When you joined your network marketing/direct sales/multi-level marketing company, did anyone warn you that you were actually going to become a cat wrangler in order to lead your team? In fact, the education you probably received revolved around recruiting and enrolling, not what to do with team members when they started to build their own team and they went all independent on you.
You may be asking yourself some of these questions:
- Why is leading my team like herding cats?
- Why is it so difficult to communicate with my team?
- Why am I always picking up the slack for everyone else on the team?
- Why is my vision and those of my team so different?
- Why does no one listen to me or do what I ask them to do?
- Why can’t I seem to motivate the members of the team to do more – or anything?
I get it. I have been active in network marketing since 1994. With some of the companies, I actively built a business, and thus a team, and with others I was just a product buyer.
I started looking for answers to:
- How do you lead a team?
- Why is this so much more difficult than being a corporate leader?
- How do I inspire them to do more when the consequences of their lack of action are only to their commission check?
- How do I inspire them to have a big, bold, vibrant “why” and to work to accomplish it?
- How do I align my “why” with the corporate culture (because even though this is not a corporate job, there is still a company behind you)?
- How do I establish systems and processes to make it easier to work with my team?
There were so many questions.
The education I received from each of my companies revolved around duplication. The duplication was about enrolling people into the company. There was education on how to do prospecting calls, 3-way calls, follow-up calls, presentations, and enrolling – just to name a few. With this type of emphasis it is no wonder so many of the uber-successful marketers are in the business of slash and burn. They recognize a certain level of attrition and enthusiastically embrace it. They are more concerned about getting new people on the team than about the longevity of the team and success of the team members.
This was NOT the type of network marketing success I wanted. I wanted to truly corral and lead my team and to teach them how to corral and lead their teams. Instead of falling apart at the first disappointment, I wanted teams to grow stronger and larger with the guidance and support of each leader.
Just curious, do you feel this way with your team?
Are you a woman who has been frustrated with your team, and with your ability to lead them? Do you want to know the answers to any or all of these questions? Then The Art Herding Cats is for you.
The Art of Herding Cats: Leading Teams of Independent Leaders is for team leading women who:
- Want to become proficient at wrangling the “cats” on their team – those members who take the “independent” of Independent Consultant very seriously;
- Want to feel empowered to motivate the different types of people on their team;
- Want to lead without losing her feminine personality and yet have the leadership skills men have used so successfully;
- Want to see how to influence people to move toward their dreams;
- Want to be confident, grab the reins, and speak out;
- Want to be energized and excited about her teams;
- Want to look forward to taking risks and experiencing new situations.
This 12-Module book and program will build the skills and confidence needed to be that leader.
Believe me, leading independent contractors or volunteers is nothing like being a corporate leader. You cannot rely on the authority of your position, because you have no positional power. There is no consequential reason for the team to fall into your line. It is truly like herding cats; as you wrangle some of them together and focus them in one area, the others begin to sneak away.
Becoming a leader is a journey, not an event. One-day, even one-week, seminars in leadership do not provide you the immersion in the material necessary for it to become a habit ingrained in your daily work. During this program, you will receive lessons to learn, practice, and apply. As the knowledge continues to build, you can begin to take the initial leadership steps that create success within your network marketing team. Imagine what a powerful, accomplished, confident leader you will be at the end of the 12 modules. Then, imagine what a strong, energized, excited team you will be working with. The possibility of that type of team is what inspired me to learn and apply these concepts.
The Art of Herding Cats: Leading Teams of Independent Leaders has
TWELVE powerful life changing modules:
Module #1 – Defining Leadership: Don’t know whether you are a leader or even if you want to be one? We all take on leadership roles without realizing it. These leadership roles are not necessarily within the corporate hierarchy. In fact, more often than not, they are out of the corporate structure. This first step defines what a leader is and how that differs from being a manager. We look at the differences between using position to lead as a boss versus using influence to lead teams of independent leaders. We look at the strengths and weaknesses in leadership styles, especially in independent teams:
- Defining Leadership
- Differentiating Management v Leadership
- Understanding why Management Doesn’t Work with Independent Workers
- Deciding Leadership – Nature or Nurture
- Uncovering Leadership Styles
Module #2 – Creating Vision: This is the first skill of a leader. Developing your own deeply personal vision statement is crucial to success. It is also important to help your team members to develop their own personal vision statement for their success. So what if your vision or a team member’s vision doesn’t align with the company vision? Module 2 takes you through the visioning process to create a vision that is in alignment with the company vision and to corral your team members’ visions into that alignment too:
- Creating a Personal Vision Statement
- Understanding the Vision Umbrella – Company v. Team v. Individual
- Understanding Where We Fit In The Vision Umbrella
- Creating Alignment Strategies
- Redefining Vision and Alignment to Reignite the Passion
Module #3 – Clarifying the Goal: So what is the strategy to make that vision happen? It seems obvious that the strategy is to sell product, right? How do you help them to understand that selling product is not all there is and that building a team is where the real success resides? How do you help the team to define their path to making their visions reality? Module 3 creates a navigational map that puts the vision into the day-to-day schedule with priority:
- Creating Milestones
- Breaking Down the Steps
- Building in Accountability
- Carving Out Time (Putting it on the Schedule)
Module #4 – Being Creative in the Approach: We all know that life happens, especially in working with independent players. No matter how many plans we set for the day, distractions and diversions will knock us off course – not to mention those naysayers that think you are out of your mind! Remember when you got your first “No” to the products or the business? When naysayers and major crises arise, it is important to know how to handle them, so your vision stays on course. Your team members are feeling the same and need your structure and support to bring them through these crises; otherwise, it is easy for them to wander off to lick their wounds. When that happens, you spend more time rounding them up again. Here you will learn:
- Determining Roadblocks/Weather Patterns that Take the Plan Off Track
- Using Brainstorming to Inspire, Involve, and Empower
- Leveraging the Team to Create Commitment and Resolution
- Using Accountability and Timing to Promote Success
Module #5 – Inspiring Your Team: Let’s set this straight: while most people would like more money is their lives, money is not the motivator. It can even become a de-motivator if it is not meeting expectations. How do you know whether money is important or just seen as a reward for the work accomplished? How do you set realistic expectations regarding money? How do you keep the motivation high and the team inspired? In this module, you will begin:
- Being the Inspiration
- Defining Motivation
- Discovering the Intrinsic Motivators
- Using What Motivates the Team
Module #6 – Building Deeper Relationships: In today’s social media world, relationships can be very superficial. Also, as the team grows, the members are often not in the same geographic area as you. In fact, they may be in different parts of the world. For a leader, relationships need to be at a deeper level to realize the vision and inspire the team to become fully functional. How can you continue to deepen the relationships when your team is gigantic and spread throughout various time zones? Do you only see them at company conferences or are there other strategies to continue the relationships? Here you will explore that aspect of connecting and sharing stories and experiences that build the relationships within the team:
- Using Emotional Intelligence
- Taking Action Based on What You Hear
- Being Supportive Without Losing Accountability/Responsibility
- Involving Team Members More
- Developing Deeper Levels of Relationship
Module #7 – Strengthening Communications: What would happen to the vision if no one knows what it is? No matter how much we think we are communicating, if asked, most team members will tell you that it is not enough. Here you will study:
- Asking the Tough Questions
- Listening Virtually
- Removing Distractions
- Following-up
Module #8 – Becoming a Change Agent: Change is constant in this world. Yet, people do generally resist change instead of embracing it. With network marketing, there is always the next great promotion, the next new product, or the next innovation in the compensation plan. It is often difficult to raise the level of enthusiasm when change is constant. This module provides information that encourages embracing change:
- Defining the Change Cycle Phases
- Navigating through the Phases
- Setting Change in Motion with Empathy
- Opening Communication Lines
- Inviting Creativity During the Change
Module #9 – Using the Team: Delegating is one of the most difficult skills that a leader must learn and use effectively – second only to remembering that you don’t have to do it alone. Using the skills, knowledge, and experience of the team is necessary to see success in the vision. Finding the Golden Nuggets, others who want to become leaders within the team, is a way to wrangle your cats into a functioning clowder. Here you will begin:
- Discovering the Value of the Team, Personally and as a Team
- Creating A Welcome File
- Using Learning Opportunities
- Creating Opportunities to Share/Educate
Module #10 – Developing Systems and Processes: In order for the team to be both effective and efficient, there needs to be duplicable systems and processes. Duplication is the key word for network marketing in terms of recruiting and enrolling. Establishing systems and processes for getting a new leader started and being successful is perhaps even more critical to creating and maintaining a strong team. Giving the team consistency in how to do work allows them to do what is necessary to bringing the vision to reality.
- Creating Your Story
- Starting a New Team Member
- Developing Strategic Sales Calls
- Creating Tools/Resources that Duplicate
Module #11 – Being Driven to Achieve: In order to lead, a leader needs to have self -direction and personal motivation. Your team will put in approximately 50% (or less) of the effort that you put into the work. Here you develop an understanding of what drives you:
- Defining Your Personal Motivation
- Determining Your Biggest, Boldest, Most Vibrant “Why”
- Becoming Self Directed
- Becoming the Inspiration
Module #12 – Celebrating the Milestones/Accomplishments: Like communication, recognition is a skill sparingly used. When it becomes a regular occurrence, the team thrives and results happen. Learn how to create an appreciation driven culture:
- Determining What to Celebrate
- Celebrating Virtually v. Live
- Creating a Gratitude Culture
- Creating Recognition for Small Steps and Big Accomplishments
The Art of Herding Cats program is 52 weeks of leadership skill development and inspiration. Each week, you will receive a 3 minute session directly to your email address.
The session will take you through key tips in each of the 12 leadership steps. Each will also have an activity to do to support you in stepping in, stepping up, stepping out and owning your leadership ability
Are you ready to step in, step up and step out into leadership and learn the 12 key skills to transcending from a reluctant leader into a powerful, successful leader?
Linda Patten, MBA, BSN, RN has over 30 years of experience leading clients to success in building and achieving their dreams. She turns networking marketing consultants from product sellers to leaders of highly functional team
