Network Marketing Journey

A little over a week ago I emailed Rosa with an idea.

With my days in offline retail sales coming to a close I’ve been paying more attention to the condition I will be leaving the store in.  Either that OR I’m becoming more acutely aware of that the fact that the employees at my particular store are not a happy lot.

I was informing Rosa of my intent to use the Daily 5 Minutes from a slightly different angle.

See, the D5M is intended to be a tool managers use to get to know their employees and help them smooth out unrest before difficulties arise. I was originally attracted to this idea over two years ago (in fact, I think this was how I met and became friends with Rosa - through a request concerning D5M) and approached the store manager about using it.

He responded by telling me "He didn’t have time for it".

Those 6 words told me all I needed to know.

At the time I was pretty disgusted but I hadn’t given up on the idea of using the Daily 5 Minutes. Then I recently got to thinking about some of the things I mentioned in the opening of this post. I’ll be leaving the store for bigger, brighter and more exciting things–and they will remain.

Sad. Disembodied. And at each others throats.

That just plain sucks. I don’t want to leave the store in such a condition. But how could I help? Especially at a time when managers are pushed to produce more and more–placing more pressure on the ones below them to do the same.

The current model is to think of results first, feelings and condition of the employ later.

Again, how could I help?

Daily 5 Minutes.

I’m not a manager. I could have been. In fact, I was asked why I have turned down the management program on more than one occasion. My reasons are simple and they are my own.

My first reaction was to reject the idea of using the Daily Five minutes but then I remembered Mark Sanborn’s ideals. You don’t need a title to be a leader.

I decided to give it a shot and since then I have been lending my ear to at least one person each day. No agenda other than attempting to lift the spirits of one life, per day.

To this day I have been talking with my fellow workers. What I feel will be the test of my mettle as a leader and as someone who can co-create change is when I begin talking with Management and those who have animosity towards me.

My hope for this experiment is not just to learn something of myself, but to equip others with ideas and ways to make something they care about better. They often say they don’t care anymore and act as if everything has gone to hell, but if they didn’t care the fire wouldn’t burn so hot.

Everyone wants to be heard once and awhile. The problem is, everyone is so busy trying to talk over the buzz of the crowd that they’ve forgotten how to listen.

I was given the gift of being a good listener and I intend to put it to good use.

From time to time I will be sharing sound bites from this experiment, distilling experiences and sharing them here. And if you feel so moved–join me–for 5 minutes

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