I used to think that running an organization was equivalent to conducting a symphony orchestra. But I don’t think that’s quite it; it’s more like jazz. There is more improvisation.
~Warren Bennis
Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
~John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Today, “Creating Your” Day is about authenticity and leadership. My goal with this blog is to be open and honest about my journey. This is about me being real. My writing has always been about that. I am writing about my personal journey building my own business and the ease and discomfort of doing that. I am writing about what it took me to get here. That is about what creating my day consciously, is about.
Just because I am a Double Diamond in my company, which is a leadership level (it is six levels above entry level), doesn’t mean I have mastered all of the skills it requires and now I do them perfectly and I am not going to pretend that I do. My gut feeling tells me it is freeing to others to know that it is not always easy even for the leaders. I am just a person like anyone else, building a business. I got promoted into leadership one level at a time while I grew as a person.
When someone moves into a leadership position in a company there is an assumption that it is always easy and enjoyable for them and that they know everything. People will say, “it is easy for you to do that” and “You are lucky, you’re a Double Diamond”, but it is not always easy, and comfortable and there is continual personal growth that happens even at the top. The distinction I will make is that because I am a leader, I am going to do something even if it makes me uncomfortable and I am not going to be afraid to say it wasn’t my favorite thing to do.
I don’t have years of experience in Network Marketing, I have been doing it for a several years and only seriously for three. I was a distributor in a couple of companies before I found It Works Global but I have never built a successful business, this is my first. There are a lot of people in my company with years of experience or extremely out going personalities who are moving at warp speed and promoting quickly. The beauty is you don’t have to have those two things going for you to make it to the top of this business. You just have to have the willingness to do things that aren’t comfortable and get out of your own way. That is the kind of company It Works Global is.
One of my reasons for writing this blog is because I love the business model of Network Marketing, because it is a vehicle for financial freedom for everyone, and I believe that anyone can do it. I mean anyone. I would love to see everyone financially free and Network Marketing is one of the only ways that the average person can do that. I think people quit as soon as it gets uncomfortable. For some that is right after they sign up, for some it is when someone says ‘no’ for the first time, which could be the first day, and some people start to taste freedom and that makes them uncomfortable and they quit.
I am writing to encourage people not to quit, no matter what, and if hearing that it is not always easy for me to build my business, even though I am a leader, makes someone quit, they quit too soon. They have just used me as their excuse to do it.
When I was still working and my job paid for all of my living expenses I could pick and choose the ways I wanted to build my business, based on what was fun and what was easy for me to do. Now that I am no longer working, and the purpose of this “Create Your Day Experiment” is to re-invent myself, how I do life and how I build my business. Now I have to do things that take me out of my comfort zone so I can expand and grow more. I could pretend that it is easy smeazy for me to reinvent myself, but I would be lying.
I could just write about all of my successes, all of the great things I am doing as a leader and no one would ever have to know what is underneath. Just think of all the people who would flock to me because I could be their fearless leader. I could be shooting myself in the foot with this blog, but authenticity is more important to me. If my admission of humanness makes me seem weak, insecure, fearful and not a capable leader….trust me, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
I do have many natural-born leadership skills, including integrity, authenticity and creativity. I am nurturing, supportive and a good listener and I understand human nature. I am a visionary, intuitive, I can see from a more expanded view-point than many people, I know how to dream and make dreams a reality. I am tenacious and I don’t give up. The leadership skills and business building skills that I find more challenging are the things I am working on and I am not afraid to say out loud that I am not good at them and they are challenging for me.
Leaders are more powerful role models when they learn than when they teach.
~Rosabeth Moss Kantor