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How To Assemble A Championship Team
By Greg Arnold

Strong leadership in MLM is a balancing act that will try your sense of self worth and, when practiced properly, propel you to the top of the industry.  Because MLM is filled with such a great spectrum of characters and egos, it offers both challenges and opportunities for greatness.  A great MLM leader is often a visionary empire builder and a caring support blanket at the same time.  He sets a very high standard of excellence when it comes to who he chooses to work and spend time with, yet he is never controlling of other’s time or performance standards.  He leads the pack in most statistical categories yet he is always helping others to get the most out of themselves.  He wants to be number one with all that is in him yet he enjoys the successes of his team leaders even more.  He has the ego needed to be the best but he constantly sets it aside to support the egos of those that look to him for leadership.  He loves the spotlight but he turns it to shine on his team leaders.  He can be tough and brutally honest but he never hands out criticism in public or without a solution and a loving hug.  He knows the right path but he allows others to stray off it even when he loses them.    

Market Dominance 

MLM dominance in the marketplace has everything to do with assembling the very best leaders in the field to work closely with.  When you choose to spend large amounts of time with a team member you must demand a performance standard of excellence that few can attain.  You can’t be the best unless you have the best.  If someone in the group you work with can’t perform to the standards you set, you must cut them out of your inner circle.  This is the cruel necessity of market dominance.  This does not mean you turn against them or ask them to leave your company, you merely cease to depend on them at that elite level and find someone to take their place on your core leadership team.  Choose your council wisely and never lower your standards of excellence.  When you are working with these elite performers you must treat each of them as if the entire world revolves around them.  For the most part, in their minds, the world does revolve around them.  You have to put your ego in a drawer somewhere and support your elite performers in whatever way needed to help them get the job done.  You have to become the ultimate back watcher.  When they know you are the best in the world at covering their back, they can and do move forward with a vengeance.  The higher standard you set for who you choose to become the ultimate back watcher for, the greater level of market dominance you can expect.  Love everyone on your team but set your standards high for who you choose to spend time with.  Remember everyone can try out, but only the best make your starting team. 

Self Improvement 

Almost every book I have read on self-improvement says you must take an inventory of your strengths and weaknesses and work on improving your weaknesses. That is how we achieve balance and harmony in our lives.  That is how we achieve peace, contentment and happiness.  If you are looking for serenity, I couldn’t agree more.  However, dominant team success has nothing to do with assembling a group of contented, self-aware, in-balance players to rock the planet with.  Contented people are not elite performers.  Championship sports teams are not filled with the most content, they are filled with the most driven.  Driven people generally lead pretty tormented lives.  They are not driven towards something as much as they are driven away from their source of pain.  Championship teams are filled with the very best players available at every position.  Championship coaches don’t sit around and work on their player’s weaknesses.  They cater to and exploit their player’s strengths.  In fact, because the elite tend to be running from their pain, they sure as heck don’t want you sticking it up in their face at every turn they make.   Want to drive a superstar away?  Just spend all your time pointing out their faults to them.  On a championship team, if a player doesn’t perform, you replace them, you don't spend years working on their faults.  As an owner and coach of an elite team, you must know your players weaknesses so you don’t place them in a position in which they are vulnerable to failure.  You place them in positions, which utilize and showcase their strengths.  If you have a leader on your team who is the best in the world at leading conference calls but needs a lot of help when it comes to administration.  Don’t you dare spend hours and hours working with him on getting organized and getting his paperwork straight….GET HIM ON THE PHONE!!!  If you have a public speaker extraordinaire on your leadership team who can light up a crowd….GET HIM ON STAGE!!!  If you have a leader who can bring in the masses but he can’t support them so they tend to drop out quickly, set up a support system for him.  Let him build while you cover his back.  Assemble the very best players and play to their strengths.  Leave the self-improvement training to the guru’s who don’t have to build an empire. 

It Isn’t About You 

We all want to be a part of something special, we all want to feel like we are making a difference.  WE ALL WANT TO BE SOMEBODY!  Building a championship team isn’t about what you want, it is about helping the elite get what they want.  Do you want to know why every professional basketball player in the NBA wants to play for the Los Angeles Lakers?….Because, the Lakers win 5 championships out of every 10 years.  Getting the championship ring means everything to a professional athlete.  Winning a championship is the defining accomplishment of every elite player.  If you want to attract the MLM elite, you better have a vision of winning a championship.  It’s about exploding your company.  It’s about creating the hottest product in the industry.  It is about building an elite army and dominating the marketplace on a global scale.  It's all about performance.  Moses Malone didn’t go to the Lakers this year because he got more money or even because he was desperately needed.  In fact, he was the big dog in Utah.  But he didn’t have a dog’s chance in heck of getting a championship ring in Utah.   Winning in MLM isn’t about you; it’s about building something bigger than you.  It’s about building something bigger than all of us.  Have a huge vision and share it liberally.  Share it with conviction.  Share it with passion.  Make it happen.  Do that and the big dogs will want to play on your team.

Shinning The Spotlight 

If you lose it has to be your fault, if you win it is your leader’s fault.  Never miss an opportunity to tell the world how great your team leaders are.  If you are fortunate enough to be on stage, your priority while you’re up there has to be to edify your team leaders.  We all crave appreciation; public appreciation is like a symphony to our ears.   As you build your empire, you will get plenty of opportunities to be the focus of attention, always, always, use those opportunities to shine the light back on your leadership team.  Without them, your stage would truly be a dark place.  Your ego drives you, if you allow it to, it will drive you in to the poor house.  Rise above it all, put your ego on hold, and your heaven will be filled with MLM stars eager to look to you for leadership.