What makes an effective leader? Think about the people who you consider leaders in your life – it could be a former boss, your spouse’s boss, a religious leader, or the folks in your upline. What traits do that have that make them effective leaders? What traits stand in the way of them becoming a more effective leader? Although many people seem to be born with great leadership traits, the reality is it’s a set of skills that are developed over time through increased knowledge and experience. 

The traits of effective leadership

There are many traits that form effective leadership, and it’s not being bossy or telling people what to do. Instead, it’s inspiring people to reach their true potential and strive for more than they imagined they could achieve otherwise. Three of these traits are boldness, courage, and heart.

Boldness

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bold leaders don’t hesitate to go their own way, especially when they know in their heart of hearts that what they’re doing is right. It means going against the old way of doing things, especially if it’s not effective and alienates your network. By tapping into relationship marketing to build your business, you’re exhibiting boldness already! 

If you’ve been in the industry for a while, you may have even started your network marketing career using those old, traditional sales methods. And, most likely, you alienated a lot of people along the way. The old way was all about making the sale no matter what, even it if meant hurting relationships with your favorite people. This is no way to build a lasting business! It’s your relationships that form the foundation for a thriving business. 

Relationship marketing is a bold leadership approach to building a network marketing business. Focusing on relationships allows you to build a strong foundation for continuous growth in your business. It’s so much easier to grow your business by nurturing and tapping into the relationships you already have than to build new relationships from the ground up because you pushed too hard for a sale. 

How to be bold

If you’re used to using traditional sales methods, relationship marketing may push you out of your comfort zone. The process of building trust and growing the relationship may scare you; it takes a lot more time. However, the stronger the relationship, the stronger the advocate for your business. Boldness is taking the time to strengthen your relationships with the people in your network so that you feel comfortable asking them for introductions to more people you can serve. It takes determination, persistence, and patience, but if you have the faith in the system and your abilities, it will work. 

Courage

“What if everything you’re going through is preparing you for what you asked for?”

Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s embracing or acknowledging the fear and moving forward anyway. People often associate courage with big, sweeping gestures – a firefighter running into a burning building, a person taking a stand when it’s unpopular, bungee jumping off a bridge when you have a fear of heights. 

However, most courageous acts occur in small gestures. It’s getting out of bed earlier than normal to go for a run down the block when you haven’t exercised in years. And, it’s following up with someone you meant to contact months ago but kept putting off because you weren’t sure what to say or didn’t want to seem like you were bugging them. It’s putting your business first and doing a Power Hour when you have other things tugging at your attention. All of these things require courageous leadership.

Courage is a calculated risk. Most of us don’t realize there’s a large amount of preparation that goes into the act of courage before the actual act occurs. For example, take firefighters. They spend their shifts training and practicing the steps they’ll take at the time of an emergency. They practice everything from laying hoses to rescuing victims to putting out fires safely. Practicing not only improves their emergency skills and abilities, but it also makes the protocol and processes second nature. That way when they’re called to an emergency, they can properly assess what they need to do while their muscle memory takes over. 

In network marketing, this takes the form of practicing conversation starters in the mirror or with a loved one, especially if you’re shy so that when you meet someone new or someone recommended by your network, you can transition the conversation to your business with ease. It’s getting in the habit of doing a Power Hour several times a week so that it just becomes part of your day. It’s also consistently following up with your network, even when you’re nervous or just don’t feel like it that day. There’s courage in doing all of these things, especially when they make you anxious. After all, growth does not occur in your comfort zone; it occurs each time you reach past it. 

How to be courageous

In leadership, courage is using relationship marketing to build and grow your business, even if your competition is using traditional methods and getting immediate results. It’s using their burned bridges to your advantage by building relationships with the folks in your network. It’s encouraging your team to follow your example and show them how to do it. 

Heart

“To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.”

– Sr. Thomas Watson

The thing about relationship marketing is that if you’re attracted to this method of sales, you likely have a strong desire to serve with heart anyway. Sure, making a sale is important. Building your team is important. However, neither is as important as building your relationships with the people in your network. A sale shouldn’t come at the expense of the relationships in your network. 

At the center of building a business with heart is love. Love for your business, love for your customers, love for your team, and love for the life you’re building. But, having heart is more than loving your business; it’s having care and concern for each and every one of the folks in your network, including customers, prospects, and distributors. It’s serving with love from the heart. Although it’s important to make sales, your focus is to help your network with the challenges they’re facing, whether it’s reaching their health goals, maintaining a glowing complexion, or making the house smell warm and inviting, even during football and soccer seasons.

It’s also important to build your team of distributors. After all, the larger your team, the bigger your bottom line. The best way to build your team is to show you care about them – their businesses, their goals, their struggles, and their successes. As a leader, it’s important to mentor your team members, share your own experiences as they relate to their struggles, and encourage them to set ambitious, yet tangible, goals. Help them celebrate their successes and offer support and encouragement when they’ve experienced a setback. This is all part of leading with heart and from the heart. 

How to lead with heart

Follow up! It’s the ultimate act of love. Use Teamzy to follow up with everyone in your network and be consistent. Do regular check-ins with your team to see how they’re doing and seek out ways to help them, especially if they’re struggling. Take the time to listen for a need you can fill and then take it upon yourself to do so. They’ll appreciate it and will feel supported. And if they have something to celebrate, shout it from the rooftops and be their biggest fan. 

Teamzy can help you hone your leadership skills

In addition to keeping your business organized, Teamzy ensures that you stay in touch with everyone in your network, from your biggest advocates to your future biggest advocates and new acquaintances. Additionally, Teamzy offers a variety of video training options to help you hone your business and leadership skills. If you’re not using Teamzy, what are you waiting for? Make 2020 the year you take your network marketing business to the next level. Visit Teamzy.com to learn more.