President's Message - A Personal Influence August 2001

In the nearly 16 years I have been President and CEO of Melaleuca, Inc., I have seen many milestones. There were years of record sales, product breakthroughs, and exciting changes. But I think the real value of these years can best be measured in the number of lives that have changed for the better.

The ability to impact lives is very powerful. Whether we know it or not, we are influencing the lives of people around us every day through our actions. I recently read about a study that was done by a professor at Johns Hopkins University.* He taught a graduate class that was studying how a person's social position, environment, and many other factors determined the outcome of their lives. To begin the study, he asked his graduate students to go into the slums, find 200 boys between the ages of 12 and 16, and predict their future. After investigating the lifestyle and social conditions of the boys and studying social trends across the country, the class concluded that 90 percent of the boys would spend some time in jail.

Twenty-five years later the professor asked a new class of graduate students to test the prediction. They went back to the same area and started searching for the men who had been interviewed as teenagers. Some had died, many had moved away, but they eventually found 180 people from the original group of 200. To their surprise, only 4 had ever spent time in jail. Why did these men have a much better record than expected? National trends had not changed, and theoretically the prediction of how these young men would end up should have been more accurate.

As the researchers interviewed the men, they asked what had made a difference in their lives. They were often told, "There was this teacher ." With further research, they found that 75 percent of the boys had been taught by the same woman.

The researchers found the teacher in a group retirement home. They asked her what she had done to make such a difference in the lives of the children she taught. She could think of nothing. Then she said, more to herself than to her questioners, "I loved those boys."

It became obvious that it wasn't what had been taught in the textbooks that had changed the boys' lives. It was that this teacher had genuinely cared for them, and therefore she had touched their lives in ways that even she was not aware of. Her caring for them and loving them had made all the difference. They had beat the odds; many had achieved their dreams because she cared and they could tell that she cared.

Each of us has the opportunity to have that same impact on those around us. Without question, we all have touched people's lives in ways that we are not fully aware of. Our example, our friendship, and our energy can affect and even teach people in subtle ways. It all starts with being there and giving our personal attention to people.

As Melaleuca continues to grow, we will have many opportunities to enhance the lives of those we touch. But it's doubtful we will have much impact unless we are there in person. In order to make such an impact on people - the kind of impact that can really influence people's lives - I believe we must make ourselves available in person. I doubt if the teacher could have had the same impact if she had talked to those young men on the telephone or over the internet.

Several years ago the author of Megatrends, John Naisbitt, forecasted that each year the world will become more "high-tech." He also forecasted that as we become a world of high technology, our human nature will seek out more "high-touch" experiences to compensate for the "high-tech" - and those companies which promote only "high-tech" without "high-touch" will fail. As we look at the disaster of thousands of dot-com companies this last year it is obvious that his prediction held true.

As more and more people come into your business, you may be tempted to use technology to replace personal teaching and mentoring with quicker, impersonal methods in an attempt to save time. Although technology has a lot to offer in speed, my sense is that we need to be careful in how we use it. Those shortcuts may not be profitable in the long run. Melaleuca began with people helping people through personal, one-on-one and in-home presentations. That is what gave our company a stable foundation. If we take the time to do quality in-home presentations, we will continue to build on this foundation. I would caution us not to make the mistake of trying to get fast results over the Internet. Those results can quickly disappear. Nothing can outdo the results you get from personal in-home presentations and strategy sessions that are the foundation of this business.

Certainly these are times when a telephone presentation or internet presentation is the only way possible to connect with someone, given the geography between two individuals. But the effectiveness of that presentation can never compare with the effectiveness of a relationship that is developed in person.

This is a relationship-based business. If you skip over the relationship you will miss much of what Melaleuca brings to the table. The relationships that we have with people will affect them more than any textbook or any data communicated via internet or telephone. If we really want to impact lives, it is likely that we will do it in person. We can use technology to communicate thoughts, ideas and concepts, but technology is very ineffective at communicating how much we care. And it's the caring that changes people's lives. Let's make sure that we take the time to care enough to be there in person. Our reward will be that we really impact people's lives and the business that we build will continue to grow and prosper.

Sincerely,

Frank

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