Creating Ongoing Success with Facilitative Leadership

By: Niamh Arthur Click author's name for more of his/her articles

In network marketing leadership and leadership styles is a much discussed topic. The style that I find produces the most results and duplications is actually borrowed from managers in the corporate world: Facilitative leadership.
Facilitative leadership is all about providing a vision and direction for a group to take, then standing clear and letting the group members lead themselves to allow them to grow. They allow the group to grow by helping them make connections and come up with fresh ideas. They help the team by making sure they are moving in the right direction and lending a hand when someone gets stuck.
In network marketing your biggest goal is to assist your team reach their goals, you want each team member to become a leader themselves. Your team members must learn to make business decisions on their own. It's THEIR business right? If your team is coming to ask your permission or approval before making a decision in their business you are not being an effective facilitative leader. Your role is always to steer them the right way, but let them learn what they need to know and make decisions themselves.
It's important that as you come to view yourself as a leader you don't begin to see your teammembers as followers. They try to shoehorn their team into the processes, marketing, and even ways of talking that have worked for them. No one can create lasting success if they are trying to emmulate someone else.
If you're successful, how will you keep from telling people exactly what to do? It seems logical to have your team duplicate your exact system for success. But the most important thing is, it's not what you are doing, but how you're doing it. When you are confident and loving what you're doing, seeing yourself as a leader people will feel that and want to join your team. If your team tries to copy you they will never get the opportunity to build confidence in themselves, they will be to busy staying in follower mode.
Facilitative leadership is the only way to help your followers become leaders from the get go. Here's how to start facilitating their leadership:
-Show them the possibilities and let them learn for themselves. Don't just tell them what you did, but also what other options are out there for them.
-Ask them what qualities they feel they can bring to the table, what they would be excited about doing. LISTEN and let them talk it through themselves. Stop them from engaging in any limiting talk or excuses and steer them back towards solution oriented talk.
-Hold team trainings and let the team do the talking! You'll want to deliver a topic to discuss and again point them in the right direction, but allow them to share their feelings and insights with each other.

Don't expect them to be you! See them as a leader too with their own capabilities and preferences. You will see incredible results and with each person that you assist in becoming a successful leader your belief in yourself, in your business, and in the rest of your team will become stronger and stronger. Here as with everything by assisting your team, you will also be assisting yourself.

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About The Author: For more information on how to use facilitative leadership and other techniques in your home business. If you are interested in a home based business but haven't yet found the right opportunity visit Brilliant Journey for a chance to work directly with Niamh Arthur (business owner, mentor, stay at home/travel the world mom).