What type are you?

3/2/08

There are all kinds of people in BNI, from those that ‘get it’ the moment they walk into their very first meeting, all the way through to those, who although they join, never really discover what BNI is all about and so never really get the true value out of their membership.

And, it starts with what type of member you are. Do you really believe in the philosophy of ‘Givers Gain’ and will you give BNI the benefit of the doubt that they may have just got things right after 22 years?

Now I’m not saying that everything about BNI is correct, and I doubt that they would either, as things are changing all the time and can be developed. But I think you need to understand how and why things work before you try changing them, or just not do them.

I was having a coffee with a member a while ago, during a break in training, and he was saying that he almost didn’t renew for his second year, but luckily for him he had. During his first year of membership he had turned up for meetings and hoped to get some referrals, and sadly didn’t get many, but just enough to put pen to his renewal. Then something happened to change his viewpoint (he had no idea what), but suddenly he was going to meetings thinking ‘I’ve got referrals to give today’. And guess what? He has received far more back!

I did an education slot once entitled ‘Non-Givers Lose’, as I really believe that although givers really do gain, non-givers lose out more. But more about that later.

How about trying an experiment? For the next month, try ‘giving’ in every way you can, without any thought of a return and see what happens. You may just be surprised at the results.