Orrin Woodward on LIFE & Leadership

Finally, with the creation of Team Approach – a systematic way to build organizations, used across numerous companies today – Chris and I exploded our businesses. Team Approach and our focus on leadership communities changed everything. In fact, we went from 200 people to over 1,200 people at events in the next twelve months! We have never looked back. Chris and Terri achieved their dreams and goals, mainly because they refused to quit when the going got tough. They, along with Laurie and I, committed to overcome any obstacles, addressing all issues in order to fix the broken business model to which we were originally introduced.

After fixing the business building portion with Team Approach, Chris and I next addressed the unjust reward system for community training. Some recognized the injustice and wanted to throw out the baby with the bath water. Chris and I, instead, just changed the bathwater. Training is essential for growing large communities; however, the training rewards must be based upon who builds the numbers, not who was there first. In other words, in the Team, it doesn’t matter if you started ten years ago or ten months ago. Rather, what matters is whether you are serving your community with character and what numbers you have across your organizations. People follow leaders, and when a leader builds a following, he should be rewarded based upon numbers, not hierarchy.

Accordingly, the equitable way in which the Team compensates those who carry the heavy training load is one of the Team differences because leaders know that it’s based upon service and meritocracy, not politics or position. The Team teaches people how to build pipelines, rewarding trainers based upon their results in training others. Team, in other words, isn’t a passive income for leaders, but a working income earned through service to other community members. LIFE, in contrast, has an MLM component and therefore rewards people even after they stop actively building. This is similar to someone being paid for the water flowing through a pipeline even after he has stopped working on the pipes. Since Team isn’t an MLM, one must train if he expects a training income; otherwise, it wouldn’t be fair. In a typical training system, the person at the top gives himself and a few cronies a special deal – not so with Team. Because Chris and I dreamed of building millions of people into our communities, we knew the “good old boys” club wasn’t only wrong, but it simply wouldn’t work to that scale. Instead, we used our technical backgrounds to reengineer the entire process, making it an equal playing field for all. Today, the Team is the recognized industry leader for fair and equitable training compensation for leaders who do teaching and training.

When we finally realized, after years of effort, that our former product supplier had no intentions of fixing its business model, we knew we had to leave. Without getting into all the details (that would fill a book), we survived nearly three years of legal haggling before finally settling all disputes. In that period of time, tens of millions of dollars were exhausted in a futile attempt to keep people in a company against their will. Even this seemingly negative endeavor, however, was extremely fruitful. We learned our communities grew the fastest when our only products were leadership materials. Simply by teaching leadership and focusing on community, the Team thrived. This was such a paradigm shift that I don’t think either of us understood all of the ramifications at that time. Instead, only with time and reflection did Chris and I realize that our leadership materials and a compensated community were the organizations core competencies.

During the legal morass, Chris and Terri Brady had one of life’s defining moments. Terri was diagnosed with a fast-growing brain tumor. The doctors were extremely concerned and needed to operate quickly. Can you imagine the additional stress on the already heavy load on the Brady family? Most people would have broken under the strain; however, the Brady’s are not most people. Terri displayed a true faith, living with a peace that could only be divinely inspired. Her spirit regarding the surgery and its potential consequences – death, paralysis through nerve damage, and loss of hearing, to name just a few – was simply amazing. How Terri, just days before her surgery, spoke on stage with such thankfulness and grace is beyond natural comprehension. Meanwhile, Chris’s quiet faith in God’s sovereignty spoke more than hundreds of theological volumes. Buoyed by the example of these two courageous champions, the rest of the community remained strong through their own challenges. By God’s grace, Terri’s surgery and recovery were an answer to thousands of prayers. The outpouring of love displayed by the community was indescribable, with thousands of cards, calls, and prayers. Additionally, a community of ladies volunteered to cook meals and nurse Terri back to health. What powerful testaments to God’s grace and Christian love within a community!

Thanks to the invaluable lessons learned during the struggles, we were led to our next major breakthrough – LIFE. LIFE is a culmination of nearly twenty years of learning, leading, and living. It combines the best attributes of four industries – Home Based Businesses, Leadership, Community Building, and Life Coaching. LIFE is a leadership/personal growth company designed to improve people’s lives. Launched in November, 2011, it already has over 2,000 customers. (This is multiple times better in several months than was previously achieved in over a decade.) People are raving about the LIFE products, which include CDs, books, and meetings. Thankfully for LIFE, Chris Brady is a marketing genius. In fact, I view him as one of the best marketers of this generation. What he has done to the look and feel of the LIFE and Team materials is without a doubt the best in the leadership field. This isn’t just my opinion, as Chris just won several Addy awards for his marketing expertise.

Along the journey, Chris has received numerous leadership awards. From being a NY Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling author, and a top 15 Leadership Guru to having an internationally recognized leadership blog, Chris’s leadership thoughts are some of the best. Despite all of the leadership recognition, one of Chris’s best attributes is his disarming humility. You would never guess how much he has accomplished unless you pried it out of him. Both Chris and Terri, in other words, let their actions and results do their talking. If anything, their recognition understates the caliber of leaders they truly are. How many leadership gurus routinely speak in front of tens of thousands of people in a community built with their own leadership materials? Few, if any, do.

The Bradys have built a huge community, leading groups across the US and Canada. They are currently Quad-PCs and accelerating quickly. They are two of the best speakers on the professional circuit. Their mix of humor, stories, and heart, impacts people’s lives internally and eternally. If you have not heard them speak live, you are missing out on one of the most profound experiences of your life. Laurie and I have enjoyed countless hours of learning as we have watched this couple grow into one of the best of the best communicators.

Beyond business, Chris and Terri have also become some of our best friends. With so many years of experiences together, it’s not unusual for us to get together and laugh for hours at a time as we recall humorous stories from our lives together. This, in my opinion, is the greatest joy of community building – lifelong friendships with people of character, integrity, and wisdom. This next statement may surprise people. In truth, it shocks me. For in nearly twenty years together, Chris and I have never raised our voices against each other in anger. We have addressed issues, sought to understand, and resolved conflict, but we never did so in a disrespectful way. We value each other’s friendship and partnership enough to courageously speak the truth in love.

Congratulations to Chris and Terri Brady – LIFE Founders and friends. Laurie and I cannot imagine building LIFE without you. Thank you, Chris and Terri, for giving your personal best night after night, year after year, and using your gifts to impact others. Your integrity, honor, and courage have been displayed before the watching world. Now it’s time to finish what we started and complete our mission. When LIFE reaches 1 million people, the Bradys will have played a huge part in making it happen. Here is to the future together! Sincerely, Orrin Woodward