EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ADVANCEMENTS NEW
Getting from Good to Great Executive Director Joanne Khoo knows all about being good. Since young, she has always been good in whatever she did, be it in academics, sports, painting or just about anything else. Looking back, Joanne confessed, “I was good, but that’s all I’ve ever been. Nothing beyond. I was never great, because being great required too much effort, energy, tenacity and determination.” As being great required her to step out of her comfort zone, overcoming fear and doing things she has never done before, every time she came across an opportunity to be great, she shied away. “I was afraid of losing what I have, instead of looking at what I might potentially gain,” she continues. In a way, Joanne’s own rationale convinced her that she was contented. She was running an advertising agency for more than 10 years when her sister, Senior Director 8 Kathryn Khoo, introduced her to Melaleuca in 2011. “I remember her telling me that I needed to get rid of all the harmful chemicals in my home, and sharing with me about Melaleuca’s range of safer products,” Joanne recalls. As she was expecting her son then, she realized how important it was to convert her home to safer products. Still, she was contented just being a Melaleuca customer and living life as she has always known. It was not until September 2013, when Executive Directors 9 Eric Toh and Stephanie Thian introduced Joanne to Melaleuca’s business opportunity, that she started thinking about it seriously. “I was intrigued by the promise of residual income based on a sustainable business model. My thinking began to change once I had my son. My biggest goal was to earn residual income for my son’s future but I was not close to achieving that even after running my advertising agency for the last 10 years. Being a Melaleuca customer, with nothing but positive product experiences, I knew there was a sea of potential customers out there, who would shop with Melaleuca month after month,” Joanne explains. Joanne decided to enroll in Melaleuca and told herself that she was no longer contented with just being good–she wanted to be great. With that resolution, it took her only 12 months to advance to Senior Director 5, and this fantastic accomplishment propelled her to achieve greatness. However, her focus on being great and advancing to Executive Director became an obstacle instead and slowed her progress. She tried as hard as she could but found herself unable to move forward for a long time. “With the setbacks, fear and doubt started to creep in. I thought to myself, “Am I just destined to be good, and not great?” But because I am now a mother, I know I can’t just quit. I had to push myself, but I just did not know how,” Joanne explains. Despite the challenges, Joanne continuously focused on the 7 Critical Business-Building Activities, but it wasn’t until the 2016 Taiwan and Japan Fast Track Trip, where Eric introduced her to Taiwan’s Executive Director 9 Peggy Hsieh that she really found the answer. “I spoke to Peggy, but I didn’t know what to ask to get her advice,” Joanne says, recalling that Peggy then asked her, “Joanne, what do you want?” Joanne told Peggy that she wants to reach Executive Director status, to which Peggy asked her, “So what do you have?” It was a simple question, but yet it stumped her. “That night, I cried in the bathroom. At that moment I realized that my desire to be great was so consuming, that I forgot I first needed to be better,” Joanne remembers. In the motion of pushing herself to carry out her daily activities, Joanne found herself busy being busy but didn’t stop to evaluate what she needed to improve in. “I knew then that I had to be a better Senior Director 5 to move forward and advance to Senior Director 6, before even thinking about advancing to Executive Director. It was time to re-evaluate my activities
and how I was engaging in the Critical Activities, instead of just doing them on a roll,” she continues. Besides her own activities, Joanne also looked at strengthening her team of business builders. She set up an accountability system for her and her team to report their daily activities. Although it was a challenge to get everyone to be consistent at the beginning, now each of her business builders unfailingly report their daily activities after seeing how being accountable has helped them improve performance. “I also started weekly training sessions for my team. When we first started, there were only a few in attendance. But now, I’m proud to say that the room is full every single week,” Joanne says happily. More regular and effective strategy sessions with her business builders were also called for, Joanne says. “There’s clarity when you map out a path to achieve the next goal,” she continues. The face-to-face strategy sessions were also important to inspire action in her builders. “It’s not just a matter of telling them what they need to do, but it’s more important to inspire them to take action because of their own ‘WHY’. When you inspire your builders to act on their own accord, you no longer need to call them every day to follow up on their activities,” Joanne explains. With the positive changes, Joanne finally broke through the rut she was in, and achieved Senior Director 6 in July 2016. She subsequently advanced to Senior Director 7 in November 2016, Senior Director 8 in April 2017 and in May this year, she achieved a major milestone and advanced to Executive Director, which she celebrated in conjunction with her birthday. “My ‘WHY’ is my son Raeden. I want to leave a legacy for him, which is why I never let myself quit. Melaleuca gives me the time freedom and a real residual income,” says Joanne, who has since sold off her advertising business. “I get to cook for my son every single day and be there for him anytime he needs me. It’s something so simple, and yet, the joy it brings me is more than words can say,” Joanne expresses gratefully. In laughter, she says that she also fulfilled her husband, Lam Wai Cheong’s dream when she brought him to Tokyo Disneyland in 2016. Joanne advises business builders, saying, “If you find yourself stuck in a rut, just stop for a moment and focus on getting better. Not better than anyone else, but becoming a better version of your former self. If you’re able to focus on getting better, the results with come.” Truer words have never been said. She concludes by sharing her goal, “This year I will advance to Executive Director 3!”
Joanne Khoo
MELALEUCA LIFETIME EARNINGS: RM957,922.11 PREFERRED CUSTOMERS IN ORGANIZATION: 1,054
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