The Lonely Leader

So Cuisine suggested I read The Art of Seduction by Robert Greene, and if you've been listening to our calls, you know all the drama that has ensued since I started reading it. I promised to post some quotes that apply to network marketing, and I will.

However, I ran across this interesting passage this morning, and I wanted to put it in here right away.

The book is divided into three sections. In the first section, you learn about different seducer types, the point being that one of them "resonates" with you--and that's your type. In the second section, you learn about different "victim" types--these are the different types of people that you will be seducing. The third section (which I have yet to read) describes exactly how to go about it.

I mentioned to Solid yesterday that I had been reading the victim types and didn't really find any correlation to what we're doing with this project concerning sales and network marketing. And then I came across the description of "The Lonely Leader." Here is what it says:

Powerful people are not necessarily different from everyone else, but they are treated differently, and this has a big effect on their personalities. Everyone around them tends to be fawning and courtierlike, to have an angle, to want something from them. This makes them suspicious and distrustful, and a little hard around the edges, but do not mistake the appearance for the reality: Lonely Leaders long to be seduced, to have someone break through their isolation and overwhelm them. The problem is that most people are too intimidated to try, or use the kind of tactics--flattery, charm--that they see through and despise. To seduce such types, it is better to act like their equal or even their superior--the kind of treatment they never get. If you are blunt with them you will seem genuine, and they will be touched--you care enough to be honest, even perhaps at some risk. (Being blunt with the powerful can be dangerous.) Lonely Leaders can be made emotional by inflicting some pain, followed by tenderness.

This is one of the hardest types to seduce, not only because they are suspicious but because their minds are burdened with cares and responsibilities. They have less mental space for a seduction. You will have to be patient and clever, slowly filling their minds with thoughts of you. Succeed, though, and you can gain power in turn, for in their loneliness they will come to depend on you. (page 179)

I found this passage so significant because we are always taught to look for "leaders" (Solid and I have talked about it as "top-down" recruiting), and yet often we are intimidated by these types--even me, who I would definitely put in the category as of one of them!

The people who fall into this category are the ones who will make the most money in network marketing. This passage gives us some guidance on how to reach them.