Teamwork makes the Dream work! By Paul Morris

Teamwork makes the Dream work!

At the risk of being accused of using old acronyms, I choose to use one of the more often used ones that aptly describes the power of working together as a team.

That acronym is TEAM – Together Everyone Achieves More. This philosophy is nothing new; it is simply a modern-day version of what Benjamin Franklin said 240 years ago when he coined the phrase, “United We Stand, divided we fall!”

In more than 50 years of being involved in Network Marketing I have seen people try to succeed on their own, and I have seen people work together as a team.

In variably the group that work together as a team have the greater success. Admittedly, the team does require a leader to start things in motion and to organize things that create the growth. The difference between a lone wolf who does it on their own and a team leader, is that the team leader shares the credit. A good example of this is the Emmy Awards. The actors get all the glory and get on stage to accept the golden statue, but they would not have arrived there without a great director and supporting actors, plus lighting, camera operators, sound effects, and the list goes on. Just watch at the end of the movie you watch and as soon as all the actors are listed you then see a hundred or more of people working behind the scenes.

The real genuine and classy people winning the awards are the one’s who take the time to thank all those that were part of the team that made it all possible.

I love to tell stories of true-life experiences that give illustration to what I am teaching. A number of years ago I was with a couple of companies that sponsored race cars. One was a NASCAR race and the other was a Petite Grans Prix race as an owner, I was invited to attend the races as a VIP guest and get a real behind the scene look at the TEAM behind the race car. People watching on TV see the race car and the driver, yet we were able to be in the pit and see all the mechanics ready to fuel the race car and change the tires all in a matter of seconds. We were able to sit in the tractor trailer mobile offices where all the computers and large screen monitors were tracking speed, fuel efficiency, engine temperature, tire pressures to just name a few of the items being monitored. It was an awesome experience to see how such a large team of people all worked in harmony behind the scenes to create the success… and yes, our driver won the race and got to stand on the podium holding the trophy. But we knew first hand that it was certainly a team effort.

Network marketing is much he same If you want to reach the top you will need to assemble a team of people to help you get there. You will still be the leader but having a team to support you makes everything easier and your journey to the top a lot more fun and easier.

The best way to garner the support of a team is to earn the respect of those who are willing to help you out. Be willing to work harder than those on you team. Study so that you always have something new to share with your team that helps them grow, but never come across as a “know it all”. Be generous with your praise of all who help you. Always thank them for anything and everything they do. When you show them that you respect them and are grateful for the help and support they give you, they will desire to support you all the more. Shower them with compliments.

Tell them how proud you are of them.

Tell them how important they are to your success and that you don’t know what you would do without them. Let them know that you genuinely care about them and that your desire is to help them reach their goals. At gatherings always make each member of your team feel like they are the most important person there. Spend some special time with each of your team members. Get to know them. Learn their spouses name and the names of their children. Remember their birthday. Send a hand-written thank you note for anything special that they have done or accomplished. Take the word “I” and “my” out of your vocabulary and start saying “we” and “us” and “our team”. When choices need to be made consult with your team members so that it is a collaborative effort. Your team will support you in decisions you make if they believe they were a part of those decisions.

Practice these principles and watch your team grow. Not only will your team help you reach your goals, but by you setting the example, you will soon have teams within your team, and they will be reaching their goals.

My last real-life example is from when I was a young lad working on my uncle Bert and Aunt Flora’s 80-acre farm in Ledyard, Connecticut. During the summers they would have county fairs and one of the popular events was the horse pull. A draft horse could pull between 5,000 to 8,000 pounds of concrete by itself. So, one might think that two draft horses could pull 16,000 pounds. Well a challenge was made to see what two draft horses could pull together and the results were astounding… not only could they pull 16,000 pounds but as the weight kept being added to the skid, it was discovered that two horses could pull triple the weight that any single horse could pull proving good old common ‘horse sense”, that two can do a lot more working as a team. Maybe this is why the old stagecoaches would have teams of four to six horses pulling them instead of jut one.

How about you? Are you trying to do it all by yourself, or are you assembling your team?

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Paul Morris

Paul Morris is a top network marketer and trainer who has been building marketing organizations for the last 50 years. He is known as the mentor’s mentor. He is a former Amway Executive Diamond and has been #1 in the nation with several network marketing companies. Paul has used the principles taught in this lesson to build several organizations to in excess of fifty and one hundred thousand distributors. One organization was approaching one half million distributor/customers. Paul has held monthly volumes in his downline organization alone in excess of 15 million dollars per month. Many people ‘practice what they preach,’ but it is said of Paul, that Paul ‘preaches what he practices’ and has practiced his entire life. Paul can be reached at 954 818-0665 or via email at paulmorrisfl@yahoo.com or www.healthandwealthwithpaul.comPaul’s hobby is growing organic vegetables in his own back yard. He encourages people to “grow what they eat and eat what they grow.”On the social/spiritual side of life Paul has spent much of his free time in Scouting, Jail and Prison Ministry and other outreach ministries. He is happily married and the father of three children and has seven grandchildren. Whether it is a group of 14 in a living room or a crowd of 14,000 in an auditorium, Paul is sure to have them laughing, crying, and ultimately motivated and inspired to become all of that which they are capable of becoming. Paul’s philosophy is that success in this industry is not measured by the dollars you earned but rather by the lives you have touched and influenced in a positive way.