"Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter" [
Big Al: Leaders Lesson #9
Congratulations!
Welcome to Lesson #9 of the 'Big Al Leaders
Course.'

Everyone has problems.

Leaders and distributors face the same problems
every day. Leaders don't become leaders because of
a lack of problems. They become leaders because of
how they think and handle problems.

>> Leadership thinking.
How would a leader think when confronted with the
exact same backorder situation? A leader might
think:
'Whoa, the product's backordered. These products
are so much in demand that even if my customers
give me money, they still can't get the product.
It's so exclusive and selling so well, the company
can't keep the products in stock. My new customer
is going to be so impressed, he'll probably order
two or three times more product to make sure he
can get some. That means two or three times more
product volume for me, and two or three times the
bonus check. Wow! I hope they bring on some more
backorders - yes!'

Would you characterize this as leadership thinking
or as distributor thinking?
It's obvious - this is leadership thinking and you
would get leadership results because of this
thinking.

>> Here is what distributors don't know.
It doesn't cost anything to change your thinking.
Most distributors think:
'Well, I'm stuck with one kind of thinking.
There's no way that I can change it. This is the
only way to look at situations.'

This 'I can't change my thinking' viewpoint comes
from years of conditioning from parents, teachers,
friends, and employers. But this viewpoint isn't
true.

Of course, we can all change our thinking - if we
want to. But how do you convince your potential
leader that he can change his thinking?

>> With a story.
Stories are the best way to change people's
thinking. They are easy to remember, and your
potential leader can see himself in the story. He
can identify with the story.
To help your potential leader see that changing
one's thinking is possible, try sharing a story
similar to this:

Imagine that you're driving along one day and a
green Mustang automobile almost forces you off the
road. The driver appears to be a young teenager
and he is obviously speeding. How do you feel?
What do you think about the driver?
If your potential leader answers honestly, he'll
say:
'I don't like that teenager. He's reckless and I
almost had an accident. Someone should report him
to the police and have him arrested.'

Later that day you get a call from the hospital.
It's from your son. Your son says, 'Hi. Just
wanted to let you know that the doctors said that
I'm going to be okay. I fell off my bike and
suffered a serious cut. I could have bled to death,
but fortunately a teenager in a green Mustang was
driving by. He picked me up and raced me to the
hospital just in time.'

Now, ask your potential leader this:
'What do you think about that teenage driver now?'

If your potential leader answers honestly, he'll
say:
'You're right. I did change my thinking, and it
didn't cost me anything. The situation was the
same. And you know what? I could have chosen to
change my thinking about that teenage driver even
if I didn't get that additional information.
You're right. I can change my thinking any time I
choose.'

Now that your potential leader understands that he
can change his thinking, you'll want to teach him
this.

Point out that there are two ways of thinking -
leadership thinking and distributor thinking. If
you think like a leader you'll get leader results
and if you think like a distributor, you'll get
distributor results.
Then give your potential leader a big dose of
personal responsibility. Tell him:
'I'm not going to change your thinking. That's up
to you. If you want distributor results, think
like a distributor. If you want leadership
results, think like a leader. It's strictly up to
you which results you want. Pick the results you
want in your life, and then you'll know which type
of thinking to choose.'

This is a big step -- but this is the only way you
effectively build a leader. Because if you don't
do this, you're going to spend a lifetime fixing
all their problems, answering all their questions,
holding their hands, and trying to re-motivate
them after every challenge.

>> Okay, okay. So what exactly will I teach them?
Let's make this concrete here.

First, write down all the everyday problems you
encounter in your business.
Second, for each problem, write down what would
represent leadership thinking and what would
represent distributor thinking.
And third, write down any appropriate stories that
you could tell your potential leader to help him
change his thinking from distributor thinking to
leadership thinking.

That's it. That's what you're going to have to
teach them.
Let's write down some common problems and how
we'll teach our potential leader to change his
thinking.
Write quickly, because . . .
I will be sending you Lesson #10 in a few days.

Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter
P.S. Would you like to give a complete, entire
presentation in just one minute? Check out:
http://fortunenow.com/resources/1minute_219.htm
Make sure to listen to the audio section online.
FortuneNow.com
P.O. Box 890084
Houston, TX 77289
Phone: 281-280-9800
E-Mail:
fortune@fortunenow.com
Website:
http://www.fortunenow.com
.
Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter
Fortune Network Publishing
PO Box 890084
Houston, TX 77289 USA
Phone: (281) 280-9800
http://www.fortunenow.com
bigalnews@fortunenow.com

"Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter" Big Al: Leaders Lesson #10
Congratulations!
Welcome to Lesson #10 of the 'Big Al Leaders
Course.'

Let's talk more about problems. Here is an
example.

>> Problem #1: My sponsor doesn't help me.
Is that a common problem? I hear it all the time.
People call me and complain:
'I can't become a leader. I can't even become a
good distributor because my sponsor doesn't help
me.'
This is easy to identify as distributor thinking.
Here is the story I tell the caller to help change
his distributor thinking into leadership thinking:

Here's what happened to me when I first started in
network marketing. I was in business for one year
and ten months and had no distributors and no
retail customers. I was an absolute failure. A
concerned leader would come to me and say,
'Tom, you're not doing very well.'
I had to defend my failure so I would reply,
'Of course I'm not doing well. My sponsor doesn't
help me. He doesn't know any more about this
business than I do.'
Then the leader stared at me and said,
'Tom, tell me about your sponsor. Did he sponsor
anybody else besides you?'
Oh, oh. This was getting personal now. I had to
admit that my sponsor had indeed recruited other
distributors into the business, but most of them
were not successful either. Maybe just one or two
of them became successful.
And the leader closed with this cutting remark. He
said:
'Tom, tell me about the one or two other
distributors who are successful. Don't they have
exactly the same sponsor as you do?'
Ouch! That was mean!

But all of a sudden, I got it! I understood that I
couldn't blame my sponsor. After all, success had
nothing to do with him because he sponsored
successful and unsuccessful people. And if it
didn't have anything to do with the sponsor. That
left . . . me!
My distributor thinking instantly changed to
leadership thinking because of this incident.
And when I tell this story to distributors who
call, do they change their thinking that quickly
also?

No.
Maybe after listening to my story, they change
their thinking just a little bit - a little bit
closer to leadership thinking. You might have to
tell several stories over a few weeks to
completely change their thinking concerning this
problem.

You're not going to change someone's thinking from
distributor thinking to leadership thinking
overnight. However, you have to start somewhere,
so why not start accumulating your stories now?

>> What doesn't work.
Let me tell you what I found is a complete waste
of time.

Lectures.
Lectures don't work. If you want proof that
lectures don't work, just think back to when you
were a teenager and how many lectures you received
and how well they worked.
Point made.
>> Lectures don't work - stories do.
So the best way to change a potential leader's
thinking is with stories that illustrate
graphically:
'Hey, this is reality. This is what works in the
real world.'
That's what happened to me when I found out that
who my sponsor was didn't matter when it came to
my success. I couldn't deny the facts. Other
distributors had the exact same sponsor I did. At
that moment of enlightenment, I jumped from
distributor thinking all the way to leadership
thinking on that one issue.

Unfortunately, I had some other issues too. But I
overcame them in exactly the same way, by
recognizing a different way of thinking through
the power of stories.

I will be sending you Lesson #11 in a few days.
Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter
FortuneNow.com
P.O. Box 890084
Houston, TX 77289
Phone: 281-280-9800
E-Mail:
fortune@fortunenow.com
Website:
http://www.fortunenow.com
..
Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter
Fortune Network Publishing
PO Box 890084
Houston, TX 77289 USA
Phone: (281) 280-9800
http://www.fortunenow.com
bigalnews@fortunenow.com

Welcome to Lesson #11 of the 'Big Al Leaders
Course.'

How about another problem?
Let's go through another concrete example of
exactly how to use this method.

Let's say that my sponsor lives too far away. I
can't become successful because my sponsor doesn't
come to help me. How are we going to move my
thinking from distributor thinking to leadership
thinking?

Here's a story you could tell me.
You: Tom, I know you think that you can't become
successful because I live too far away. I can't
help you do local meetings and I can't come to
Houston to help you do two-on-one presentations.

However, let's imagine that you're taking a flight
home to Houston, Texas. There is another passenger
sitting next to you on the airplane. Your casual
conversation goes like this:
Tom: Hey, what do you do for a living?
Passenger: I am the president of a local
entrepreneurs' club. We have 10,000 members and
they're all entrepreneurs. We meet in the evenings
because we all have regular jobs, but our club is
looking for a part-time business to get into.
Tom: Oh really? What kind of business?
Passenger: Well, we don't want to have stores
because that would be boring. We'd be tied down to
one location.
We're outgoing people and we're interested in
sales and marketing. We enjoy meeting, networking,
and working with other people. We don't have a lot
of money to invest - maybe only a couple thousand
dollars each.
But we're willing to work as hard as we can to
build successful businesses.
But you know what? I haven't been able to find any
part-time business for our members yet. And if I
don't find something pretty soon, they're going to
throw me out of office. I'm pretty worried.
You: So what are you thinking, Tom? You're
thinking, 'Oh, man, I've hit the mother lode! My
business opportunity is going to be perfect for
them. She's going to thank me.' And then Tom, you
ask:
Tom: Oh, by the way, where do you live?
Passenger: I live in Miami.
You: And now Tom, you're going to throw up your
hands in despair and say:
Tom: Oh no! That's too bad. I could never sponsor
you because I wouldn't be local.

At that point, I change my thinking. I understand
that if I keep believing that the sponsor must
live locally, I'd pass by many great
opportunities. In fact, if I keep that distributor
thinking, that would mean that I could never
sponsor someone more than ten miles away from my
house!

After you tell me that story, will my thinking
move from distributor thinking to leadership
thinking? Maybe not all the way, but I'm getting
closer, right?

I will be sending you Lesson #12 in a few days.
Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter

Welcome to Lesson #12 of the 'Big Al Leaders
Course.'

Let's do one more concrete example.

>> 'My products are too expensive.
Nobody wants to pay that much.'

Sound familiar? Does this sound like distributor
thinking to you?

Distributors believe that prospects make their
buying decision based on price. Will it be hard to
change their thinking?
Not if we use stories and examples.

So let's imagine that I'm a potential leader, but
my belief that the products are too expensive is
holding me back. You want to change my thinking
from:
'the products are too expensive'
to
'the products are affordable because prospects
really want what they have to offer.'

You take note of my distributor thinking and
attempt to change my thinking not with a lecture,
but with the following story:

'Tom, I know you think that the products are too
expensive. You could be right. But I think a lot
of people buy for convenience, quality, comfort,
extra features or prestige. Most people will pay
more for products when they can get this extra
convenience, quality, comfort, extra features or
prestige.'

But I reply:
'No. I don't believe you. Prospect buy because of
price. They want to save money and will buy the
least expensive products they can.'
So you tell me:
'Tom, you could be right. Maybe a lot of people go
out and buy the least expensive products. I don't
know. Let's go and find out, okay?'

You take me outside and we stand on the street
corner. You ask me:
'Tom, what's the cheapest automobile you can
purchase?'
I think for a minute and say:
'A Yugo. That's the least expensive car you can
get. It has four wheels and a steering wheel and
will get you from Point A to Point B.'
And then you say:
'Let's stand on this street corner. Since people
buy on price, I'm sure most people will purchase
the least expensive automobile that they can get -
a Yugo. I bet we'll see a lot of Yugos drive by.
In fact, I think over 50% of the cars that will
pass by us will be Yugos.'
As we stand on that street corner, what types of
automobiles pass us by? Well, first there is a
Chevrolet, then a Ford, then a BMW, then a Toyota,
then a Dodge, another Ford, a Cadillac, a Lexus,
another Ford, a Volkswagen . . . and we don't see
a single Yugo!
You turn to me and say:
'Is it possible that people buy automobiles for
prestige, comfort or quality - and not on price? I
haven't seen a single Yugo yet. I don't think
anybody purchases automobiles just based on price.

People want image, comfort, special features, more
speed, or prestige. But, hey - I could be wrong.

Tell you what, let's go to another street corner.
This just could be a bad location.'
We walk to another street corner. What do we see?
We see Nissans, Toyotas, Fords, Chevrolets, BMWs,
Oldsmobiles, Cadillacs, and not a single Yugo. You
turn to me and say:
'Gee, it doesn't look like anybody purchased an
automobile based on price. Everybody purchased
comfort, color, convenience or prestige. Let's go
to another corner and look at some more
automobiles.'
I say:
'No, no, no - I get the point.'

Again, you've changed my thinking. No longer do I
believe that prospects purchase solely on price.
And did my thinking change from distributor
thinking all the way to leadership thinking with
this one story or real life adventure?
No. That would be too easy, wouldn't it? But you
have changed my thinking at least a little bit.
You'll have to tell me more stories or examples
over the next few weeks to gradually get my
thinking all the way to leadership thinking.

In Lesson 13 I'll give you another story (the
Pizza Story) to change your thinking about price.
Then we'll be finishing the third big step in
developing leaders: 'Changing how they think.'

I will be sending you Lesson #13 in a few days.
Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter
P.S. If you would like more step-by-step instruction
similar to this e-course, subscribe to my
Fortune Now Leadership Newsletter. For details,
go to:

http://www.fortunenow.com/fortunenow/

..

"Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter"

> Big Al: Leaders Lesson #13

Congratulations!
Welcome to Lesson #13 of the 'Big Al Leaders
Course.'
This is the final lesson. I hope you have been
taking great notes and completing the exercises.

So what's another story to change my thinking
about price?
I'll use the 'Pizza Story' to reinforce my
thinking. It goes like this:

'Tom, did you ever order pizza? Did you ever feel
like just taking it easy and not cooking an
evening meal? Did you ever feel like picking up
the telephone and ordering a pizza delivered to
your home while you watched videos or television?
'Of course you have. Everyone orders pizza on
occasion. But is that the most inexpensive way to
have a pizza? No way. You're paying for someone
else to prepare it and for someone else to deliver
it to your home. That's definitely more expensive
than preparing and cooking the pizza yourself, and
definitely more expensive than purchasing a frozen
pizza and cooking it yourself.

'So why do you spend the extra money? Taste?
Better quality? Convenience? Comfort? And you
probably spent two or three times as much money by
not preparing it yourself!'

Whoops! You got me. Even I don't buy on price
alone. And now my thinking edges just a bit closer
to leadership thinking.

>> Can't think of any stories to use for your
problems?
Well, why not borrow another story that I use?

Let's say that your new potential leader thinks
this:
'It's still hard for me to become successful
because my sponsor dropped out, only orders
products, never calls, and all my upline are
useless product users who don't want to build a
business. There is no one to help me. I can't do
it alone.'

Why not tell your potential leader this:
'Do we have any leaders in our company? Of course
we do. If it takes a leader to sponsor and develop
a leader, that means every leader in your company
was sponsored by a leader. What are the odds of
that? I don't know. Let's look.'
Then systematically go through all the leaders in
your company and see who really sponsored them

into the business. I bet you'll both be surprised
that most leaders were sponsored by somebody who
didn't care, somebody who quit or just dropped
out.

>> This is getting easy.
Yes, teaching your potential leaders new ways of
thinking is easy. The hard part was knowing what
to teach and how to teach it. But now you have the
formula.
You simply take a problem, and then figure out
what distributor thinking is and what leadership
thinking is for that problem. Then give them
concrete examples and stories to gradually move
your potential leader's thinking from distributor
thinking to leadership thinking. Your potential
leaders will believe their own conclusions.
You then end up with a person who thinks like a
leader and therefore is a leader. This is a
measurable, proven, efficient track to follow
instead of just randomly saying,
'I'll build a relationship and hope this
friendly distributor magically becomes a
leader.'
>> My sponsor doesn't help me!

Want to know what else to say to a whining
distributor who tells you,
'My sponsor doesn't help me?'
Try this. Say:
'And what exactly is it that you want your sponsor
to do that you are unwilling to do yourself?'

Well, I hope you enjoyed this mini-leadership
e-course. Please remember the three big steps we
have covered.
Step #1: Define what a leader is.
Step #2: How to find leaders.
Step #3: What to teach leaders.

As you see, building leaders isn't that hard once
we know exactly what to say and exactly what to do.

Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter
P.S. If you would like more step-by-step instruction
similar to this e-course, subscribe to my
Fortune Now Leadership Newsletter. For details,
go to:
http://www.fortunenow.com/fortunenow/
FortuneNow.com
P.O. Box 890084
Houston, TX 77289
Phone: 281-280-9800
E-Mail:
fortune@fortunenow.com
Website:
http://www.fortunenow.com
Tom 'Big Al' Schreiter
Fortune Network Publishing
PO Box 890084
Houston, TX 77289 USA
Phone: (281) 280-9800
http://www.fortunenow.com
bigalnews@fortunenow.com