I am often asked, “What should I expect from my downline?”  The answer to that is, “Depends.”  Many successful leaders achieved their level from pure guts, some build leaders.  The distributors that don’t build leaders are grinders, they would show a plan when ever and where ever.  They don’t mentor possible leaders because they think they are way too busy. They are the heart and soul of their group and the group’s success lives and dies with this distributor.  That distributor’s downline is built on a poor foundation and will likely crumble when that distributor wears out and has to take a break.

Most people that join your group will never do anything other than attend a few meetings and buy product.  Welcome them.  Love them. Encourage them.  However, there are also people that are hungry and want to succeed at high levels.  Those people should be pushed, held accountable and lovingly guided into success by expecting a lot from them.

These future leaders are not afraid to do whatever it takes ethically to succeed.  But many times their upline is trying to protect these future leaders from doing too much.  This is crazy, because top leaders get to where they are because of their attitude of doing more than what is expected.  Top leaders only create true stability when they truly replace themselves.  They will create generational income only when they ask the same from their leaders and future leaders that they ask of themselves.  If not, when they go away or die, so will their groups without their presence.  Longevity is created by creating leaders.  Leaders are made through accountability to themselves and their mentors.

One who is committed to a cause will not simply “go through the motions” in becoming a leader.  A committed distributor will not be satisfied with just making a visit to one of his downline so he can report to his mentor that his job is “completed” or “done.” A committed distributor would not be content to merely “give” a presentation but would want to teach with passion. The result, if your leaders have the guts to ask for it, will be making a real difference in the impressionable lives of the new distributors entrusted to his or her care.  It will create real leadership.

The training programs we make are done in a way that asks little from the 97% but much from those who say they want to be leaders.  Responsibility and accountability will show you who really deserves your time. Companies and top leaders need to create more leaders, and learn to identify and love the 97%, because you need them in your business too.  However, to ask little from your future leaders is a big mistake.  Leaders want to be accountable, leaders want to feel empowered, and to ask anything less is creating a house of cards that will crumble eventually.

Network Marketing is powerful, use it wisely. When you are busy telling stories to your prospects who want to hear them, you’ll be tempted to tell stories that just don’t hold up. Lies. Deceptions. In his book All Marketers are Liars, Seth Godin made the points above about marketers, but does the same hold true for network marketers?

I am happy, very happy.  However, 2009 was a rough year and I was ready to give up on network marketing.  The venture capital firm that funded our company decided to fire my brothers and me from the company we founded.  They fired most of our employees and moved the company to another state.  Many of us were left without a job or source of income because we gave them up to build our company.  It was pretty rough.  We were really surprised and hurt by the whole deal considering we were actually growing nicely and we worked it with passion for two years to get it up and going before they decided to take it over. Disappointed or not, we had to start over.  Let me tell you why I am so happy now and give you some ideas on how to start over or reenergize after a dramatic emotional or financial setback.

Many people join network marketing to free themselves of a boss.  The allure of owning your own business and being accountable only to yourself is very appealing.  The problem is clear, however, that few people have the discipline to hold themselves accountable consistently and the dream of personal business ownership often begins to seem unrealistic. That begs the question, can we expect our downline to be accountable to mentors for what they are doing each day?  For leaders to every achieve the levels of lasting profitability they desire, they must expect it.

Like it or not, we need each other to improve and succeed.  I remember when I first started in network marketing as a college student.  For 9 months I had tried everything to get people involved in my group.  I had almost no success.  During Christmas break I decided to go back home and invite everybody I knew to an opportunity meeting.