MLM Leadership: What’s Your Leader Style?

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” -John Quincy Adams

In network marketing, if someone strives to be a leader and can inspire others to be successful, he or she will accomplish much. Everyone that joins a network marketing company has a sponsor/leader. Everyone that sponsors someone has leadership responsibilites. Each type of recruit needs a leader and each leader must adapt to the type of person who joined.

First we will look at the four types of people who come into network marketing.

The Part Timer

A part timer is just what they sound like—they treat their network marketing business as a part time gig. They have a separate, full-time job, or are a stay at home parent. This person builds their business without a lot of commitment. They join because they get excited or inspired by a new product or opportunity. Their average income ranges between $100 to $500 a month.

The Part Time Full Timer

A part time full timer is someone who has a part-time business, but commits full-time to it. If they only have ten hours to give every week, they give ten hours every single week—with goals and other business-growing milestones set up. They come to every call. They come to every training. At each event they listen and learn. This leader typically has an average income around $1,000 a month.

The Full Timer

A full timer is a person who doesn’t have a separate job. They’re motivated to do the business. They typically work 25 to 30 hours a week. They’re excited about building the business. They can earn a few thousand dollars a month.

The Career Person

A career person views the network marketing opportunity as their career and makes a full-time commitment to it. Often they spend up to 80 hours a week on their business. Average incomes will start at $5,000 and go up from there.

MLM Leadership

There’s no right or wrong way to build your business, just as there is no wrong business builder type. Ask yourself, what is your business style? What kind of people do you attract? How do you do business? And what fits your personality?

The relationship between the sponsor and recruit is crucial to the success of a new recruit. The following are a few of the types of leaders:

The Inviter

For the inviter, it’s all about the number of people brought into the business. These are people who talk about their business everywhere they go and with everyone they meet. They are often excited about the product and want everyone to hear about the benefits they have received. The inviter tends to love meeting people and finding out about their needs.

The Builder

Builders focus on helping people grow. They want to help the people they work with become something more. Builders are people like coaches or nurses. They enjoy helping others. Many people that you ask to join your organization want to learn new skills. The builder helps them transform. Sometimes a builder can motivate a person to become more than they thought they were capable of doing. Many times the builder helps a recruit see a higher purpose beyond making money.

The Trainers

Some people build their business by training others. They focus on training others to reach their full potential. They train others through motivating them and exciting them and by sharing ideas with them on a regular basis. Trainers can identify needs of the group and build instruction to help them succeed.

The way many successful network marketing professionals build their businesses is by seeking out people who have different styles than they do. If you’re a recruiter, look for trainers, look for leaders, look for others who have different skill sets and styles than you. Each type of recruit often needs different types of support and motivation. Leadership is about finding the right combination between sponsor and recruit.

Go back and look at the different styles here. Decide what you are and understand how to look for people with different leadership skills. In building a network marketing business, there is no right, and there is no wrong. You can build a team that compliments each other.

Jeff Jordan is a multi-level marketing consultant and has advised more than 300 companies. Jeff works with new companies as an interim V.P of Sales. At MLM-CC Jeff aids companies in compensation design and compensation plan analysis of existing companies.