YOU ARE A LEADER – Motivational Speech for Success 2017 – 2 HOUR MOTIVATION

[Music]
you’ve got a master how to sell the
dream we don’t sell a job
nobody wants a job everybody’s got a job
we sell a tree we sell a pot at the end
of the rainbow we sell hope and
opportunity to men and women they’ve
just been crushed and are disillusioned
and he’d given up and then to we’re you
know we’re Crusaders you’ve got to
master those two things you’re always
talking to you about the little things
make a difference the difference in
winning and losing is this fudge folks
as far out as I can see now for the next
10 15 20 years a ohi’s is to always have
this little competitive edge over the
competition and it’s going to give you a
chance to win and so I’m worried that
maybe you can’t take win it I mean what
it really takes because I am a believer
that experience is the greatest teacher
to work in the world you want to learn
how to sail you just go out there you
just keep selling long enough you’re
going to get good at it you’re gonna die
right and you want to learn how to be a
great recruiter the best way to learn
how to be a great recruiter just go out
then try to recruit people
you just keep recruiting just keep
charging then you’re gonna learn to be a
great recruiter or you gonna starve to
death or die and it’s been a so I’m a
believer that experiences the key to
greatness I’m a believer that all it
takes to become a superstar I’m finished
to become wealthy is a tremendous desire
a tremendous wielder we’re a competitive
spirit we’re dadgummit you’re going to
manage yourself success that you’re not
gonna settle for being average Nord and
then all the other things will fall in
place in business
I want to wind up now talking to you
about what I think is the number one
Flav in America today
the number one thing folks is keeping
most men and women down the number one
reason most men and women don’t have a
chance to win I want to talk to you this
morning about the power of believing and
let me give you an example of why most
people don’t have a chance now okay I
believe now if I got you
back in the room back there after this
thing was over and I said I guarantee
you now you’ll come to work at a Oh
Williams and you will give us everything
you got I mean your bust joke but you’ll
compete like you can’t believe you won’t
quit I’ll give you living for two years
whatever it takes for you to live on you
know $800 a month $1,700 a month well
whatever it takes I’ll sign a contract
with you right now for two years you can
make a living and then at the end of two
years our guarantee you will make you an
RVP I’ll guarantee you a minimum
$100,000 your contract guaranteed
hundred thousand dollars a year for the
rest of your life see I believe
everybody in this room would sign up
take that deal folks do you understand
the opportunity we offer is better the
fan but do you understand ninety nine
point nine nine and four silver people
don’t believe that can happen – they
don’t leave they’re smart enough to make
$100,000 a year they don’t leave they’re
smart enough and special enough to be a
real RVP
to lead a big army of people in business
see I believe the keys you see products
don’t win for you systems don’t win for
you I huge don’t win for you college
degrees don’t win for you you win the
difference is you
and the difference in you is the power
of believing you can win the power of
believing that good things can happen to
you the power believing that you’re
special folks I believe this with
everything to send me I believe the
biggest single obstacle to success in
the United States today is not lack of
education it’s not lack of background
it’s not lack of money it’s lack of
belief in yourself
folks I believe with everything that’s
in me the biggest problem to win it in
these United States is you not
understanding human nature see folks I
believe is human nature to fear I
believe it’s human nature to worry I’m a
worrier I see I thought because I
worried every day because I was scared
every day then something was wrong with
me and these people that drove the big
cars that lived in the big houses they
paid the big money there’s some how they
were different they didn’t look scared
they didn’t look like they were in
themselves to death and then when I made
it and I met some of the most powerful
people in the world I found out that
every human being every piece of flesh
on this planet is a warrior they fear
the most powerful people in the world
are positive for just minutes at a time
or days at a time or hours at a time but
you won’t you won’t meet very many
people here lifetime is positive
empowers art Williams do you know one of
my goal before they plan me in the
ground I would like to be positive
totally positive for one 24-hour period
just before I die right now as positive
and powerful as I am I’ll get excited
and I’ll go for an hour two or three and
then I’ll start worrying
I’ll start fearing something it’s your
ability to deal with that and not meant
to destroy you that will determine
whether you’re successful or not listen
this folks do you know it’s easier to be
negative than to be positive do you
understand – do you understand folks
you’ve got a word life speak to be
positive do you understand the easiest
thing in the world is to be negative
folks do you understand it’s easier to
be sad than happy it took me years to
find this out easiest thing in the world
is to be sad
he’s just think of the world’s to be
down in the bottle toughest thing in the
world is to be happy most of you
understand is easy to be down it’s tough
to be uh it’s tough to get off it’s
tough to be positive it’s tough to be
happy folks do you know the easiest
thing in the world is to give up the
kwid the toughest thing in the world is
to continue to fight it’s so tough to
continue to find it’s so easy just to
throw in the towel you know the easiest
thing in the world is to sit there and
look at other people successful people
and compare your qualities or what you
think your qualities are with what you
see in them this is daresay man
I just wish I could talk like him I wish
I was powerful I feel I wish I was
confident like him I wish I was strong
like him I wish I was pretty like him
the easiest thing in the world is the
city and compare yourself your qualities
with other people that you admire with
winners out there and feel like you
achieve it feel like you were left out
folks is your ability to understand that
all those things are human weaknesses
that’s just the way it is it’s easy to
be sad it’s easy to quit it’s easy to
feel that you’re that you’re not capable
it’s easy to worry if that’s gonna
happen to you the toughest thing you’ve
got to deal with it somehow busting up
the courage in spite of all those fears
in spite of all those worries it’s gonna
happen to you every day in spite of all
those feelings of inadequacy in spite of
all those feelings every day of just
giving up of just quit just being down
in the dust just being negative
in spite of all that is don’t be your
ability somehow to muster up the courage
to flush that out to reach down deep and
find something inside of you that will
allow you to go for it one more time
to go compete one more time that will
determine your destiny folks I believe
with everything to send me nobody can
motivate you
nobody can motivate you long range are
you loving in a net you’re our VP or you
go to church or you go here somebody
that you admire motivates you ride and I
think all that’s essential but folks
ultimately nobody can motivate you long
range
the only real motivation that lasts
comes from inside you got to have the
ability to motivate yourself in order to
win let me give you an example when I
was coaching football down in Columbus
Georgia I was going to Auburn working on
my master’s degree in school
administration something I basically got
I got a master’s in school
administration from just a degree
standpoint I’m qualified to be a
principal and when I was going to all
work on a master’s degree I wrote my
thesis paper for my master’s title the
motivation of a high school athlete and
I wrote my whole thesis on this analogy
I would have lunch every day of the
teachers cafeteria with an English
teacher friend of mine and we would sit
there and this person been teaching for
15 years or so and we would sit there
and I would hear say over and over again
the younger generation is going to hail
duty yo kids just ain’t like they used
to used to be
I’m these people just wear me out
I can’t get em – I can’t even spend 15
minutes doing that homework I can’t get
to pay attention in class
and then she mentioned to me one day she
said our I can’t understand how you get
so much out of those football players
and I wrote my entire thesis on that
analogy I looked at our football program
and I saw the foetus and it fit as did
see the diplay football you had to
volunteer to do that see what’s
mandatory you take English so so so I
football players now when the bell would
ring most of the other boys would go out
and play with their girlfriends or
whatever you know but my players when
the bell rings they had to volunteer the
club down to that old stinking locker
room they had to put on that old
speaking uniform they had to go out
there that hots nut and that Coach chew
on their bud and push up and pay a prize
see long after there were no names in
the newspaper there were no crowds in
the stands and then that bell would ring
and they would come down to that weight
room and for hours that pump that weighs
5 hours they’d go out there and then run
that heel and punish their body
why couldn’t coach get a get a kid to
make an effort like that where this
English teacher couldn’t get a kid to
spend 15 minutes studying English and my
concluded conclusion was it all comes
down to the leader it all comes down I’m
motivated the leader in leadership is
everything you show me anything in
America that wins and I’ll show you a
motivated excited positive leader and I
said you take a typical winning football
coach like we had in our program man he
would dress out with the kids he’d take
exercise with the kids
he’d work out with the kids hey man on
Friday night when we understand the
number one team in the state
here jump in the shower and celebrate
with the kids when a chance scored a
winning touchdown he was hugging even
jumping up down the sideline with him
when we had the bitter law he cried with
a kid
in the last paragraph I said you show me
an English teacher that loves it like a
winning football coach yes maybe she’s
got to stand up on top of her desk and
throw a book in an eraser a piece of
chalk and he just let it all hang out
but all of a sudden you see kids get
excited about English see nobody can
motivate you but yourself it’s got to
come from within see both one of my
unwritten laws about winning see I
believe life will give you what you
expect and both men and women have been
so you so abused so put upon that they
don’t see anything but unhappiness they
don’t see anything but disappointment
they don’t see anything but failure well
I’m here in Chicago to tell you folks if
you believe you can
you can if you believe you’re special
you’re special if you believe you will
you will but one of the biggest problems
that are facing you is that most people
have developed an ability to expect the
words see they expect the words and the
reason for that is they don’t want to be
disappointed they say our I just can’t
afford to be hurt again I believed in
two or three bays in my lifetime I gave
it everything I had and I got killed
aren’t I ain’t got no more room for
another major disappointment in my life
so rather than be disappointed they
expect they don’t have any high
expectations let me tell you what’s
wrong with that theory see if you expect
to lose
you will if you expect bad things to
happen to you that’s exactly what’s
going to happen to you and whether you
have high expression defect ations or
not when you lose it still gonna be
heard you’re still gonna be disappointed
you’re still gonna hate yourself you
don’t hate your life you’re gonna hate
your business another big problem you’ve
got to deal with is most people these
United States has been so heard they’ve
been so disillusioned they’ve been so
put down then they’re scared they’re
scared to fail so they won’t even try
they won’t even try they just live their
whole life in a dadgum cocoon thinking
they’re protecting themselves from
disappointment and heartache see that
was my problem folks 10 years ago I took
a good long hard look at art Williams
and I didn’t like what I saw see folks
the toughest person that you’ve ever got
to see is that dude looking in the
mirror so you can lie to everybody you
can snow everybody for a period of time
but see the toughest person that you’ve
got to please is that dude look at you
in the mirror see he knows you you can’t
trick him you can’t fool him and when I
looked at art Williams 10 years ago I
didn’t like art Williams I didn’t like
what it become and I was sad and I was
sick about it
see ten years ago I look back in my life
Oh
it is scared it should be uh if I had my
life to live over again I’d change so
many things do you know as a youngster I
didn’t care about reading riting and
rithmetic stuff like that all I want to
be was a good athlete my dad was the
coach demons but it’s been minimally my
young life with coaches I worked harder
than most
I love playing more than bows but I was
just a little bit better than average do
my six game of my senior year in Tifton
Georgia
I broke arm I’ve been a starting
quarterback in that town for three years
football was so important in that little
old town of 10,000 people on Friday
night they locked up the dadgum town and
everybody go to football game do you
know my attitude was man I mean see
these times are just gonna go old
forever Ben I’m having fun they’re just
gonna go on I took so much for granted
and then all of a sudden 6 p.m. of my
senior year I broke my arm
folks I thought they were gonna lock up
the stadium I thought they’d never play
another football game in Cairo Georgia
and you know what the next Friday night
not only did they play but they want and
I had nothing he crushed my ego for dad
my dad gum line four years later I
graduated from college I got my first
assistant coaching job and Thomasville
Georgia two years later I got my first
head coaching job all my adult life as I
looked at my all my young life as I
looked at my adult life all I thought I
wanted to do was play foot to coach
football when I got my first head
coaching job folks I was happiest pig in
slop they want a happy human being on
the face of this earth I didn’t like
coaching I loved coaching
I worked harder than most coaches I want
more than most coaches coach for seven
years in effect I’d go to coaching plant
against an example back when when I was
coaching Darrell royal didn’t invent the
wishbone but he’s the guy that sort of
faded famous down at University of Texas
yeah I went to coach of the ear clinic
and maybe Darrell royal would be
speaking at eight o’clock in the morning
banning ten minutes late I was in there
my chair man I was always looking for an
edge something I can do to make me a
better coach I’d see these coaches stay
out drinking or stay out late at I and
then waddle there buddy and you know
what about ten minutes to go in his spit
misters whole presentation I maybe had
waddle in it in 12 o’clock I worked
harder than most coaches I loved me more
than most coaches I won more than most
coaches but ten years ago I look bad in
my coaching career and I was a little
sick I said man if I had my if I had my
life to live over again if I could coach
one more time I’d be so much better
I’d worked so much harder I loved it so
much more I look back at my young line I
said man if I could just go back to my
high school years to my middle school
years I’d enjoyed so much more I loved
it so much more I appreciate you so much
but see I just go
ten years ago I look back at my first
seven years and finish out with diet et
financial services by four four four
first four years
the next year I went and became a vice
president with Waddell and Reed who sold
term insurance and mutual funds down in
and in the South in Atlanta that I
witnessed by spec I spent seven years in
financial services before we found an
AoE ten years ago I looked I looked at
those seven years it was just another
rerun of my life I loved it more than
Bose I worked harder than most I made a
little bit more money than most I got
four promotions in moves that ain’t what
I wanted I was a little shit I didn’t
want to be better than Bose I didn’t
want to be a little bit better than
average an ordinary
[Music]
now looked in the mirror darkly
take years ago and I said why why are
are you just always just pretty good why
you’re always pretty good I believe I
found the answer folks that made me a
winner
I believe I wanted to win so bad you
know I ran off and it made me Rachel
marry me you know and had two kids
I wanted angel to be proud of me I
wanted my children be proud of me I
wanted my folks to be proud of me I
wanted her folks to be proud of me I
wanted my teammates to be proud of me
and I was so scared that aren’t we
really what capable of winning it always
held something reserved I always I
always work up to a point
I always committed up to the point I
always paid a price up to point believed
up to a point
I’d always hold something in reserve
just in case you did work out that I
would have an excuse to tell myself well
aren’t you had found your thing yet just
keep hanging in there and one day your
thing of come and you’ll know what it’s
there and then you can go for it and
then you’ll be somebody
[Music]
I found out 10 years ago the time was
running out and you don’t have an
unlimited opportunity to be somebody and
at some point your time you’ve got to
stand in five and I made up about ten
years ago in town today of weeds did
this was gonna be it for me that I was
gonna do it or not do it today are we
this is where I’m pitching my tent I’m
all see this thing through I don’t know
if I can make it nobody does
I don’t know if I’m capable nobody does
but I’m dead tired or looking at my life
and say are what didn’t you try why
don’t you just go for it and see if you
can do it I meant for I became somebody
this guy’s proud of the toughest critic
you’ll ever have as you see folks making
money it’s just one way that you measure
success in business see I want to be
somebody there there so my heroes in
America don’t make no money okay but but
to me I wanted to convince me that I was
somebody special that I was somebody
different that I was somebody you need
and today it doesn’t matter folks what
anybody else thinks about art Williams
but art Williams likes our lives and
that’s the greatest feeling in the world
and there is no amount of money there is
no amount of fresh you can get in your
life that will make you feel as good
about anything is bad
see I was scared to try listen I was
scared I was scared I was scared to try
it scared I couldn’t do it and I didn’t
know if I could live feeling about
myself that I was after I went for it
and I did it worse two words in the
English language folks as I can worse to
what you do anything you did but you got
to tell yourself every day I can you got
to tell you said every day I can I will
because I want to Chablis the greatest
challenge you’re faced with it is these
fears and worries and down keeping you
from trying well the greatest thing
they’ve been told to me in my life and
one of my early managers 19 pieces of
art 99% of the things you worry about
never happen so why worry I wish I could
apply that to my life today I believe
it’s your ability folks to try to go far
to believe that you’re special to
believe the church you need to bleed it
you’re different
now and what line this thing up gonna
hang with me now I will give you I want
high when I talk to you I like to give
you things folks you can take back and
apply to your life and hip your way in
life right now see I believe you can
change your life in 30 days I believe
that 30 days from now folks if you want
to bad enough you can be a different
person than you are right now today your
whole life it look different than it
does right now today see you’ve got to
start seeing good things happen to you
you got to begin to like yourself begin
let me give you a thing
to begin to make that happen and a infos
30 days from now you won’t be the same
person and you’ll begin your road to
greatness number one folks you can’t let
the pictures and the complainers and the
quitters and excuse makers change you
and make you sour make you quit make you
you’re a leader you’re a leader you’re a
motivator you’re a builder you’re a
coach you’re a winner let me tell you
what you’re not you’re not a marriage
counselor
see I believe 99.9 percent of people
think they got marriage problem thing
they got to go to marriage counselor
they need a marriage cast and they’re
like they need a hole in the head so so
some of these people come in and will
start talking to you about your marriage
party they come out I know marriage
counselor I’m a leader I’m a winner I’m
a motivator
I ain’t no psychiatrist I can’t tell you
the number of men and women and come sit
down in my all talking about their mama
didn’t love them just writer their
teacher didn’t treat him just right I
don’t know about all that stuff I know
she can I’ll tell you this I’m a winner
I’m a builder I’m a motor behind no
banker
I know bankers I don’t loan money I’ve
blown and get way more money most of
you’ll make in your lifetime do you know
folks I have never bowled a penny to
anybody they did need some more a few
months down the road
I know Baker I’ll give you everything I
got out game a positive attitude argue
my truckers argue my Beth I need my
money
what’s all that does is delays a dadgum
problem
I know mediator I know me it amazes me
how people can’t live with a human race
hi I go I spit in my alive seven
disputes if you can’t get along with a
human race don’t let the door hit you in
the bud hey I know babysitter
I know babysitter I’m a leader I’m a
winner both of you wanna win principle
number one you got to spend time with
those that want it those that believe
those are the policy those who want to
show up fine
number two you gotta learn to treat
people do it I see out I believe votes
by learning to treat people good you
begin to like say if I believe they’re
happy you’ve got to develop some fuel
feet to look for the good things in
people and that is so foreign to the way
most these universities if people
teacher treat people and bitters they
teach it up operate at a distance don’t
get to know your people that’s not tough
management fool you’ve got to look
you’ve got to learn to love your people
to care about your people to get to know
your people you got you got you got a
you gotta learn to treat people good and
ask how to spill over into your personal
life as well as your finish life you
can’t wake up in the morning beat your
wife and your kid and then go to office
and be a good people person
number three you can’t listen to the
doom and gloom crowd easiest thing of
finding these United States today if
somebody tell you you can’t do it
somebody tell you it won’t work folks I
tell you one of the saddest things I see
in America today is men and women that
stick your head up trying to do
something trying to make the difference
and rather they’ll slaughter and say
hallelujah they try to fool you back
down not you hit all say bad things
about you don’t listen to the doom and
groove file number four don’t worry
about what others say don’t worry about
what others say folks I’m telling you
even your family even your closest
friends they talk behind you bad you
know when they’re talking to you they
might say I’m happy for you you’re going
in business wonder where you gonna make
a lot of money boil an hours they might
be important for the hanging bag post up
hope inside that you fail so it so it
don’t make him feel bad see folks the
only way for people not to talk about
you is don’t do nothing the only way for
people not to talk about you to be a
majority like everybody else out there
don’t worry about what others say the
only person you gotta prove to chef to
the only person all of them it’s got to
feel good about you is that dude looking
in the mirror right that’s the person
you gotta prove something to
number five don’t worry about things you
can’t control
let me tell you some other saying I want
my tombstone like all you can do is all
you can do let me tell you another
couple of jewels I’ve come up with
listen s this is brilliant the sun’s
gonna come up tomorrow and it’s gonna go
down tomorrow night and it’s gonna come
up the next day folks do you know happy
any men and women are blowing their
heart for you to be somebody cause they
think the world’s coming to an en they
think we’re gonna have a nuclear war
they think Ames is gonna spread all the
good folks in this country right they
think everything is going to hell right
well the sun’s gonna come up tomorrow
and it’s gonna go down tomorrow night
let me tell you another jewel things are
gonna be about like they’ve always been
do you understand in every stage in the
history of America everybody’s seen the
world exploding and the Civil War the
First World War the Second World War and
all the plagues right things are don’t
be about like they’ve always been
there’s going to be a United States here
way after they plant us in the crown
crime we’re here for dadgum make the
ride this place gonna be around long
time after we’re gone
number six you can’t worry about making
mistakes you can’t worry about it you
don’t make the save
95% plays you call a football game ain’t
gonna work right most things you want to
work out ain’t gonna work out
most people ain’t gonna let you come
talk doing the angle side angle
somewhere they don’t quit right that’s
fine that’s the way it is
you burn by screw it up you learn by
doing stuff you learn by trying let it
all hang out let it real number seven
get your hero you won’t start feeling
good about yourself
get your hero coach Fran with one of the
few heroes in my life get some by this
country that turns you off go go get you
go get you go get y’all a player or
coach or a minister or a politician or
somebody that electrifies your bud fry
and find out some about it you lie and
then you’re sort of planning for your
life ride try to be a little bit more
like them or you know what you start
liking yourself number eight always be
positive always be positive always be
excited always be positive always be
fucked up even he gotta fake it
well when you keep me positive excited
going to closet and give you a pep talk
but when you face the world always be
excited always charged
don’t ever retrieve then it close the
two thoughts folks you here on this
earth with liquor I was in Cairo Georgia
two weeks ago my home town I saw some of
my classmates and it shocked me how old
they look hey folks do you know I’m 45
years old but I don’t feel I don’t feel
one day over 16
I don’t feel oh I got listen I got a
picture my home with little art was
forward there were five generations in
the Williams family folks I used to look
at my parents is each oh whoa I’m
looking I used to look at my grand
passion death warmed over my
great-grandparents I couldn’t relate to
their
do you know today in my clan I’m the
oldest
[Music]
and I stopped them hey Tasha see folks I
don’t leave you have just one
opportunity I don’t believe that I don’t
mean al wins it’s the only good thing
happen in America I don’t leave it for
this one of them and instead listen
listen listen is this your first or is
this your last opportunity second point
folks you’ve got to understand that your
life belongs to you
you’re responsible for your life I see
so many people who spend their whole
life blaming other people for their
misfortunes well let me tell you these
bags you’re responsible for the good
things that happen and you’re also
responsible for the bad things that
happen there’s nothing that wears my
foot out for then I see some football
coaching in speed and the next hand huge
paper he says well if I full-back have
got a herd if the referee end this that
call bull excuses don’t kill him line
excuses don’t kill in the big leagues
you’re supposed to win no matter what
happens to you bad things and good
things
[Music]
I’m excited about what y’all gonna do
here at both if I had a theme today
about what I wanted to talk to you about
it would be how to build a team now
first let’s think about what is a team a
team is one
it’s a oneness if everybody has one
heartbeat everybody on the same page now
the first step to building a team you
can is you got to lead with your heart
well what is leading with your heart
leading with your heart is following
your instincts following your gut not
your head that’s the reason I think it’s
almost impossible for smart people to
win because they’re always figuring out
the perfect time the perfect play don’t
mess up don’t fail and they miss the
moment let me give you another unwritten
law I don’t know anybody that’s ever
made straight A’s
that’s ever done anything they see
you’ve gotta call the plays you got to
call the play
you don’t worry about screwing up you
don’t worry about you don’t worry about
messing up you call the dadgum play you
don’t remember my football analogy if
you’ve got two teams out there Friday
night a pretty equal ability there’s
about a 120 plays in a football game you
know and and and at the end of the game
the team that wins there’s four or five
plays that determine who’s gonna win 98
percent of the plays you call don’t work
like they’re supposed to but you know
you know the team that wins are the
players that they believe that next play
is going to be one of those four or five
plays a hundred and twenty plays a game
they give it every dadgum thing they got
you got to call the dadgum play
you got a lead with your heart to build
a team leading with your heart it’s
following your instincts following your
gut not your head
having the courage to call a play if it
fails and it probably will you call a
play you call another dadgum play
leading with your heart
there’s believing in you leading with
your heart is believing in your
principles it’s believing in your system
it’s believing in your people it’s
believing in your team see I was trained
as a football coach before al Williams
to call a play in 25 seconds
some people said hard you call too many
plays hard you you call plays too fast
art you always kept scenes in the plays
spite of me al Williams built the
largest most powerful sales force in the
history of our industry in fact you know
what in fact you know what we were so
big that wasn’t anybody that even came
in a close second let me give you
another unwritten law all you lead with
your heart you follow your instincts you
follow your gut not your head you know
what you know how important I believe
praise and recognition in us it’s just
everything that’s all what a wonderful
job y’all do with praise and recognition
now see everybody needs praise everybody
needs recognition if you’re going to
build a great team you’ve got to become
an expert on praise and recognition
where’s timing Pam Milton they’re here
somewhere you know it takes a lot of
special people
to build a championship team when we
started really growing a tail williams
you know i’d called an emergency meeting
maybe this is monday and maybe on friday
and i’d want to do a hundred t-shirts
and all these people that did our
t-shirts and our trophies they wanted
six weeks to get the job done all this
kind of crap you don’t L Williams you
had to operate like right now like
yesterday
and so we I went out to Snellville
Georgia and I found Tommy and Pam Melton
and I said we want you guys to start a
company I’m gonna help you finance it
and I want you to be ready to give up
those t-shirts and give us those
trophies and they were just magnificent
and I think they’re here today and done
a lot of this kind of stuff and y’all
ought to use them because they get it
done and they get it done on time
you know Boca Boca is an unbelievably
special place for all of us say Oh
Williams people it was here in Boca in
1984 that we celebrated our first
national championship right over there
by the swimming pool in that old meeting
room
we dropped balloons from the ceilings
with hundred dollars in it you know just
like they did the Republican and
Democratic conventions this year we gave
dozens of Rolex watches out with 1984
national champions on the face of the
watch we had the NSD s dress up in
football uniforms the wives dress up as
cheerleaders and we’ve celebrated a
historic victory but but you know what
the life insurance industry said we
didn’t even know we had a national
championship
but but you don’t live they knew it in
1984 they knew it after we got through
in Boca hey al Williams brought a
different kind of competition of this
industry we started a dadgum war Al
William said here is we live vocal we
dare you Prudential we dare you New York
Life to see if you can take it back we
don’t think you’re good enough
we don’t think you’re tough enough never
be number one again and you know what
you know what
hey we have won seven straight national
championship so build the build a
national championship team
you got to build with people that can
still dream that can still believe they
can still hope that are still willing to
compete see most people in our country
today and just back then to that have
been so beat up so put down that they’ve
just given up on their dream let me talk
to you a minute about those original 85
people all those original 85 people that
founded this company we’re all coaches
or they had played on a team and al
Williams turn life insurance into a game
see see al Williams didn’t know anything
about business we didn’t have any MBAs
we didn’t have any professional
salespeople we didn’t understand
business plans we didn’t understand
budgets but those early AR Williams
pioneers they understood putting on a
putting on a termite uniform they
understood hitting anything in the wrong
color jerseys those early al Williams
people understood what it was like to
get screwed
but they also understood what it was
like to get even we were a team we were
together we cared about each other that
al Williams we created a bubble that was
so positive it was unbelievable we were
together we were in that foxhole
together we were gonna fight for you we
were gonna protect you there was a
special kind of spirit in a a Williams
we didn’t just like it we loved it
we believed to win you had to have what
I call that Friday night feeling you had
that you had to be so excited you were
just not to mess in your pants
see people won’t follow or believe in a
negative dull disillusioned dadgum
crybaby see we believe that everybody
wanted to be somebody everybody has ever
been born on this earth they want to be
somebody that we believed as a leader in
leading your team it was your
responsibility no matter how hurt these
people were to reach inside of them to
grab their heart to help them believe in
them again don’t believe that there’s
somebody special again to believe that
we’ll put on this earth to do something
important again to build a great team
it begins with you the leader you’ve got
to become a magnet where people are
drawn to you like bees and a hot bee
bees to honey the most asked question I
get even today in AoE as we sell the
coach book up at this little in his spot
on Highlands North Carolina that ends
life on and the most asked question I
get today you know 22 years after I
retired its heart how did you do it how
did those 85 people do it how did a a
Williams grow from a peanut of 85 people
in one city in one state to an army of
225,000 people in every city in every
state in Canada well what’d it be bob
Huson give up his hundred thousand
dollar income to go to a new company
where the odds were 99% that we were
gonna fail
they asked me all the time what it bill
dorinda pick up his family and go to
Dallas Texas didn’t have a pot to pee in
okay why did Ronnie Barnes go to
Chattanooga Tennessee
rusty Crossland go to Denver Colorado
and the president of the company stood
up the first couple of years and said
the odds are about like this of us
surviving I don’t mean being Prudential
I don’t mean changing an industry I’m
talking about the odds are about like
this surviving my all-time favorite
quote is by Winston Churchill there
comes a special moment in everyone’s
life a moment for which that person was
born that special opportunity when he
seizes it will fulfill his mission a
mission for which he is uniquely
qualified in that moment he finds
greatness it is his finest hour those
originally a we have thought that this
was our moment that this was our time
these people wanted to do something big
they wanted to do something important
they wanted to leave their mark they
wanted to be somebody let me ask you
this where could people like us go look
at me work at people like us go yes we
knew it was impossible yes we knew the
odds we’re 99 percent against us
surviving but where could people like me
go where were some company begin me a
chance all we wanted a a Williams was a
chance and we really believed if we had
a chance that somebody would take a
chance on us we really believed we were
different we believed we were special we
believed that one day we would change
the thinking of the largest industry in
the world we believe that one day we
would destroy trash value we believe
that one day our leaders would become
some among the most successful in
American business we believe that one
day we would take our people to all the
great places of the world
those original Leia Williams people were
big dreamers they were big thinkers
they were big doers let me tell you
about big biggest Larry Waddell taking
his wife and two boys picking him up in
Atlanta Georgia and moving to Greensboro
North Carolina didn’t have any money
didn’t have any financial security his
ninth month is an RVP his base shop was
doing $100,000 but during those nine
months he had produced the
first-generation RVP named Joe Covington
that when Larry Waddell Database that
month of $90,000 Joe Covington did
$60,000 ultimately Waddell who produced
a hundred first generation are VPS
that’s big big is Bob goose on building
a team all over the United States and
Canada of over 900 are VPS big is Mike
Sharpe building a team that produces
over four million dollars a month in
premium biggest reg fitzpatrick when
we’re moving into Canada I’ve become a
taking an AO Williams but being an al
Williams leader that goes into Canada
helped us open up Canada we could only
pay those original people four and a
half percent didn’t even cover his
expenses but he went up there for one
year one week every month losing money
but willing to build a team wanted to
help us pioneer new territory today he
has 50 our VP’s in Canada big is Kip
Ridley for one year running a $200,000
base shop and that very same year
producing four generation full first
generation our VPS big is dick Walker
becoming an NSD by producing ten first
generation our VPS that do $20,000 each
in one month
big as John Roy can Nicolay’s building a
team is always in the top 100 and AO
Williams fantastic examples of saving
your money and
and becoming financially independent
they became financially independent they
could retire do anything they wanted to
but 35 years later they’re still in this
company you know while they’re still
running a base shop while they’re still
out there hipping there are VP’s
produced our VP’s and build teams to
build financial independence because
they love them because they love being
part of a team big to me they’re
starting with nothing but a dream
starting with nothing but a dream but
just being part of a group of people
that you can count on that you love
going to war with and one day that team
kick in Prudential bunt to build a big
team you got to have a crusade and what
a crusade you’ll have today you’ve got
to have a crusade you got to have a
cause to fight for that AoE ins we were
Crusaders first coach Lombardi says you
capture the person’s heart you capture
the man you know folks it’s not about
the money first it’s not about the money
first it’s so so so much bigger than
that
honestly folks I never thought I was
capable of making big money
I never thought somebody like me could
make big money I never expected that I
never sold a new recruit never in 20
years the money first
I always thought though cash value is
evil I thought it was criminal what that
Gulf life agent did to me and Angela
with two children selling us a fifteen
thousand dollar whole life policy when
he could have given us $100,000 term
policy I couldn’t believe what the big
insurance companies did to the families
in America
Prudential savage size policy was four
thousand dollars it was our passion
sound that made us different
it was our passion that gave us a chance
it’s got to be the crusade first not the
money al Williams stood for something al
Williams stood for some can you imagine
this little peanut becoming such a
dominant company in this industry that
when you mentioned the word AoE ins
people thought it meant something it
meant something out it was not just
another company they are we have stood
for something in this industry when you
mention al Williams those 250,000 agents
those 2,000 companies they immediately
felt fear they immediately felt
intimidation they didn’t know where they
didn’t know when but they knew we were
out there
they knew that Sunday somewhere if they
sold a trash value policy al Williams
was going to show up and it was gonna
get ugly it was gonna get ugly we didn’t
want to destroy the copper we didn’t
want to we didn’t we didn’t want to be
nice we wanted to destroy those chokers
put that towel down John
they even tell you something the harder
they fall
honestly my the harder they fall and
they were so stupid they should have
been nice they should have just gave up
and you said but the harder they fall
but next year they were the more they
tried to put us out of business the more
we loved it
the more we loved it see we didn’t we
didn’t look hey hey hey
we didn’t like you today Oh William we
didn’t like you today at William we did
a lot we loved it we didn’t like the
fight we loved it we didn’t like the
controversy we thrived on the
controversy in 1976 10 years after I
left coaching I was in corporate America
with ITT and what Ellen really and I
think the final thing that happened to
me that made me wanted to start a Oh
Williams it is I was an RVP with what
Ellen read over the five southeastern
space I had 650 people licensed told my
team in 1960 76 I had 19 people that
were ready to be promoted that had
earned the right to be promoted and what
Ellen read came out with their 1977
budgets and they gave my southeastern
region two new offices to open the
number one reason with 13 regions and
Waddell and Reed I region produced more
than all the next 12 combined and they
allowed me to open two new offices and
17 people that had earned the right to
be promoted had to wait another year
another 12 months that I couldn’t stand
it I wanted to be part of a company with
no limits I wanted to be part of a
company that would give you unlimited
territory you could go anywhere no
protected territory I wanted to be part
of a company that would give you an
unlimited market there were millions and
millions and millions of people out
there that had trash value policy that
needed to be replaced there were 250,000
life insurance agents that were selling
hundreds of thousands of policies every
year increasing Meyer our market I want
to be part of a company that had
unlimited money that never asked you to
slow down I want to be part of a company
that would give you a chance to make
unlimited promotions that you promoted
the individual when they were ready but
when you’re wherever you could where you
could build it as big as you want and
you could keep getting bigger never
holding anybody back I want to be part
of a company that had unlimited support
think about this folks think of
this it took us 12 years to get our own
home office y’all are moving into an old
your own home office a Tom in another
cut in another couple of months it took
us 12 years 10 with ITT and Waddell and
Reed and 2 in our first two years today
a weeks before we could get a company to
build our own home office we were a
freak we were unique we were different
and we had to we couldn’t fit in with
other companies out there al Williams
finally had everything in place with no
limits now we had no limits and in
February 10 1977 we had to decide how
are we gonna grow al Williams here we
were a little peanut 85 people in one
city in one state how will we go and
build this arm if 225,000 people in
every city in every state we decided we
were gonna do it like McDonald’s did it
by opening new stores let me give you
another unwritten law great companies
always grow McDonald’s was founded in
1984 in California the first 17 years
they opened 700 stores in 1983 they were
opening three stores a day in 2012 they
had 33,000 stores all over the world to
grow primerica’s got to open these
stores I had lunch this past year a few
months ago with truett Cathy the founder
of chick-fil-a he founded chick-fil-a in
Atlanta Georgia in the early 1960s for
ten years he only had one store today he
has 1,400 stores and he’s worth four
billion dollars we decided today a wish
that we were going to expand by the
magic of multiplication let me give you
this example of addition verses
multiplication let’s say you are the
only RVP Sheryl on your team that
produces our VPS and you go out and
produce three our VPS
then you do that ten times that tenth
generation our VP would give you a total
of 30 but but if you’re giving other
people a chance to build a team to have
the same unlimited opportunity you have
you go bill three Cheryl and you help
them bill three you go bill free help
the build a team of three and you do
that times ten through ten generations
you would have fifty nine thousand our
VPS that’s 30 versus fifty-nine thousand
if those organizations did ten thousand
dollars in premium a month by addition
you would produce three hundred thousand
dollars a month in premium but if you
did it by multiplication would be five
hundred and ninety million dollars a
month in premium that’s magic ain’t that
magic in 1977 the original a of Williams
plan for growth and expansion was for
you to become an RVP you to produce
seven to ten our VPS and you kept your
our VPS build a team of seven to ten our
VPS let’s look at the magic of
multiplication again you produce seven
but you’re the only person that produces
our VPS so you do that through three
generation that gives you 21
a team of 21 but if you give your people
the same unlimited opportunity you have
you produce seven and then they go out
and produce seven you do that through
three generations
that’s 343 our VP’s so addition is 21
they do $10,000 a month that’s $210,000
of mine but if you build a team of 343
that do 10,000 that’s 3.4 million
dollars a month that’s magic you want to
know how a OE is built an army you know
to know hi L when you spread out all
over the United States had an office in
every city in every town even Cairo
Georgia had an Al Williams office we did
it by multiplication and as you see I
believe the only way to build successful
our VPS is to build strong base
jobs you know for some reason some of
you new people think AO Williams we
didn’t have strong based shops you’ve
got a little old biddy based shops today
compared to what our people did
it’s just pitiful when I look at some of
your numbers see see a tail Williams we
believe the only way to build our VP’s
was to have strong based jobs see we
looked at our base shops different
though we thought we we we thought our
base shot for our VP factories CIC our
base shops were supposed to produce our
VP’s not sales we were not the sales
business we built people not sales CAA
Oh Williams had high standards for its
base shops not these piddling old things
y’all build I was looking at a a
Williams way in 1985 a rodea Williams
way in 1985 let me tell you what the
target was for our base shops poor job
the life insurance sales was 15 and
below a so-so job was 16 to 29 a good
job was 31 to 49 an excellent job was 50
or more the target our BP base shop
income we gave people we said to make a
good living you need to have five direct
legs to you a direct leg is a team
that’s doing 5 to 10 sales you need five
of those direct you just to make a good
living to make a great living you need
10 directs the build it big time you
need 20 direct legs al Williams believed
strong based shop produces strong our
VP’s mirror Walker Tom Stafford Lawrence
Walker join me on the stage please for a
second
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
Bob Safford cuk if you want to if you
want to you got a choice of building an
RVP factory where you build a huge team
of lots of our dps where you build great
will and you can pass it on for
generations bob Safra did that my good
friend died about a year and a half ago
but what a legacy he left you right Tom
making over a million dollars a year in
that unbelievable pay and we object–a
do you remember folks in nineteen in
1984 when we were here in Boca ratone
that was just a dream we just hoped we
were going to be good enough to do that
one day but it’s no longer hope it’s no
longer a dream it’s for real my buddy
Lafayette Walker professor in Washington
DC he wanted more than that he wanted to
build a legacy of greatness he went out
and built a great team and he passed
away but he left at his young uns man
hey come in Mary I can shock it I can I
start crying over this one I tell you I
wish I wish I wish all could have known
Randall Walker Randall and Mary Walker
in my mind there were millions of us
today I wish we recruited me it only got
225,000 licenses but before you think
that’s too little think about what y’all
work that down too
[Music]
but but you know what
hey John’s put that towel down of all
the millions of people that came through
AO Williams as I look back I think Mary
and Randall Walker symbolized the
goodness of a a we it’s probably better
than any other couple
even when
even when those assholes at Citigroup
we’re trying to run this company shut up
John
[Applause]
Mary Walker in them even when they were
up there didn’t know what little crap
they were doing almost destroyed this
country they never believed like they
believed they never fell for their craft
they always lived it like ayo Williams
they kept doing the say the best in the
world
Randall died a few years ago wish she
could have known him he was the best but
he and Mary built something great and
they got a great legacy they’re gonna
leave something to Mandy and John one
day right so when you became when you
became an RVP in Al Williams you had
your own business your own company you
could make a decision which way you
wanted to go in whichever way you want
to build it we were fine with that to
build a team you got to have competition
to build it big you got love to compete
you got love the toughness I love what
coach Leahy said Mike in the 1940s up
with Notre Dame he called his running
backs together and he said running backs
you’d rather die at birth then fumble
the football at Notre Dame that’s the
way we fail today Oh Williams we love to
compete competition is everything you’ve
got to have a scoreboard if you don’t
have something to play for you and your
team get tired you get bored you give up
February 10 1977 when we were that
little old bitty peanut we got together
in Atlanta Georgia and we said who do we
want to beat and we said who’s number
one who’s the most famous company in the
industry the largest industry in the
world in 1977 was the life insurance
industry we said who’s number one who’s
the most famous company out there who to
all of people thinks the best club in
this industry and we researched and we
found out it was Prudential and we said
that’s who we want
we’re going after the best we’re gonna
knock their ass off so you’ve got to
always have competition on your team
you’ve got to always have somebody going
for number one somebody’s trying to
trying to break a record somebody’s
trying to win a promotion somebody
trying to win a contest somebody trying
to win a t-shirt competition is
everything but none you know what Angela
kissed me goodbye this morning and she
said hard don’t go down and make a fool
out of yourself he said can’t you go
down and just talk like a regular human
being you know you don’t do you got to
get up there and scream and holler on
your fake no I just can’t do it to build
a team to build a team you got to be a
winner you got to be a winner to build a
team you got to prove to your people
that the opportunities for real see
folks are they of Williams we didn’t
believe in fake it until you make it see
al Williams we didn’t believe you needed
a big house for a big office or a big
car or wearing fancy thousand dollar
suits having a Rolex watch see you need
to keep expenses low you can’t ever be
too low with your expenses your personal
expenses and your business expenses you
got a deal below your means you got to
prepare for crap that happens craps
gonna happen right what do you people
need to see you do
what do your people need to see you do
to build a championship team they need
to see you always do it first he always
had another unwritten law that if that
if one person can do it and you don’t
have any excuse you can do it right you
ought to be that one person that can do
it first go prove to your people that it
can be done always be the best recruiter
always be the best field trainer always
be excited always be busy do you know
the best thing you can show you people
is how much money you saved folks I
can’t tell you the hundreds of part-time
people I recruited in this business by
showing them by mutual fund statement
with $42,000 that I’d say making
part-time idiot al Williams I can’t tell
you the hundreds of people I I recruited
in this bitch by showing them my plan of
financial independence to build a
championship team we wanted promotion
guidelines that were simple where
everybody could understand easily what
they had to do to get to the next
promotion we wanted new recruits to get
promotions fast that’s the way you build
momentum in your team there’s everybody
going out to a promotion everybody going
after sales leader district leader
division leader regional manager our VP
SVP NSD but we wanted every new recruit
to see a clear fast path to our VP now
warning folks if you rape your people
they will find out eventually and hate
you the example holding people back from
our VP promotions so you can make more
money in the pools
see it was mandatory at ayo Williams
that even though you’ve got your own
company within a company it was
mandatory do weaves and when I say
mandatory that means your ass is gonna
be fired if you don’t do it it was
mandatory Dale Williams that everybody
follow the company guidelines you can
never have guidelines tougher than the
company can you believe anybody to do
that kind of crowd can their ass so fast
you wouldn’t believe it
as an RVP
you have the right to promote early in
fact you’re stupid if you don’t make
battlefield promotions another unwritten
law you want to pretty odd is that too
bad another unwritten law you want to
promote people when they have momentum
not wait until they lose momentum
warning every RVP follows the company
guidelines and let me tell you something
interesting folks I was more than a
double stud I produced nine first
generation are VPS Seven original RV
please plus Bob Stafford plus Bob Miller
a hundred percent of my art first
generations made it none of them failed
they all were multi millionaires they
all built big teams all my first built
tons of our VPS that became financially
independent but you know what 20 years
later the aom’s team those 10,000 are
VPS 225 licensed people look like 90% of
them are our VPS that we’re doing 5,000
10,000 $15,000 based jobs and yes you
know what we even had some our VP’s
failed and you know why if you build a
big team you’re just going to look just
like that see if you have a plan to
never have our VPS failed to promote
only $330,000 based shop our VPS for
your our VPS to earn $250,000 a year
two bad things will happen to you your
team will always be little and number
two you would have did that you would
have you would have denied hundreds of
people literally hundreds of people the
opportunity to change their lives see I
believe it service I believe it sure is
I believe it’s your responsibility as an
RB plea to push up people to build
people not sell to promote your people
yes when they hit the guidelines most of
the time but sometimes early if you
arrow always arrow promoting people
early never arrow holding people back
what was though what was what was the AO
Williams dream I’m almost through now
maybe don’t hang in here how long I’ve
been going oh the dream let me tell you
what the dream was to me I founded this
thing let me just tell you the way I
thought you know because when I founded
a or Williams and I recruited my first
guy Bob you sign that was in 1972 I
started in 1967 so I’d already been in
this crap for five or six years right
and so let me tell you what the dream
was to me I had a great life I loved
coaching football I love that that was
all I wanted to do as youngster was be a
coach and the dream to me and going in
business and becoming an RVP
is I wanted to be my own boss I don’t I
just and most people feel the same way
all the people in this room feel the
same way they’re millions and millions
and millions of millions of people out
there in America and Canada to feel the
same way but I wanted to be my own boss
I want to be totally financially
independent but that was an obsession
with me and all 85 of those other people
I want to be in this position John where
nobody could put their thumb on me do
you know how wonderful a task right yeah
I told John Addison I love old John he’s
got he’s got a heart he leads with his
heart
but John asked me to speak today
and first date I said what time you want
me to speak Mike burrows called me he
said well you should start off at 8:30 I
said I don’t I don’t do that normal I
said I don’t even know what an alarm
clock is I said I get up when I want to
get up and I said 95 is packed with
people you know getting to work from
6:00 to 8:00 like Atlanta Georgia I hate
Atlanta Georgia you know I can’t get no
where’s his digits right and I said I
don’t speak to 10 o’clock or 10:30 I get
up when I want to shave and shower I had
breakfast and I leisurely ride down here
listening to a William songs see I’m
financially independent I don’t have to
take crap from nobody
see number two the reason the dream to
me was number one being my own boss
number two being totally financially
independent number three was the work
that’s something I’m passionate about
that’s what life’s all about folks I
still love this stuff you understand
that can you imagine me doing this I
don’t have to do I could be me and norm
we’re playing golf and Dave Francis and
Bill Orenda I could be out there right
now at Trump International practicing my
golf game but I’m down here talking to
you because I love it you want to be you
want to have something you’re passionate
about and then the last thing I wanted
is I wanted a great quality of life I
didn’t want to go in business and just
have a crappy life just for the money
just to go out there and crap and screw
up y’all hole everything I wanted to
have it all I wanted to have a great
family I wanted to enjoy my my bidness I
wanted to love my people
Peter the dream we’re selling it al
Williams was not running a base shop
forever it was not being a fanatic
forever it was not field-training
greenies four and five nights a week
forever it was not being on a on a
treadmill forever that’s a nightmare you
understand that that’s a dadgum
nightmare our dream of ayo Williams was
there work hard yes be a fanatic key is
that the first few years but work hard
so you can enjoy a great quality of life
I believe in in achieving this great
quality of life you go through four
phases phase number one the first few
years you are fanatic you’re out there
working five four or five nights or we
training these greenies then you enter
phase number two when you’re still
running a base shop but you’re starting
to promote our VPS and opening new
offices and then you enter phase number
three where you’re promoting mo our VPS
your our VPS are starting to promote our
VPS and now your base shop activity book
smaller you recruit less people
personally you and a feel less and then
you enter phase number four where you’re
having fun you’re traveling around
talking to your people helping them
reach that great quality of life the key
to building a successful business is
building trusting relationships building
trusting relationships is everything
this is this is a relationship business
how do you get people to trust you how
do you get people to love you to commit
to you to be loyal to you to give you a
hundred percent to believe in you
another unwritten law
you get people trust you about you being
there by you being loyal to them by you
believing in them but you got to prove
it you got to prove it let me give you
three examples Bob Miller was the first
person I recruited down here in South
Florida in Fort Lauderdale he had gone
out and replaced a coaching friend of
his cash value policy with a term policy
with Al Williams that guy’s whole like I
came back and said well if you wanted
term I could say your term and he
replaced our wins policy with his term
that was maybe three pennies a month
cheaper than our term and I talked Bob
Bell on the phone he was a little down
and what died and I said Bob next week
I’m gonna be in Fort Lauderdale I want
you to call that coach and set up an
appointment and he said I don’t want to
do that this guy’s a friend of mine all
I wanted him to do was have term he’s
got term now I’m happy with that let’s
just leave it alone I said no no Bob it
ain’t right I said call that guy up and
I want to see Bob made an appointment I
flew down to Fort Lauderdale Bob Miller
and I went out
and we had a meeting with that guy I
said let me tell you something that
ain’t right what you did
Bob biller your friend came in here and
educated you on by term and invest the
difference in that asshole that sold you
us John that asshole that sold you cash
value policy now he’s gonna come back
after Bob Miller educated you and he’s
gonna sell you now a term positive which
that asshole should have sold you the
first go-round you know and it just cost
us three cents a month’s cheaper you
gonna do business but you’ve got to be
kidding me
and you know what he changed back to
their weaves policy hey hey he never
came full-time but he was an al Williams
crusader for the next 20 years you got
to be there with you people when they
need you you got to prove that you’re
loyal to them that you believe in them
that you’re a stud I get up I get an
emergency call from Mississippi
Mississippi insurance Department puts us
out of business headline in every major
newspaper al Williams kicked out of the
state I called Billy Anderson which was
our biggest guy there the time I said
bill called emergency meeting of all the
hey Williams people I’m coming I didn’t
run from that I jumped on an airplane we
go to a hotel we have a meeting like
this I said let me tell you something
we’re trying to change an industry did
you think it was gonna be easy do you
think those those Joker’s were gonna
roll over and play dead that’s what
they’re supposed to do they’re supposed
to fight they supposed to fight dirty
they supposed to try to put us out of
business this is the way it’s supposed
to be but you know what they go do it we
go knock gas off we gonna come back two
weeks later we were back in Mississippi
that year we had the biggest year we
ever had
I get a call I get a call I get a call
one day from Ronnie Barnes Tennessee
kicks aside to finish four oh we we go
up there and we straighten that out I
get a call from Ronnie Barnes a few
weeks later the Better Business Bureau
took a full-page ad out and the
Chattanooga Times said warning don’t do
business with al Williams gave an 800
number if we need you to call and they
tell you we’ve been outlawed in 98
states and all that kind of crowd I told
Ronnie Barnes I called him up I said
Ronnie go get the best lawyer you got in
Chattanooga will pay pardon you tell him
we’re gonna sue their ass and they
backed off in 24 hours you’ve got a the
build trusting relationships you got to
be there you got to be loyal to your
people you got to believe in your people
and it ain’t good enough to talk it you
got to show it another unwritten law
before any business activity takes place
you must have a relationship first you
must have their trust first let me give
you an example I never made a sale on
the first interview I understand some of
you people do that is just almost I
can’t even comprehend somebody doing
something like that you know I mean I
was just a football coach I never had
anybody really trained me I sort of
trained myself you know but I said you
know I don’t want somebody to walk in my
house and put pressure on me to buy
something all this kind of crap you know
I never made a sale for 20 years on the
first interview the purpose of the first
interview is to build a relationship you
want to go in there drifts not like an
insurance agent but like a coach right
and you go in there and you’re with his
best friend and you’re building a
relationship right he’s getting to know
you and where you came from and what
your principles are and all that you
builded a
I should shield and then the the second
purpose of the first interview is you
pick up information then you take it
home you analyze it you prepare a plan
then you go back on the second interview
and you make the sale I don’t know any
other way to do it but that a yeah it
takes more time to build it right it
takes more time to build it right but
it’s worth it to build it right the
first time trusting relationships is
everything in every part of your
business before they buy a life
insurance policy they got to trust you
before they buy an IRA they got to trust
you before they pay $100 to join
Primerica they got to trust you before
they take off and pay their expenses to
go to the convention they got to trust
you before they go full time they got to
trust you before they make a replacement
they got to trust you in every single
area of your business
trusting relationships is everything let
me give you an example to take back that
will help you write a letter write a
letter to your people
folks for 40 your right now Sion Lilian
up in North Carolina I’ve got 220
employees folks today I still average
writing at least one letter every day
last week this is an example letter I
wrote our head shell I said dear
Johannes every day I think about how
special you are
you are amazing art trusting
relationships is everything the
simplicity in the common sense of AoE
ins is something I was very proud of let
me just give you four examples number
one you’ve got a bill with quality you
got to build it right the first time see
we built with four and five pointers
married got kids got a home have a job
from 27 to 55 do you make exceptions
sure you do but 90% of your team better
be four and five pointers build with
quality and build it right the first
time
number two the AO iam system this simple
we simplified this thing if you’re a
stud and the better you get the more
simple you simplify things and it
Williams was a warm market company we
never we never got on a cold telephone
we knock never not going to strangers
home we never made a cold call ayo
Williams was built on relationships step
number one you recruit a part-timer with
four or five best friends step number
two the part-timer calls his best friend
and sets up an appointment step number
three you get in the field with that new
recruit within the first two or three or
four days that said that’s our whole
system the sales process is no pressure
you never sale on the first interview
there’s three steps the first interview
you start building a relationship you
pick up information you didn’t you go
back and you make an analysis you make a
plan you go to step number two you show
the plan you make the sales step number
three you deliver the policy you recruit
the guy now I know y’all got this
computer crap you know where you can you
sit there in the office and you can zap
that damn thing up and you can get it
issued instantly and you get a quick
paycheck but that’s a disaster Jimmy see
all this computer crap y’all God is some
good stuff but the fundamentals of
building a team don’t ever change in any
asshole that tells you they different
don’t know what in the hell they talking
about
keep it simple keep it simple keep it
let me give you another one Newton law I
think it’s stupid the senior recruit
stood up one of those tomhowkins sales
training crowd it’s so stupid on so many
levels I ain’t even gonna be stupid
enough to set up and try to explain it
the stupid people
number four
number four I told John four times I
told John don’t invite me down him I
said John I said I’m going to upset some
of your people but the people upset
needs to have their ass upset I can tell
you that number four number four have
high standards do it right the first
have high standards you know you know
one of the greatest moment and an
athlete’s life is to get that leather
jacket either right Larry to get that
leather jacket man that meant something
right they did that letter jacket with
that kaona that mean you Russ
all the girls looked at that and just
right man you were a stud you were part
of a team you were something else you
weren’t like all the other students you
wear that leather jacket though you got
a responsibility right you out there
drinking and doping and and doing bad
things then people that see you with
that leather jacket they think I’m like
you
they think we you ain’t gonna do it I
got to decide to a a wheels way I wrote
this in 1985 the a/o Williams image a
leader must look like a winner talk like
a winter act like a winner and be a
winner dress conservatively don’t
recruit people to got these earrings in
their eyelids and nose and tongue no
alcohol served in any AO Williams
meeting or convention no excessive
offices we make money in the field not
in the office
no limousine Joe know what time out is
with your kids it’s hard to believe but
we had one our VP I was speaking at a
meeting up north somewhere I want him to
tell you who it is or where it was and I
want to sudden I’m walking into arena
and this big old
all limo pulls up and some guy steps out
is coming to the meeting and I put that
RVP on timeout no limousines flashy cars
and all that crap and company business
you live within your means you have a
good financial image if you’re gonna be
a leader in our company you got to make
money save money pay your bills be a
good citizen to your community no profit
for selling anything to your people hey
hey hey I’ve had high standards it’s
present of all my bail wins I’ve always
tried to look dignified check out these
orange shoes I brought out here today
have a good personal image don’t don’t
let money and success change you
remember where you came from always be a
good caring person have a great family
life spend time with your family take
care of them they’ll always be positive
or personal example people respond to
things you do in the way you live more
than the things you say always have the
highest standards of honesty and
integrity be honest and be aboveboard
and everything you do let me close with
this
[Music]
to be a great leader to build great
teams you’ve got to become a great
encourager another unlit law everybody
needs somebody to encourage them always
remember this flashing sign on
everybody’s chest that you recruit on
your team that says make me feel special
make me feel important I want to be
somebody everybody needs somebody to
encourage them growing up in Cairo
Georgia
I was never great in anything I was
never a great athlete just pretty good I
was never a great student just average I
never thought I could make big money I
never thought I could run a big company
in every way I was pretty average on the
outside but I was blessed to have
somebody that was a great encourager in
my life
Coach Taylor made me feel special Coach
Taylor made me feel important Coach
Taylor made me feel like as I was a kid
that one day I was gonna do something
really important Coach Taylor was my one
hero in life I’m 71 years low and I
remember it just right now just like it
was yesterday sitting in that lunch room
seeing Coach Taylor eat with those other
teachers and coaches over there we’re
out on the basketball court a football
field I’d look at him and I’d say man if
I could ever be good enough to be like
him if I could ever make kids feel
special like Coach Taylor makes me and
my teammates feel that’s the best thing
I could ever do with my life as a kid
growing up all I ever wanted to do was
coach was to make kids feel special all
I ever wanted to do was be like Coach
Taylor everybody needs somebody to
encourage them folks if you want to
build a great team if you want to really
make a difference with your life if you
really want to change
people’s lives goby Coach Taylor
I had to give up my guaranteed salary I
had to give up my benefits I was super
excited about this opportunity but I was
scared to death
I wanted to make it so bad in this
business it just tore me up inside I
wanted to be somebody so dadgum bad it
just saved me up inside I wanted more
than anything in the world somebody that
knew what they were talking about to
tell me exactly what I had to do to win
in this business this was this was my
dadgum life this one any game this was
serious dadgum business and I didn’t
want some sales trainer I didn’t want
some motivational speaker blow it a lot
of hot air up my butt and see I knew
there’s somebody that looked like me and
came from where I came from to do it big
it was gonna be ugly it was gonna be
tough it was gonna be hard and that was
okay with me
I grew up tough all I wanted was
somebody to tell me like it is don’t
pull any punches this is my dadgum life
and tonight I’m gonna tell you exactly
how we did it at AOA Williams February
10 1977 al Williams was born just a
peanut 85 people here in Atlanta Georgia
but we had a cause we had a crusade our
goal was to correct it in justice our
mission was to destroy cash value life
insurance those 85 people grew to an
army of 225,000 in 1977 eighty-six
percent of all life insurance soul was
trash value today 90 plus percent of all
life insurance sold his turn and Al we
have did that
hey Liam said that ain’t that something
ain’t that dadgum something see the air
Williams legacy is awesome
we changed an industry and a million
lives in 1987 a a we have started with a
Salesforce of 85 today PFS starts with a
Salesforce of 100,000 the potential
unbelievable and let me tell you this I
love John and Rick I love their
leadership they’ve seized the moment
they’re totally obsessed with helping
PFS become the most dominant company and
financial services today see I really
believe folks I really believe PFS VFS
has an opportunity to build an even
bigger legacy than a o Williams did but
and this is a big but to do that PFS has
to find a way to build big teams you see
a o williams was a company of giants in
1988 when we were 11 years old you know
there were 2,000 companies in our
industry the largest industry in the
world and i published a list of the top
100 companies and then i plugged our big
AoE williams teams in there 34 of those
companies were a o williams teams and i
believe to build these big teams there’s
four keys number one the key to building
big teams is all about building personal
relationships folks this is a one-on-one
business this is a face-to-face business
to build big teams the fundamentals of
this business never changed and it takes
time to teach your people about the
goodness of our company it takes time to
teach your people about the rightness of
our cause the uniqueness of our system
it takes time to build leaders it takes
time to get commitments it takes time to
build trusting relationships to help
your people believe in them
that they’re special that they can do
something important it takes time to
make your people your friend there’s no
shortcuts in this business building
personal relationships is everything one
final thought about building personal
relationships
you must get involved in your people’s
lives
see most most of these dadgum business
go schools around the United States they
teach you don’t get too close to your
people don’t get involved in their
personal life will bull that ain’t the
way it was and that ain’t the way it is
today
folks you gotta get involved in your
people’s lives
you got a nature people your friend you
got to get to know the family you got to
share their life their personal life and
their business life yes it hurts from
time to time
yes it’s messy from time to time but
it’s the only way to build a great
business and you know what building
personal relationship begins with every
new recruit see we’re not in the
business of throwing a bunch of crap up
against the wall and some stick some
dawn you got a rich you got a treat
every new recruit like there a future
our VP
you must make everything a new recruit
does a big deal you got to celebrate
their first sale
you got to celebrate their first recruit
you got to celebrate every success you
got to let every recruit know that you
believe in them let me give you two
examples when I built my first base shop
by the way the first base shop in our
company I called every single person on
my team every week and when we grew I
built leaders that would carry on that
personal contact with every single
person to let them know that we were
there to help them do something
important another example when we became
a sales force of 225,000 the first thing
I did every day when I went to my office
before I did anything else
I signed 200 gogo letters personally
congratulating somebody who was just
promoted to our VP our NSD or just
joining our team always remember folks
your people are your greatest asset you
win with people you don’t win with
products you don’t win with commissions
you don’t win with your contest always
remember when you look at each person in
your organization pretend they’ve got a
sign a big neon sign on their dadgum
chest that says made me feel special
make me bill to feel important building
great teams begin with building personal
relationships number to building big
teams require that you have a passion
about what you do see this is serious
business folks we’re changing people’s
lives it’s got to be more than just
about the money see your passion is your
heart your passions your mind your
passions your soul how do you get a
passion you get a passion by loving it
Mickey Mantle the great baseball player
with
New York Yankee said I love hitting the
baseball I love hitting the baseball I
wake up every day I’m excited to go out
to the ballpark hit a baseball
I love hit the baseball when it rains
out a game I get angry
fucker because I don’t want to go out
and hit a baseball I don’t like it I
love it
he said you can’t be you can’t ever do
anything big if you just liked it you
got to love it
once you love it once you had this
passion how do you keep this passion you
keep a passion about not ever forgetting
the things that blew your butt out the
water let me just give you four examples
I never got over what a ripoff trash
value life insurance was you lose your
cash value if you die will throw on
folks let me ask you this how can a life
insurance company create such a crappy
product and them asking is how could a
life insurance salesman
90% of those Joker’s whole term on their
old lowlife insult trash value life
insurance how could those Joker’s sell
that crown do you know what I never got
over what a ripoff it was and you know
one I love sticking it up here but I
never got tired of rubbing their nose in
it
I never got over I never got over how
much money you could make part-time you
know what I’ve started coaching in
Thomasville Georgia making forty six
hundred dollars a year after football
season I used to referee basketball
games to make extra income I’d run down
that basketball court for three hours
and make $12 that I found by term and
invest the difference I went in to make
my first sale to my assistant coach
Robert Kelly it took 45 minutes I took
the same money he was spinning for
$10,000 trash value policy and I gave
him $100,000 term policy I left there in
45 minutes and that company paid me
three hundred and twenty-four dollars
the next two and a half years I never
made a sale during football season but
the other six-month part time I was able
to save $42,000 part time
it changed my life and it changed my
family’s life I never got over I never
got over what they did to my mama my
daddy died at age 48 of a heart attack I
had two younger brothers one a junior in
high school one a one in the sixth grade
I saw personally up close what a tragedy
selling too little of the wrong kind of
insurance does to a widow and I never
got over it I took it personal I wanted
to punish him I wanted to hurt him
I never got over the magic of compound
interest this finishes blew my butt out
the water you know if you went down to
Bank a and you invested a thousand
dollars for 70 years and 5% interest
that’s worth $30,000 but if you go to
bank B and invest that same thousand
dollars and you get 10% interest
everything inside of me all my common
sense says that’s twice as much interest
that’s got to be worth twice as much
that’s got to be $60,000 but at 10
percent interest that thousand dollars
grows to seven hundred and ninety
thousand dollars that’s magic ain’t that
something but you know what these you
know one if you go to Bank C and you
invest another thousand dollars for 70
years and you just get 2% more just 2%
more that’s worth 2.7 million dollars
ain’t that something folks you got to
get this passion you got to love it
and you can’t ever forget the things
they blew your butt out of the water see
I believe with everything to send me you
win with your heart not your head coach
Lombardi the great coach of the Green
Bay Packers in the last meeting he spoke
to before he died
was speaking to a group of top
executives in Washington DC early in his
speech speaking to these hundreds of
people out there he said I’m gonna give
you tonight
the secret of winning in business there
was a hush that came over the room you
could hear a pin drop and the great man
said the secret to winning in business
is hard power you capture the heart you
capture the man you must get your people
to fall in love with your company see
folks the single most important lesson I
learned coaching football and coaching
ayo Williams is you win with your heart
not your head you win on a motion not on
logic see Prudential Prudential so life
insurance to make a living
al Williams so life insurance to correct
an injustice what a powerful advantage
we have step number three to build big
teams you got to become a leader and you
got a bill with the right kind of people
see leaders are like a dadgum magnet
people are just thrown to them like bees
to honey and you show me anything in
this United States that we in a Boy
Scout Troop Church Club business
football team I’ll show you something
run by leader and the common denominator
of all great leaders if they’re do it
first people they’re do it first people
you want to win go be a leader and then
do it first lead by example you want
your people to make money you go make
money first if you want your people to
recruit you go recruit first and then
once you become a leader then you’ve got
to recruit the right kind of people see
I believe corporate America is trying to
program people like me to believe that
the winners are the pretty people are
they if they got these perfect bodies
they’re six feet to slim 185 pounds they
wear these three-piece suits these power
ties these wing tip shoes they got this
slicked back hair and this beautiful
smile in this perfect tee and they’re
great tennis players will bull not only
do they have these perfect bodies but
these pretty people have the perfect
background see they they’ve tried to
program people like me to believe if
you’re born rich and you’re born on the
right side the tracks that you’re the
privileged class that you’re supposed to
go to college that you’re supposed to
get all the good jobs but if you’re born
from a poor or average ordinary
background like I came from you must
give up your big dreams and your big
ambitions well bull and they say if you
have a high IQ they rule you brilliant
if you have an average IQ like me they
say you got to drive a truck or be a
janitor well bull people are judged in
our country today by how high they score
on aptitude tests personality tests
achievement tests and crap like that
bull ain’t nobody ever devised a test
nor will they devise a test they can
measure the heart of a champion let me
tell you about the right kind of people
the right kind of people are so dadgum
motivated it’s ridiculous I wanted to be
somebody so dadgum bad it’s ridiculous
see folks I don’t know why I’m like I am
but my butt’s always burning there’s
something inside of me that says hard
you’re supposed to go for it
all right dad gummit you’re supposed to
be somebody our dad gummit you’re
supposed to do something important for
20 years in this business I woke up
every day scared I wasn’t good enough I
went to bed every night for 20 years
here that I wasn’t gonna make it my goal
for 20 years was to get better every day
I could never recruit enough people I
could never promote enough people I
could never make enough money I could
never save enough money I was so dadgum
motivated nothing can stop me no nothing
nothing nothing can stop me and you know
what you know you know why some of you
might be seeing right now hard you’re a
madman and you know what you’re right
you got to be a dadgum madman winning
this business see I believe the
difference between being great and
average and ordinary is this much folks
is almost it’s just too scary to talk
about so you can do 99% of the things
right in business and not do this much
and you don’t fail but you can screw up
every day in business just like idea
that if you do this much you’re
guaranteed to win see this much there’s
a special kind of attitude it’s a
special kind of mental toughness it’s a
special kind of hunger and desire to be
somebody see number four if you want to
build a big team you’ve got to have a
oneness in your organization there’s got
to be a oneness everybody’s got to
operate with one heartbeat everybody’s
got to buy into your system everybody’s
got to be on the same page see there’s
no two ways it PFS there’s the PFS way
or there’s the highway let me give you
some principles about Al Williams
al Williams was not a sales company al
Williams gave people like me and you a
chance to go in business for yourself to
have ownership to build your own company
within a company and there are two big
disadvantages in sales that I didn’t lie
number one you’re unemployed every day
every day you wake up you don’t go make
a sale you don’t eat and number two you
have a limited income there’s just you
or a handful of people and it limits
your income potential I wanted to build
a team and that gave me
big advantages number one it gave me a
secure income Isle Road dozens and then
hundreds and eventually thousands of
people and that it gave me a chance to
have an unlimited income by recruiting
unlimited numbers of people al Williams
was not a sales company another
principal al Williams was a warm market
company we never cold call we never talk
to strangers we never knock on a
stranger’s door we never call a stranger
on a cold telephone we never go to
Carnival and sit at a booth that hand
out suckers and blues so the little kids
that come along they get their mamas and
daddies name you when you come to work
at a Oh Williams you never have to set
up an appointment somebody does that for
you you never go in a stranger’s home
alone see the AL Williams Way is no
pressure
everybody starts part time and by doing
that ayo Williams was able to go into
communities and hire the cream of the
crop the best quality people doctors and
lawyers and business men and women and
housewives and the best people in our
community and let me tell you the secret
to our explosive growth CEO William
screwed by multiplication not addition
Prudential and all those other
traditional companies they had an
insurance office and they had a manager
that did the recruiting and training and
everybody else was salespeople and if
that if that leader went out and
recruited three people and he did that
ten times that would give him a total
organization of 30 people but al
Williams grew by multiplication we gave
people a chance to build their own
company within a company so if you go
out and recruit three people just three
people and then you teach people the a
Oh Ian’s way and give them a chance to
go recruit three
and if you recruit three people and then
you do that times ten that’s fifty nine
thousand people ain’t that something
ain’t that dadgum something to create
this explosive growth you got to have
the bulging out when you get big you’ve
got to have the ability and the bigger
you get is got it’s more important
you’ve got to have the ability to
simplify the complicated see I can
explain to a new recruit the whole a OEM
system on one page nine simple cells I
can take a new train new recruit and I
can teach him the whole a Oh William
system in 30 minutes now the company
also has to have the ability to simplify
the complicated see most companies lose
because they they just they didn’t like
the federal government they ain’t worth
a damn and nothing you know they’re just
a big old bureaucracy