Whereas Amway Chief Gross sales Officer and Regional President West John Parker is a celebrated chief, he prefers to see himself as a part of a workforce, and never simply Crew Amway, however part of one thing even larger—the direct promoting neighborhood.
“Direct promoting is a workforce sport,” he shared. “We could have particular person roles, nevertheless it actually is a workforce sport. And I feel for me, that’s been a lot of what has formed how I method my profession and the function that I play as a teammate and being part of Amway as a company and the trade extra broadly.”
Destined for Direct Promoting
Parker started his profession with Amway in 1993, in an entry degree customer support function. This job was each his first publicity to company tradition and the direct gross sales trade, so he got here in with a clean slate.
“I really feel like direct gross sales selected me, not the opposite method round,” he joked. “And I think a variety of us within the trade would have related experiences. I used to be actually younger after I began right here at Amway. And it was simply the expertise of coming in with no information of direct promoting and discovering myself at an organization the place the tradition was actually a superb match for me. I didn’t have a variety of perspective on what corporations or company cultures had been like. And the deeper I received into direct promoting and the deeper I received into Amway, the extra I preferred it. The extra I preferred it, the extra I felt at dwelling. I felt there was an amazing alternative to study and develop and develop.”
Amway has been Parker’s dwelling for 3 many years, giving him the chance to develop his gross sales and advertising expertise from a small regional function to President of Amway Japan to his present place as Regional President West and Chief Gross sales Officer. He’s had a entrance row seat as each Amway and the broader direct gross sales trade have navigated the evolution of on-line gross sales, altering buyer expectations, totally different administration kinds and even a worldwide pandemic. However he sees these shifts and modifications because the rule reasonably than the exception.
“As I mirror again on the 30 years that I’ve been part of the trade, what’s most fascinating to me is the best way during which our companies and the person entrepreneurs that make up our companies have collectively tailored over time to modifications within the market. Typically we’ve this attitude that our mannequin is so distinct that we’ve needed to change or adapt greater than different industries, however I imagine that want for change is true throughout a variety of different industries as nicely.”
In Parker’s estimation, adapting is simply an integral a part of enterprise as regular. He defined, “As an trade, we don’t view change as a periodic factor that we’ve to implement when there’s some type of milestone or in an effort to react to some sudden change within the market. Change is part of working a enterprise day-to-day. There are occasions we wish to be a step forward. However there are occasions we wish to be consistent with what present expectations are.”
A Life-Lengthy Learner
Throughout his time in management at Amway, Parker has realized from a whole lot of nice leaders from around the globe however believes that the perfect leaders are merely the perfect listeners—and that they will study from anybody.
“As an Amway worker, I’ve realized a lot from so many leaders and executives at Amway. However I’ve realized simply as a lot from individuals in any respect ranges within the group. Our greatest leaders are those that take a 360-degree view of studying. I really feel like I’m rising and studying as a lot at present as I did 25 years in the past.”
And that tradition of fixed studying gives Parker with the power and inspiration that’s nonetheless on the coronary heart of the work he’s executed for the previous three many years. “It’s been useful for me to be surrounded by such nice individuals. I really feel persistently compelled to keep up the requirements of these I’m so privileged to work with. It’s a superb push for me personally to acknowledge that I’ve as a lot to study at present as I did after I began at Amway 30-plus years in the past.”
The Bravo Excellence Award is a brand new award this yr, designed as a solution to acknowledge executives with an extended historical past of management, excellence and integrity. We couldn’t consider anybody extra becoming to honor than John Parker.
DSN salutes and respects his years of trade management and uncompromising integrity and perception within the channel.
From the June 2023 difficulty of Direct Promoting Information journal.
