When we speak of a crisis, many people think money is a sticking point, which is far from the case, because sooner or later a company runs out of money, no matter how much it has had. But leadership is a key to prosperity and success for the whole team. And if we speak of MLM, every step of the process, from sales to training, comes down to a leader.
MLM companies have certain undoubted strengths, but crisis is still a challenge even for them. It is the period when the responsibility for the entity's well-being lies within their leaders: their actions and decisions largely predetermine the way that the rest of the network will behave under crisis conditions. Of course, a leader shall keep calm above all, because every mood is contagious and is unconsciously spilled over to others. A leader that gives in to panic will immediately spread it in the whole company.
So, what qualities and skills should an MLM-leader have not only to save his entity from destruction, but to improve and enhance it? Let’s outline the most important ones!
Empathy and Selflessness
A number of studies demonstrate that people are more likely to follow leaders who continuously provide feedback, express empathy for people’s personal circumstances, and try to solve both general and individual problems. In fact, if a business takes care of its employees, the employees take care of the business. With that in mind, under crisis conditions a leader shall express gratitude, non-financially stimulate and motivate the team as much as practical, as well as encourage mutual support and emotional integrity.
By the way, such leadership qualities as the ability to get on well with any people and altruism play a special role under crisis conditions. According to the Hogan Center study, such leaders are mentally stable and therefore they are better in coping with risks and uncertainty.
Learning and Unlearning Capability
New market trends are a part of everyday life in the contemporary world and the knowledge you need to follow the trends sometimes comes in conflict with those you already have. So, a reliable leader is not only constantly learning to go beyond current competences, but is also able to forget and roll back unhelpful skills to zero. It helps to save inner resources and to avoid contradictions. This is also the way to adapt to unpredictable situations: forget unnecessary things and learn new ones quickly to overcome a crisis, the secret is so simple!
Visibility and Time-management
Time-management is commonly known as mastering one’s time and task planning so as to do more things with less effort. So, it is rather clear that leader should teach the team to meet deadlines, because missing deadlines in crisis conditions may end up with bankruptcy. But as for visibility, it should be discussed separately.
If you are a leader under crisis conditions, the main thing is to stay visible to your team. Show by example how you work under crisis conditions, that work goes on, partnerships and sales are made, albeit the scopes are slightly different. If your network is completely remote, as with most MLM businesses, then you can launch extra webinars, business conferences and personal meetings whenever possible.
Charisma and Leadership
It’s hard to encourage people to go on following the leader, when motivation is down, resources are running out, and business prospects are gloomy. And this is where charisma comes in. Sometimes it is the only thing that bonds the team and does not let it go to pieces! A charismatic leader is a strong leader. People listen to him, people want to be like him, they do not want to disappoint him or let him down.
It is also important to stay proactive under crisis conditions, because the crisis outcome largely depends on the productivity increase. If you demonstrate new projects and products to your partners, present new tools and methods, the entity will survive and move on. And then you will just wait until the storm ends, while joining even more successful collaborations and making profitable deals.