When the seeds for BNI Renaissance were first planted way back in October 2006, we set ourselves a simple vision to find and attract good people, which is “To be a magnetic chapter whereby talented and committed people were naturally attracted to be part of us”. The first step is choosing the right team members and getting them to play 
together. Attracting talents is important because it is a powerful way to continuously raise the bar and motivate one another to push for our best. As such, talents have to be applauded. But having talented but not committed members will only result in a chapter with very short lifespan. It takes strong commitment from every member to achieve outstanding attendance, punctuality, high referral rate, high visitor rate, etc. In a big chapter, it is easy for the mentality of “it’s ok if I am not around this week because my absence will not be felt anyway” or “it’s ok not to invite visitors this week because other members will bring anyway? to seep in. Judging by the historical 
experience of other BNI chapters, once commitment in the chapter starts to take a backseat, it is guaranteed that the chapter will begin on the path of decline.

With talented and committed members, the battle is only half-won. The leader’s job is to harmonise the members. The star shines even brighter in a team than in the individual.  Just imagine BNI Renaissance as the Dream Team in US basketball. Each member can be fantastic star, but they also operate very seamlessly as a team. The moment members in our chapter do not play as team and allow individual agendas to set us apart, we will start to fall apart too. Therefore, it is also of utmost importance to build trust among members, especially during a period of fast growth, because at the end of day, we want to be “building ties that bind” (by the way, this is BNI Renaissance slogan).

In conclusion, let us recap again; if you imagine a BNI Renaissance sitting on top of a tripod, our chapter has to be supported by 3 very strong legs, namely: Leadership, System and People. The 3 legs are interdependent and a weakness in any one of the legs will result in the chapter “sliding down”. Last but not the least, a winning chapter will attract winners, thereby further strengthening the chapter.

During our Personal Development Night (the first wed of the month), we listened to Jim Rohn’s Teachings about Personal Development. He shares how learning about sales and marketing has changed his life and earned him a lot of money. People pay a lot of money to listen to him, but I got access to his materials for the price of a cup of coffee a day!

Here are some important principles that apply to your business and life:

1. Profits are better than wages. Wages make you a living, but profits make you a fortune!

2. Use stories to share with your friends. They are impactful and touches the hearts of people. Personal stories are great because people usually remember stories.

3. The Magic of Part-Time is a great recruiting tool for MLMers. Eg, I earn xxx from this part time job. or This vacation was paid for by my part time job. If you earn another $1000 from a full time job, nobody wants to know about it, but if you earn $1000 from a part time job, everyone wants a piece of it!

4. Its not what happens that determines your life future, its what you do that determines your life future.

5. Opportunity is always mixed with Difficulty.

6. For things to change, I have to change.

7. Don’t wish it was easiler, wish you were better.
Don’t wish for less challenges, wish you were wiser

8. If you do something enough, a ratio will appear- The law of averages always appear. (Useful for sales people to know)

9. I make up for numbers for what I lack in skill.

10. To Achieve Greatness- Service to Many leads to Greatness.

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1. Clear vision of the future

This is essential for the continuity of a successful team as all the members will then be committed to work towards a common future.  With a clear vision of the future, the leaders can inspire and also motivate the members of the team to be highly confident, committed and adopt a positive outlook. Good and effective leadership with a clear vision of the future is a very essential component for a good collaboration.

2. Constant communication

Communication is essential in any interpersonal contact and more importantly of a team. As a group gets larger, constant communication should be emphasized to both the leaders and the members of that particular team. Expressing of ideas, articulation of feelings, expressing the goals and plans, and sharing motivations that one has is a good way to cement a team. Establishing the roles one has to play is also important as every member needs to understand what exactly his or her role in the team is and his or her responsibilities. The leader can outline this on the onset of the team formation, in a clear manner defining purpose of every member.

3. Constructive criticism

No matter how strong and compact a team functions together, there will always be conflicts and arguments arising. Team members should be encouraged to give constructive criticism and very often it is the members who care for the team that will voice out their thoughts and feelings. This is essential to ensure that problems and unhappiness are voiced out in a timely manner so that a sound resolution can take place. A team that consists of yes-man or members who do not take the courage to voice their unhappiness will be in danger of disintegrating one day when small issues balloon to a big problems. The right way to give constructive criticism is that it must always be given in the light of the larger good of the team and it must be backed by suggestions on how to make improvements. Team leaders should get to the core of the argument instead of avoiding the issue. To avoid offending other members or misunderstandings, clear channels to provide feedback should be established and such channels communicated to members so that everyone understand the preferred way to give feedback within the team.

 As time is a constraint faced by most people, group dance cards will be more efficient as compared to the traditional way of 1-1 dance card.  To maximise the result from group dance cards, below are several suggestions on conducting effective group dance cards:

 1. Show-Case melody

 Each member given 10 minutes to talk about their business & ideal client profile. Be very specific & time-conscious about how the show-case is being done. The objective is to get to know in greater detail about each other’s business goals, ideal client profiles & how to get referrals for them. Some specific things to talk about:

 a. What’s the unique selling proposition for your company & its’ products/services? Why your company, not your competitors?

 b. Ideal client Profiles, and how they can benefit from your services.

 c. How do you propose you can work with the various members of your group?

 d. What are the improvements you hope to make this year about your business, personal and professional development?

 2. Speed Dance-Card

 a. Each write down their name on a slip of paper, put into two separate cups alternately, so that you split into two groups. Open all the slips in one cup, and get them to each in turn pick a name from the other cup. This will be the first round of combination.

 b. Each given 10 minutes to share their business. Be specific about the dance-card, to quickly state the unique selling points, how their services can benefit their target market groups. Then each given another 5 minutes to suggest how to collaborate with each other.

 c. Then rotate in order of group 1 meeting new group 2 person. Then finally one round together within the group.

 3. Chapter Improvement suggestions

 a. Break-out into 2 sub-groups and discuss about

 i. What suggestions you have to increase referrals especially for members who did not receive a lot of referrals and especially tier 2 referrals?

 ii. What are the suggestions you have to develop stronger business ties as well as relationship between members?

 iii. How can we as a chapter market our chapter members’ services more effectively?

 iv. What arethe things that have happenedinBNI that will make you commit to the Chapter and become a 10 year member?

 v. What are your suggestions on how we can improve BNI Renaissance further?

 b. Run a general discussion with each member given 5 minutes to speak about what areas of improvements can be made to the chapter. Get a facilitator to classify and group the points made. Then open to the entire group and go through groupings of suggestions and comments.

 4. Share about How Referrals and Visitors came about. This will help each other learn how to pass more referrals and bring visitors.

 5. Visitor Day! – Why not make it an occasion to invite visitors to your members’ group gathering. You can put together a social event, perhaps get a member to be MC and introduce other members and share what the BNI Renaissance is all about.

I have learnt that your mindset towards adversity will have a profound effect on how you deal with adversity. Remember the following:

1. Life is a continuous succession of both small and large problems. Problems never end. No sooner do you get control of one situation when you are hit by another. Learn to accept that life is a process of “two steps forward and one step back.”

2. You only learn what you’re made of only when you are fall, end over end, by some adversity that hits you like a truck. What really matters is how you pick yourself up.

3. You couldn’t possibly have become the person you are today if you hadn’t contended with adversity. You grow more surely toward the stars.

4. The Universe will never send a difficulty that is too big for you to handle. Whatever problems or adversities you face, you have within you the resources and creativity to deal with them. You have within you, right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you.

The only question is, “How good are you at overcoming the inevitable adversities of life?”

Here are 4 steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.

1. Treat every problem or difficulty as if it were a “test,” sent to test your competency. Look for ways to grow stronger and benefit, and “pass” the test with high marks.

2. Stay calm no matter what happens. The longer you can stay calm and relaxed, the better decisions you make and the faster you will be out of your difficulty. You need clarity of mind. Take full control of your emotions and senses. Back off mentally, and become as objective as possible. Step back and look at the problem with a certain amount of detachment, as if it were happening to someone else.

3. Ask other people who have had the same problem for their advice. Don’t try to solve it by yourself.

4. Remind yourself, “This, too, shall pass.”

There are 3 skills to improve your conversations with others and they are summarized by PAP.

The first P stands for Pausing.

One key to becoming a great conversationalist is to pause before replying. A short pause, of three to five seconds allows you accomplish three goals simultaneously.

First, you avoid running the risk of interrupting if the other person is just catching his or her breath before continuing.

Second, you show the other person that you are giving careful consideration to his or her words by not jumping in with your own comments at the earliest opportunity.

The third benefit of pausing is that you will actually hear the other person better. His or her words will soak into a deeper level of your mind and you will understand what he or she is saying with greater clarity. By pausing, you mark yourself as a brilliant conversationalist.

The second A stands for Ask

Another way to become a great conversationalist is to ask question for clarification. Never assume that you understand what the person is saying or trying to say. Instead, ask, “What do you mean, exactly?”

This is the most powerful question that is almost impossible not to answer. When you ask, “What do you mean?” the other person cannot stop himself or herself from answering more extensively. You can then follow up with other open-ended questions and keep the conversation rolling along.

The third P stands for Paraphrase

The third way to become a great conversationalist is to paraphrase the speaker’s words in your own words. After you’ve nodded and smiled, you can then say, “Let me see if I’ve got this right. What you’re saying is . . .”

By paraphrasing the speaker’s words, you demonstrate in no uncertain terms that you are genuinely paying attention and making every effort to understand his or her thoughts or feelings.

And the wonderful thing is, when you practice PAP, you are practicing effective listening. Other people will begin to find you fascinating. They will want to be around you. They will feel relaxed and happy in your presence. The more you listen to another person, the more he or she trusts you and believes in you. Listening also builds self-esteem. When you listen attentively to another person, his or her self-esteem will naturally increase. Finally, listening builds self-discipline in the listener. Because your mind can process words at 500-600 words per minute, and we can only talk at about 150 words per minute, it takes a real effort to keep your attention focused on another person’s words. The more you work at paying close attention to what the other person is saying, the more self-disciplined you will become. In other words, by learning to listen well, you actually develop your own character and your own personality.

The mission statement should be a clear and succinct representation of the enterprise’s purpose for existence. It should incorporate socially meaningful and measurable criteria addressing concepts such as the moral/ethical position of the enterprise, public image, the target market, products / services, the geographic domain and expectations of growth and profitability.

The intent of the Mission Statement should be the first consideration for any employee who is evaluating a strategic decision. The statement can range from a very simple to a very complex set of ideas.

Mission Statements of Well Known Enterprises

The following are some examples of mission statements from real enterprises.

3M
“To solve unsolved problems innovatively”

Wal-Mart
“To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same thing as rich people.”

Google: “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Walt Disney
“To make people happy.”
These are the ‘one-liners’, but each is supported by a set of values that set the performance standards and direct the implementation of the mission.
And Walt Disney, an entertainment business states their values as follows.

• No cynicism
• Nurturing and promulgation of “wholesome American values”
• Creativity, dreams and imagination
• Fanatical attention to consistency and detail
• Preservation and control of the Disney “magic”

Many believe that the Mission Statement should have a grand scale, be socially meaningful and be measurable. The following are some examples of historical Mission Statements that were truly grand in scale.

Conclusion

So, when you are preparing your Mission Statement remember to make it clear and succinct, incorporating socially meaningful and measurable criteria and consider approaching it from a grand scale. As you create your Mission Statement consider including some or all of the following concepts.

• The moral/ethical position of the enterprise
• The desired public image
• The key strategic influence for the business
• A description of the target market
• A description of the products/services
• The geographic domain
• Expectations of growth and profitability

Answering the following questions will help you to create a verbal picture of your business’s mission:

• Why are you in business? What do you want for yourself, your family and your customers? Think about the spark that ignited your decision to start a business. What will keep it burning?
• Who are your customers? What can you do for them that will enrich their lives and contribute to their success–now and in the future?
• What image of your business do you want to convey? Customers, suppliers, employees and the public will all have perceptions of your company. How will you create the desired picture?
• What is the nature of your products and services? What factors determine pricing and quality? Consider how these relate to the reasons for your business’s existence. How will all this change over time?
• What level of service do you provide? Most companies believe they offer “the best service available,” but do your customers agree? Don’t be vague; define what makes your service so extraordinary.
• What roles do you and your employees play? Wise captains develop a leadership style that organizes, challenges and recognizes employees.
• What kind of relationships will you maintain with suppliers? Every business is in partnership with its suppliers. When you succeed, so do they.
• How do you differ from your competitors? Many entrepreneurs forget they are pursuing the same dollars as their competitors. What do you do better, cheaper or faster than other competitors? How can you use competitors’ weaknesses to your advantage?
• How will you use technology, capital, processes, products and services to reach your goals? A description of your strategy will keep your energies focused on your goals.
• What underlying philosophies or values guided your responses to the previous questions? Some businesses choose to list these separately. Writing them down clarifies the “why” behind your mission.

Dennis Ng, http://www.HousingLoanSG.com

BNI Renaissance Chapter Education Coordinator