You hear all of the hype and negativity about direct sales. You hear about the “scams”. You hear about businesses closing. What you seldom hear about is the AMAZING hearts of direct sellers especially those in leadership.
I’m not talking about the BIG fundraisers but about the way many leaders love on their team. It is the heart of a leader which leads people to a team or a business. Heart is actually a big reason people are attracted to direct selling and why they stay. Heart builds relationships and brings joy. Who doesn’t want more joy in their life?
What matter’s most?
The topic of last year’s Thirty One National Conference and it is a question I ask myself a lot. When we know what’s in the heart of our teams – we are able to create a strong bond and build a relationship with them. As a leader, it is up to us to help them identify what matters, it is where their why resides. I will be the first to admit, I struggle to get to my why some days mainly because of health (memory issues).
As we start a new Thirty One year, I am reaching out to my team (and those potential recruits) to see if I can help them uncover their why. When everyone has a clear picture of what matters most to them personally, connects it to their business – they will be on fire!
I know, we have all been asked – what is your why? For most of us, it is about financial freedom, or staying home with the kids. But is the basic why enough to get you out of bed on a bad day? Is it is enough to keep you moving forward when there are no parties, or no sales?
It is about digging deeper – uncovering what matters most to them (and you). How can you tell you have reached their true why? The emotions will shift and you will hear it. When I hit my true why, It usually brings tears
I have told the story often of a coaching call many years ago which helped me to work towards and achieve my goal (at the time) of being Director. Hope Shortt spent an hour on the phone with me asking me questions and helping me to uncover my why. It was the most emotional coaching call I can ever remember – it brings tears to my eyes even now remembering it like it was yesterday. What mattered most to me? My family being proud of me. I wanted to hear their words of affirmation (one of my love languages). For some, this may seem shallow BUT for someone who struggles with confidence – it was HUGE.
Not sure how to reach your WHY or help your team reach theirs? Listen and then listen some more. It is important to have an action plan BUT it is also important to engage the power of their motivation. A plan won’t work on the tough days if they can’t connect to their motivation for working the action plan.
Here are some questions to help them (or you) connect to WHAT’S important with WHY it’s important.
- What makes this important to you?
- Who do you impact when you achieve this?
- What difference will this make to you and your family?
- What will it look like when you accomplish this?
- How will you feel when you accomplish this?
The key to each of these questions it acknowledging what you hear and then repeating it back to make sure you understood their answers. When you see their emotions shift, you will know they have found their “true” why. It is then, you can spend time exploring the ripple effect of what it will be like when their why is their reality.
When you connect to the hearts of your team, not only will your business grown but you will also build lifelong relationships. Once they have connected with their why, keep it in front of them. The motivation of their why will create action, and actions produce results.
Share your why with us… Have a ThirtyOne-derful day!
Hope Wissel 