“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”
If you’re a direct sales leader, you’ve undoubtedly found yourself in a situation where you’re banging your head against the wall with one of your team members, feeling like you want success for her more than she wants it for herself. You’ve given her every tool you can think of, shared success strategies that you know will work, and she’s done virtually nothing but complain about her lack of results, all while taking exactly zero action steps to see results.
That’s when you have to remember that all of the solutions in the world won’t support someone unless they commit to actually taking action on them. Telling someone what to do and walking away will generally not get either of you results. They need an action plan to begin with, and more importantly, the drive and desire to get what they want badly enough to follow that plan.
And if they don’t have that drive and desire, they’ll stand there, like the horse, stubbornly refusing to drink. In that situation, you have no power whatsoever. Trying to force them to drink will only frustrate you and probably cause them to dig their heels in even more strongly and resist. My advice, when you have someone in your downline who’s put you in this position?
Bless and release them. Let them know that you’re there for them when they’re ready to get serious, take action, and work with you in their business, but until then, you can’t help them. And then focus your attention on all of those incredibly thirsty people on your team who are ready and able to not only drink, but dive right in and take huge gulps in order to move their businesses forward.
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Julie Anne Jones is a sought after speaker, certified life and business coach, and online trainer, and the CEO of Julie Anne Jones, Inc. She is known for her authentic and easy-to-use scripting and specializes in specific language and tools for success in business. To learn more about Julie Anne and her products and services, and to read her weekly blog posts, visit her at www.julieannejones.com.
