The Rule of Ten

Do you know the rule of ten?

It’s a business rule that says that for every ten new (clients, team members, leaders, employees, etc) that you add to your business within a 6-12 month period, one will be a super star, 3-4 will be above average, 3-4 will be average/below average, and 1-2 probably never should have said yes in the first place.

I see so many leaders (in networking marketing companies especially but also in traditional businesses) beating themselves up because the people they’ve brought on or the new clients they’ve added aren’t meeting their expectations. And then I find out they’ve only added three people in the last four years!

If you haven’t added ten of whatever or whoever you add in your line of work in the last 6-12 month season, you don’t have a big enough sample size to be drawing any accurate conclusions about your abilities, particularly your leadership abilities. You may have found your superstar right away or you may be working with the one or two who never should’ve been clients. Who knows!

But what they do or don’t do isn’t a reflection of your abilities! Even the most amazing leaders who are leading thriving businesses have never beat the rule of ten. They just have more people so they have more superstars than you! If you could see behind the curtain, you’d see they also have more people who never should’ve started in the first place as well. The rule of ten is undefeated.

Instead of senselessly beating yourself up, pause the unfair self-analysis and focus on the daily steps you can control. Add ten in the next 6-12 months. In Monopoly terms, do not pass go and do not collect $200 until you’ve added ten. And I’ll bet you’ll find that out of those ten, you have a superstar, a few above average performers, a few below average and one or even two who are leaving or probably should.

Again, the rule of ten is undefeated.