Looking back at my IBO days, I can now chuckle at some of the crazy stuff we did and believe it or not, I have reason to believe that my old LOS, WWDB still teaches some of this and some other large groups still teach it. I believe some of these tactics were the reason why some individuals describe to the Amway business as cult or having cult like tendencies. If you identify some of these activities, you might be in an unethical organisation and you should ask your upline the tough questions and possibly reconsider or reprioritize your role in the firm.
Submission to upline was one of the things we were told. Our group was informed that upline would never purposefully lead us astray therefore we should trust them and never try anything without verifying upline. Afterall, upline had experience and undoubtedly had all the answers. Some of this checking upline included asking permission to get married, buy a car or a property, or even something as little as acquiring a camera. The upline suggested maybe someone upline would offer suggestions on how to obtain a good bargain on a camera thus no harm in checking upline before making a purchase. It is my guess that upline didn't want your disposable revenue being spent on anything other than standing orders and functions. Our group was trained to reduce debt, but oddly, upline advised it was good to go deeper in debt if it was to attend a function or to buy additional cds.
Late meetings. Our upline was into late meetings, many occuring after midnight. I assume it was a display of commitment and dedication to the upline and the system. In truth, it made most people upset at their jobs because they had to wake up early to go to work. For me it made me upset at our upline because the meetings taught us nothing of substance and it only made us tired. We used to hear our upline preach about the importance of time, but it was never essential enough for him to make sure he showed up on time for his own late-night meetings. Another aspect that resembles a cult is sleep deprivation.
Secrets. Every time we inquired about the amount of income our uplines may have been receiving, we were either told it was none of our concern or handed a Xerox of a bonus check that someone upline may have earned ten years ago that we had no knowledge of. It was upline who showed out photographs of sports vehicles and mansions as proof that the business was successful for us. Of course, we now know that some WWDB diamonds had their homes foreclosed on, and that one renowned triple diamond had some business ties with the bankruptcy court. Looking back, I assume that many gems are encumbered by mortgages, which would not be a problem if these leaders hadn't sneered at the idea of taking out a loan in the first place. That diamonds may be used to purchase anything, including homes, in cash. My former sponsor continues to live in a dilapidated leased property because he will not purchase a home unless he has the necessary funds. Because my previous sponsor is a physician, I find his attitude on purchasing a home to be completely absurd. Because of his dedication to the system and its functions, his oldest child, a son, is likely to have grown up without his parents' involvement.
Losing money is considered a victory. On numerous occasions, our group was informed that losing money was a sign of success. It was a success because we were making a long-term investment in ourselves. That the business is truly not about making money, but rather about making friends. I guess upline taught this because everyone was losing money at the time, and it was comforting to hear that success was just around the corner, and that we were all nicer people who were well on our way to success if we just went to more gatherings and purchased more standing orders. People who sold aside some of their own belongings in order to attend a function were edified if they did it for the right reasons. Obviously, these individuals were not encouraged to operate their firm within their financial capabilities. Indeed, Upline stated that it was acceptable to incur debt, but only if the debt was used to invest in the business or purchase additional function tickets.
While some of these practices seem bizarre, I believe it is because the upline advice was self serving and meant to channel their downline's dollars into tool purchases. It's the only conclusion I can come to at this point. What do you think is the conclusion?
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