NOTE: Before you read my note, please do not see this list as a hierarchy. Whether you are a Looker or Leader or any other CATEGORY, you can find significant success in networking. What is most important is to find your niche and then recruit all of the categories (below) to your TEAM. Blessings, and love people's feedback. This list has created some GREAT conversations.
In networking, we recognize the importance of being a leader. But what is a leader? I have often explained that leadership is a choice but to be honest there are stages of networking. I am going to give it my best shot at explaining the different categories of growth in networking.
It is my sincere desire that many people will recognize where they are at in their evolution of networking, as well as, where they would like to be. Not everyone is going to want to be a leader, or any other specific category listed. Again, it is my hope that you will find a category where you say, “That is exactly where I want to be in my business”. There are no limitations in life or networking…smile.
1. LOOKER – even if you don’t know you are looking
You are not in a networking business. The “Looker” is an individual who is open to looking at opportunities. Two of the largest groups are:
• The Consumer who is normally introduced to an opportunity by purchasing a product. This individual may decide to also choose to distribute for a company. This is also quite often done from a product perspective.
• The Entrepreneur is an individual who is looking for an opportunity to work from home. The focus of this person can be product focused, business focused, or both.
2. INVITER
You have chose your business and you are at the beginning of your career in networking. You have great enthusiasm and wonderful dreams. You are learning the art of “inviting” people from your warm market to your business. You will normally need some support from more senior networkers on how to explain the business opportunity to your “warm market”. You may also start to expand your inviting into “cold markets” and I have even seen some people venture into their “Chicken List” at this stage.
Areas of Development: You are working on creating a contact database. You are beginning to read and learn as much as you can about the business opportunity that you are in.
3. RECRUITER
The more inviting we do, the more we start to understand the “art” of recruiting. We are starting to fully formulate the importance of dialogue, relationships and asking questions. Recruiting is a very addictive stage of networking. It can be challenging and intimidating but the “ah ha” moment normally comes when we realize that it is just a simple process (really).
This is a stage of networking that can really make or break an individuals business. It is a huge area where many people have “full stops”. What most people think is that recruiting is sales. It is difficult for some people (many) to come outside of their comfort zone to be able to approach people. Recruiting can be done:
• Face-to-face: people you meet in person
• Phone: this does include cold calling
• Web/Computer: social networking; blogging; etc.
• All of the above
Recruiting is also a stage that many people really enjoy staying in. For those people who just enjoy meeting and interacting with other people, they can grow their business significantly as a recruiter. I do recommend that they get upline support in training, management, and leadership to support their team though.
Areas of Development: In the recruiter stage of networking, many people spend time on furthering their education on networking techniques and dialogue.
4. SPECIALTY/STRENGTHS
I debated where to add this category. I am adding it in after recruiter but some people will definitely move their specialty/strengths into their business in the inviting stage.
What is specialty/strengths all about? We all have innate strengths. Some people are excellent writers, some people have degrees or existing careers that assist to expedite the success of their home-based business.
When we move our specialty into our business, we bring that strength of “What we do great.” to our business.
Many people struggle with this category. I have people say, “Bev, I am not really someone who has great strengths.” Truly, we all have strengths, and whether we are closet case writers, the socialite, the computer geek, or the care-giver, I can promise you, we all have strengths. If you don’t know your strengths, ask your friends to tell you how they would explain your strengths.
Areas of Development: Many people who are developing their personal strengths will be developing more knowledge in their area of specialty. For example, someone who is a strong writer may develop more knowledge on how to write effective blog articles.
5. TRAINER
OK, so you have advanced from inviter, to recruiter, and you are applying your special strengths to your business. You are now at the stage where you want to show others how to build their business.
Trainers are so important to health and success of a business. Why? If you are doing all the work and not showing people how to do what you are doing, your business is in potential peril zone. Why? Network marketing opportunities are about the power of the many. People are more likely to continue with a business if they too are finding success. A trainer shows people in a team how to multiply/replicate their teams.
Areas of Development: In the trainer stage of your networking growth many individuals start to expand their education in networking. This is often a category where significant effort is spent on more advanced understanding of networking. This is not necessarily a learning stage of the opportunity you are in, but more a stage of learning about networking in general.
6. MANAGERS
Managers normally have larger teams (not always so) who they help through early stages of their networking career through to trainer level. Managers quite often are the keepers of a wealth of information that they can email to their teams with the push of a button. They maintain a contact database of their teams, key information on each team member, and an understanding of each person’s goals and why they wanted a home based business.
The manager role in an organization is important and they coordinate many different opportunities for the larger organization. For example, a manager is quite often the individual who will book speakers, events, and advise on different promotional and education material. They are usually a wealth of information on most topics including: products, company, networking, recruiting, tax, and just about every other topic in between. They often have extensive libraries of books, CDs, DVDs, and promotional material.
The manager is often also the individual in an organization that helps with any problem areas in a team or business plan. A good manager is someone who is able to keep their team on an even keel with focused goals.
They are the control center for networking teams.
Areas of Development: Managers are normally developing their databases of information for their team. They research current books on networking (all topics), and the wealth of information on the worldwide web for their team.
7. LEADERS
Oh, I can hear it now…”So what makes a Leader?”
Leaders, typically, are visionaries. They are individuals who have learned about networking from experience (good and bad). They are people who motivate, build and inspire their organization.
Leaders are not necessarily individuals who are looking at order but more likely to like dis-ordering things. They are individuals who are inspiring their teams “out side of the sandbox”. There are two types of leaders:
• A Conceptual Thinker leader is an individual who will lead with ideas and concepts that are unique and attract a following.
• A Charismatic Leader is an individual who through his/her force of personality will attract a strong following.
Leaders are often the people who are on conference calls, sizzle calls, public speaking and can also be authors, bloggers, creators of promotional material (i.e., training DVDs, CDs).
Leaders see most things as opportunities. They are not afraid of failure but are more inclined to see things more from an enlightened or learning perspective.
True leaders differentiate themselves by motivating and inspiring their team. They are not about control, they want to “breath oxygen into their team”.
Areas of Development: Leaders typically are life-long learners. They are sponges for information and ideas.
Love this quote by Arthur Rimbaud
“The poet makes himself a visionary through a long, a prodigious and rational disordering of all the senses. Every form of love, of suffering, of madness; he searches himself, he consumes all the poisons in him, keeping only their quintessences.”
-Tom Sparrow
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