A Rising Tide Lifts All Ships

There are three kinds of leaders in Network Marketing.

There are those who own the philosophies: that there is infinite abundance, life is NOT a zero-sum game, a rising tide lifts all ships, wherever you go, there you are, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, be a servant leader, etc.

We call these High Road Leaders.

They have high self-esteem, confidence, generosity, grace, and play the long game. They are masters of their trade, knowing they can build an organic, authentic team anytime, anywhere in the world with the highest of ethics and service.

There are those who own the philosophies: there is only so much abundance, and in order for me to get mine, I have to take it from someone else, a zero-sum game. They believe that the best strategy is for everyone to leave their company and join “my” company… and of course, on my team. They believe if you cannot succeed here, it is someone else’s fault… the company, the team, the products, or the comp plan.

They are like sharks. They have a keen sense of blood in the water… and of course, they feed the frenzy by spreading as much gossip as possible. Their leadership style is narcissistic.

We call these Low Road Leaders.

They have chronic low self-esteem and operate from fear and doubt.

The third group is the most dangerous.

They pretend to be High Road Leaders. They join all the high road groups. They attend all the high road events. They get up on stage and sing all the high road songs. They preach the gospel… and then they sneak around and do their low road thing.

These three kinds of leaders show up in company ownership, the CEO, the 7-Figure Hall of Fame leaders, and every rank in between. Perhaps the greatest travesty is that all three leadership styles are represented by the top coaches, gurus, speakers, authors, and influencers in our profession. These are the men and women who are grooming the values of our future. I had one of them coach me some years back to do the following as my build strategy:

Then, of course, teach them to do the same thing.

I passed.

Our profession already has enough challenges. We are the only salespeople selling something (income option via Network Marketing) that everyone on the planet has already sworn many times they will never ever, ever buy.

We have every media outlet in the world that loves to cover our sloppy ethics. Every government agency wants to put us out of business. As my old friend, Mark Yarnell, used to say, ”What we do is circle the wagons and start shooting at each other.”

Sometimes we are better off finding a new company that better honors our values and our work. Sometimes. And if that is the case, the honorable thing to do is move on quietly, drama-free, without blame and lies.

Sometimes we may be actually looking… and if we are, we know who to call.

But most of the time, we are just having a bad day.

What we need is love, encouragement, faith, an empowering perspective, and friendship. As my friend Jordan Adler says, “Never Quit on a Bad Day!”

We need servant leadership.

What we don’t need on that day is a false prophet.

Imagine if I called all of your leaders every 3 months to see if I could drive a wedge of doubt in their vision for building with you…

Network Marketing is the greatest wealth-building and personal development model ever invented. It is not easy to build it, but when you do the right things every day, it will build. The road to success is filled with potholes, construction, delays, bad weather, wash-outs, and car wrecks. The dumbest thing you can do is leave the road and follow a lowlife into the desert.

Think very carefully before making that move. Most are never seen again.

I have been doing this for 45 years, full-time. There are 700 Network Marketing companies based in the US and perhaps around 2,000 worldwide, on any given day. But there are only about a hundred even worth talking about. There have been at least 100,000 companies launched and promise the moon in the last 45 years, just in the US. 99,300 of them went out of business. They went out of business without notice. One day, they are promising the moon, and the next, they do not answer the phones. Hundreds of millions of Network Marketers have fallen victim to the hype, greed, narcissism, and stupidity. Let that not be you.

One of my clients got this beauty today. (I changed the names to protect the guilty… and my “inner thoughts” are italicized.)

Mr. Hall of Fame will no doubt recognize his text, so in this way, I am calling him out.

If you are going to be a Network Marketer, consider contributing to our profession with your honesty, honor, and servant leadership. Consider avoiding sucking the life out of our profession by attempting to build your team by killing someone else’s. Consider the High Road. You may actually earn less income in the short term, but you will build a reputation, friendships, and peace of mind worth a fortune.

The Work Is Worth It,

Richard Brooke

P.S. My blogs are, for me, a conversation. I rant for a bit and then… if so inspired, you respond. Your comments close the loop of conversation. They let me know I was heard. They let me know if I contributed something… or not. I encourage you to close the loop… or open a new one and say something.