Shane Parrish

And Mary Kay obsessed over this balance.

She insisted that consultants focused on selling and not recruiting.

And she implemented policies to actually prevent against predatory dynamics.

So there were no inventory requirements.

You bought what you needed when you needed it.

There was a super generous return policy.

If you couldn't sell something, you could return it for 90% of what you paid.

Commissions were based on sales and not recruiting.

Your override commissions were based on how much your downline sold, not how many people they recruited.

And you couldn't buy your way to titles.

They were earned through actual sales performance over time.

And these policies created a system where the incentives aligned correctly.

Your success as a recruiter depended on your recruit's success as sellers, which depended on your customers actually wanting the products.

But policies weren't enough.

She needed to turn those housewives with no sales experience into effective business people.

She needed a training system that was replicable and scalable.

And she understood a principle she'd later write about extensively.

You build with people.

Leaders are dependent upon the performance of their people, and so is a company's success.

Good people are a company's most important asset.