Team Eagle Book Review

Book Review

by:

LAKENDRICK
TROTTER

JERMAINE
HENDERSON

MARLENE
PRICE

JIMMY
SHEFFIELD

CHANTIA
WEST

Purpose

"Making the First Circle Work" was just a thought at first.
However the information seemed more relevant after a
training held by Randy Gage sparked some interest. After
the training event an attendee insisted that the information
needed to be shared and that Randy should write a book
about it. Thus "Making the First Circle Work" was written
and published with the purpose of sharing industry best
practices on how to create duplication in your organization
by focusing on where it all begins, “the first circle” yourself.

Making the First Circle Work: The Foundation
for Duplication in Network Marketing
Written by: Randy Gage
Published by: Prime Concepts Group, Inc

Introduction

Making Your First Circle Work is a short manifesto
written by the author to offer practical advice for those
seeking growth and flourishment in their organization.
The book provides basic principles to ensure that your
company is efficient at the most important aspect of any
successful direct sales company “Duplication”. Randy
Gage, who is world renowned in MLM/direct sales
sector, provides insight on key elements and behavior
an organization can implement to create duplication.

Making the First Circle Work was an enjoyable read.
The book provided simple and basic strategies that
everyone in the organization can follow. The main goal
of the book is to help the reader understand that
building a successful organization starts with the
leaders of the company. Often, leaders point the blame
their team or downline, but the author points out that the
leaders set the tone in the organization and model
behavior. As the book stated leaders set the culture of
the team and that culture manifests itself either in a
positive way or a negative one.

Our mindset
creates our
attitude...

There are 6 key elements an organization should
focus on in the network marketing industry. We
will discuss a few of the elements pointed out by
Cage which are Attitude, Culture, Events, Volume,
Taproot Process and Leading by example. Let’s
start with Attitude. The way Randy Gage put it is
“Having a positive mindset may have more to do
with success than any other single thing we could
have” Your attitude will directly affect your
results. The book touches on the importance of
keeping your mindset right. Being optimistic is a
must and it has a lot to do with your mindset. You
must participate in daily self-development, utilize
positive learning videos, readings, attend events
and surround yourself with like-minded individuals
who share the same positive mindset..

Culture is such a key component in any business,
that it is no surprise that Randy Gage dedicates a
entire chapter to this concept. Randy introduces
readers to the importance of having an
organization that operates with core values and
integrity. “Just do the right thing”. He shows us
that operating with integrity, will allow you to
attract and retain good people, and as an added
benefit, those relationships will last longer
because they are built on trust. When leaders
demonstrate that the business is done with
integrity, then that behavior will become the
standard throughout the team and becomes
contagious. At that point success will follow and
more importantly, you’ll feel great and be
rewarded for doing so.

The deeper the
taproot..the
stronger the
tree..

As like everything else in the book, the next
concept also centers around the important of the
“first circle”, yourself. Randy points out that “in
legitimate network marketing....we get paid only
on the volume produced by products or services
delivered to the end consumers”. Because of
this it is crucial for leaders to set the bar by not
only creating volume for themselves but showing
their team how it is done as well. You can do
this by encouraging your team to follow three
guidelines; use the products or services
themselves, keep a full stock of products that
can be given away as samples or gifts, and
creating a customer base of individuals who love
your products.

Cage discusses the next element from “Making
the First Circle Work” as a must be implemented
strategy that would be beneficial in your network
marketing business, the “Taproot” strategy. This
is the strategy where a leader focuses on
working with and building his team from the
bottom up, quite opposite from how most in the
industry build. In the book Randy provides
insight on how this strategy motivates, builds
momentum throughout the organization, and
teaches the newly enrolled team members how
to then duplicate the process themselves.
Eventually all work on all levels will spread up
the team and create a stronger organization.

..you lead people
and manage
things

The next concept that Randy blesses the
audience with is no stranger to the industry of
network marketing. Events! "Making the First
Circle Work" introduces us to the science
behind events. Randy discusses the different
types of meetings, when to use them, how
often to hold them, and yes there is an actual
strategy.The key point is that these events
are strategically used to maximize knowledge,
improve attitude, change behavior, develop
skills, and build belief

In Randy Cage’s words “You don’t manage
people. You lead people and manage things”.
This is the reason that the next main concept
is called monthly counseling. Monthly
counseling sessions are one on one meetings
designed for leaders to meet with key team
members and evaluate where they are and
how to get them to the next level. At these
meetings leaders mentor their teams by
addressing and redirecting any dysfunctional
behavior, evaluating their business statistics
such as number of lines with a leader and
number of leaders in the organization, as well
as developing their own leadership.

We are
responsible for

going first...

The Team agrees that the principles listed in
the book can be used in any type of business
as a great blueprint for success. Many of the
points and principles displayed in this book
have been widely celebrated over the years
as best practices of successful businesses in
all industries, not just network marketing.

In conclusion to “Making the first circle work”
by Randy Gage, the book teaches the
necessary characteristics to establish a
successful organization by, setting standards,
expectations, motivating, and leading by
example. If these principles are applied to
daily operations and development, making the
first circle can become reality.

01
02

Team Eagle

TAKING ACTION

MARLENE: I really like Leading by Example and starting
with Self. It is important to remember that most people
will duplicate what they see or hear if it is valuable to
their success. As Leaders we should remember that
People will follow you if they feel you have their best
interest at heart. The best way to demonstrate that is
by modeling your behavior so that others will want to
duplicate it.
Identify your Why if it works duplicate.
How by starting with (Self)
When starting (Now)

CHANTIA: One technique from the book Making the First
Circle Work by Randy Gage, that I cannot wait to put
into action is monthly counseling. When it comes to
leading our future UIG distributors and our current and
future UFSTSG licensees, monthly counseling for my
team will go into effect immediately. I will schedule a
one on one monthly counseling meeting, the beginning of
every month, for each team member. This will ensure
that communication is frequent enough to help team
members who are having difficulty solve their problem
before they give up on their dream, secondly, it will keep
everyone engaged and focused on their success with the
company, and lastly it will create an atmosphere of trust
and servanthood, where everyone has your best interest
in mind. All of which are important when working with a
team.

JIMMY: After reading how to Make Your First Circle Work
I agree with the author that you don't manage people.
You lead people & manage things. In the past, I have
failed at this. I am now ready to share my vision because
duplication will come from me. I must be engaged with
my team weekly and having meetings, conference calls,
and going to events. After all..I am the first circle.
Keeping a positive attitude and a high belief level is the
key because it translate to what you get back from other
people. I must also be a fan of my products. In other
words, “Tell My Story” of how it helps me. Being able the
reach down into my organization and help people on the
farther levels and build. Because strength from the
bottom up will be felt all the way to the top "When you
can't hire and fire people, you're forced to learn “how to
inspire, lead, and partner for a common goal"

JERMAINE: Culture----Randy Gage’s view on, “Creating
the right Culture in your organization,” is the one
element that resonated with me and is an area I want to
focus on both personally and professionally. When you
think of the word culture, I think about cultivating a
garden; a farmer would have to prepare the land for the
use of crops or gardening. Farmers have to plow, dig,
pull weeds, and fertilize the land to have a good
harvest; it’s a similar process when leaders are creating
the right Culture in their organization. It starts with self,
so leaders have to set the tone, giving everyone in the
downline a step by step road map to success.
Duplication is the end goal of any successful
organization and in order for that to come to pass it’s
imperative that leaders “Create the Right Culture.”

LAKENDRICK: Something that really got my attention
was, that we can’t hire or fire a potential target person.
We have to inspire, lead, and partner for one common
goal. With my first circle I’m looking forward to being
more of the driving force behind each and every one of
my team’s success stories. I’m going to help them
understand how starting locally attending and hosting
events can help them feed into major events. Let them
know the 5 purposes of the events to be able to
maximize full potential. Also lead them by example,
passion, and motivation by having weekly one’s or group
meetings much as possible.

THYAONUK

TEAM EAGLE