Pillar or Filler?

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Written by Rick Lelchuk on Mar 1, 2009 8:05 am

Read More: Leadership | Personal Development

In the midst of a heated discussion about what criteria make up an excellent network marketing organization the subject of pillars came up.

“So what you are saying is that if a company doesn't have your five pillars it's a piece of junk and you should run away, right?”

“Yup” was the abrupt response from my friend John as if it were the end of the discussion. “And, not to be trusted as far as you can throw them.”

“Really, good buddy. Tell me again what you mean by that and let's see if we can actually have an interactive conversation about it this time.”

“Alright, one more time from the top, just for you. Pillar One is company management experience with integrity. Pillar Two is timing in the company and timing in the industry. Pillar Three is representing remarkable products. Pillar Four is a compensation plan that pays the part-time people because, as you know, 90% to 95% of network marketers are part-time people. And, finally, Pillar Five having a proven system for success, a duplicable system. Any questions?”

Well, yeah, I thought to myself, I've got some questions. “OK, John how did you come up with these five as being the right number and the right ones? Granted, these are certainly important points but, why aren't there six or seven or 12 even?”

John was quiet for a moment before responding, “I don't know, it's what I've been told, it makes sense and five seems to be plenty. It covers all the important stuff. What are you getting at anyway? Most people don't work with a five pillars company anyway and they don't even know it.”

“That may be true, but here's what I've been thinking. From my experience there are some pieces that seem to be missing for me.”

“For instance, these five pillars speak of company management with integrity, but they don't address the company philosophy or company culture. Like, maybe it should be an abundance philosophy rather than a scarcity philosophy. Or, John, what about making sure the company is build to last or it's extraordinarily dedicated to its distributors or that the products are not only remarkable, but their quality is backed by science and their distribution in place to assure long term growth.”

“Which brings me to what I think is the biggy missing pillar...”

“Nowhere do your pillars mention company growth and expansion. It would seem to me that would be a necessary requirement. You wouldn't want to be hitched to a company with stagnant or non-existent growth, would you? Especially if you were building to leave a legacy income to your family”

“For instance, my company is building a new huge warehouse facility not out of extravagance, greed or ego, but because sound business practices require that they keep up with company growth and customer demand. It's part of that abundance philosophy I was referring to”

This time there was a much longer silence. You could see the wheels of progress churning and turning.

“Welllll, no. Growth, philosophy, quality and momentum are all pretty important elements to include in an evaluation,” John reflected. “Soooo, I can see what you're saying. There could be more than just 5 elements to examine when looking at the criteria of a great MLM company. Five is just what I thought was the right number, but it's really arbitrary.”

With an arm around my friend and a sense of joy in my heart for the break through, I added, “John, I am very glad we had this little chat, after all, what's a pillar or two between good friends?”

RICK

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