a little bit of a traditional patriarch making us howl with laughter at some of his statements (if you’ve not read how to Stop Worrying and Start Living you need to), got one thing very right indeed. The sweetest sound to anyone’s ears is the sound of their own name. When building your teams, it’s not about the numbers on the spreadsheet, how many people you have “signed up”, and your turnover. The days of slinging enough mud at the walls so something will stick have gone. People don’t want to be simply “distributor number 5894046”, they have a name. They don’t just have a name, they have names important to them, their children’s names, their significant other’s names.
They have individual strengths and weaknesses and thrive off being praised for their achievements…by name.
Time block a little period every week to go and check out your teams socials, talk to them, build a relationship with them, remember those little details and give praise. Acknowledge them when they have stepped out of their comfort zone and encourage them. A little message to say “wow so proud of you for doing your first reel, it was epic”, even if it was rather rough and not up to your standards, they did it, it was their achievement.
Motivate. Let’s just agree here we could write book after book on how to motivate. For all you mothers out there, you are already a very skilled motivator. Think back to the 1 year old phase, this is where you learnt to truly motivate others. Those times your begowning toddler was learning to walk, ran into a wall and fell, you smiled and said “whoopsies up again”. Did you show your toddler the potty once, and suddenly they knew what to do? Hell no! You set aside time to consistently take them to the potty, to sit with them, sing songs, praise and reward. You didn’t scold them for the puddles and mess on the floor but continued to praise and motivate them to be independent.
You have epic skills Mama! Use them!!!
It’s not about big rewards, it’s not about leader boards, it’s about that gentle, constant, firm, fixed and reliable encouragement, now that’s definitely an AMEN moment!
Empower. Give them the skills they need, again as women we can be both amazing at building up others through empowerment and encouragement but on the same hand, we can also be very good at disempowering, taking control and tearing down. Having a self-awareness of what you needed when you started in your business. What would have given you the most solid building base, what do you wish you had more help with. Share your journey openly creating a culture of shared experience and growing the sense of belonging. If you are able to share your mistakes, faux pas and fallibilities you’ll suddenly find that rather than quitting your team feel able to come to you for help to continue.
George Madiou often talks about the 27%’ers, it’s through Empowering and gifting the tools to grow, that we as Leaders in Network Marketing really can make a difference to that group of people, hanging in there waiting for their “big break”.
It really is quite a responsibility and charge as a leader that your teams self-belief starts with your belief in them. Going back to the thoughts of your toddler who fell over, what would happen to that child if you told them after they fell, that they would never get the hang of walking, they would never do it as well as you, that unless they practise for 28+ hours every day they are lazy and unworthy… you wouldn’t would you? You would brush them down, lift them up, cheer, clap, praise and encourage, and tell them when it is time to rest.
Nudge. Finally…
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https://linktr.ee/Emlovs
Em Lovs has years of experience in the Network Marketing industry, as a leader in her field and providing mentoring support to others.
Her passion is for freely giving back to the industry, signposting, and equipping individuals to pursue the Success they deserve.
An advocate for self-empowerment with mental health and on a tangent to the Network Marketing, Em Lovs is a Lay Preacher and gifted teller of stories.
- Can you give me an AMEN! by Em Lovs - November 15, 2022
- The Fraught Fortune by Em Lovs - September 22, 2022
- Who do you think you are? by Em Lovs - July 31, 2022