[{"_1":2,"_3":-5,"_4":-5},"loaderData",{"_5":6,"_7":8},"actionData","errors","root",{"_137":-5,"_138":-5,"_139":140,"_141":142,"_143":144},"routes/clips.$id.$slug",{"_9":10,"_11":12},"clip",{"_13":14,"_15":16,"_17":-5,"_18":19,"_20":-5,"_21":22,"_23":24,"_25":26,"_27":28,"_29":30,"_31":32,"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_44":45,"_46":-5,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":-5},"canonicalUrl","https://howleaderslead.com/clips/2436/listen-and-learn","id",2436,"title","Listen and learn","subtitle","transcript","WEBVTT\n\n1\n00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.200\nThis is something that I've found useful\n\n2\n00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:08.320\nin every big move that I've made,\n\n3\n00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:10.400\nwhich is to listen and learn.\n\n4\n00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:14.680\nWhen I joined Amway, I made it explicit\n\n5\n00:00:14.680 --> 00:00:18.080\nto my team and to the entire organization and to the board\n\n6\n00:00:18.080 --> 00:00:21.400\nthat I will spend my first 100 days to listen and learn.\n\n7\n00:00:21.400 --> 00:00:22.780\nSo what did I do?\n\n8\n00:00:22.780 --> 00:00:27.400\nThe first thing I did is I went to where the rubber hits the road.\n\n9\n00:00:27.400 --> 00:00:31.320\nI went to the markets to spend time with the managing directors,\n\n10\n00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:33.120\nto spend time with our entrepreneurs,\n\n11\n00:00:33.120 --> 00:00:36.200\nto listen to the stories and how they were building the business.\n\n12\n00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:39.560\nBecause I knew with all the strengths we have,\n\n13\n00:00:39.560 --> 00:00:42.240\nwe had to massively transform,\n\n14\n00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.320\nto be relevant to entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs,\n\n15\n00:00:45.320 --> 00:00:47.680\nand to the competition that was coming to us\n\n16\n00:00:47.680 --> 00:00:49.880\nfrom multiple angles, including e-commerce.\n\n17\n00:00:49.880 --> 00:00:52.640\nI went to the markets to listen to them\n\n18\n00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.040\nand to listen to the entrepreneurs.\n\n19\n00:00:54.040 --> 00:00:56.800\nAnd Makiko San in Tokyo is one of those I met,\n\n20\n00:00:56.800 --> 00:00:59.040\nbut I traveled across the world.\n\n21\n00:00:59.040 --> 00:01:04.040\nThe second thing I did was to go outside Amway.\n\n22\n00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:08.800\nAnd I looked at digital and technology companies\n\n23\n00:01:08.800 --> 00:01:10.840\nand looked at startups and nutrition.\n\n24\n00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:12.840\nSo we spent time in California,\n\n25\n00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:16.000\nwent across on a whole week-long trip,\n\n26\n00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:19.160\nvisiting the usual names, the Facebook and the Google,\n\n27\n00:01:19.160 --> 00:01:22.280\nbut also a number of other startup companies in nutrition.\n\n28\n00:01:22.280 --> 00:01:24.960\nAnd then I went to Hangzhou to spend time in Alibaba.\n\n29\n00:01:24.960 --> 00:01:27.440\nSo we looked outside and then we learned from there.\n\n30\n00:01:27.440 --> 00:01:30.160\nAnd the third thing I did was to reach out to the gurus.\n\n31\n00:01:30.160 --> 00:01:31.760\nI reached out to you, David.\n\n32\n00:01:31.760 --> 00:01:35.120\nI reached out to Indra, who I've known for quite some time.\n\n33\n00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:36.600\nI reached out to Ramcharan.\n\n34\n00:01:36.600 --> 00:01:39.400\nAnd I reached out.\n\n35\n00:01:39.400 --> 00:01:42.400\nI even went to two programs,\n\n36\n00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:44.720\none by Watson, one by BCD for new CEOs,\n\n37\n00:01:44.720 --> 00:01:48.720\njust to wrap my mind around and build my plan.\n\n38\n00:01:48.720 --> 00:01:50.920\nAnd once my 100 days were done,\n\n39\n00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:54.640\nI then shared my listen and learn learnings\n\n40\n00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:56.640\nand my thoughts on where I believe,\n\n41\n00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:58.240\nwhat are the strengths of Amway,\n\n42\n00:01:58.240 --> 00:01:59.560\nwhat are the changes I'm seeing,\n\n43\n00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:04.200\nand where we need to go in an organization-wide memo\n\n44\n00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:05.880\nin April last year,\n\n45\n00:02:05.880 --> 00:02:08.600\nwhich was the starting of my journey in Amway.\n\n46\n00:02:08.600 --> 00:02:09.800\n- Where did you decide, Melon?\n","pretty_transcript","start_time",847000,"end_time",974199,"keywords","markets, managing directors, business, transform, e-commerce, first 100 days","slug","listen-and-learn","origin","cms","mux_playback_id","fqjLdHtkTqZkVaYghb00GNRV5DPa56LH8cdqy00AzvbaU","mux_asset_id","C501OS4gA3ay7dAEPF02HShq02AyBBnNEByuqcdQS02m02to","leader_id",100,"episode_id",248,"updated_at","2025-02-26T19:52:44.000000Z","meta_title","meta_description","og_image_media_id","web_url","https://www.howleaderslead.com/clips/2436/listen-and-learn","og_image_url","leader",{"_13":36,"_101":102,"_103":104,"_105":106,"_25":107,"_108":109,"_62":110,"_59":110,"_111":112,"_69":113,"_39":114,"_115":-5,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_116":117,"_89":118,"_44":119,"_120":121,"_122":123,"_46":-5,"_124":125,"_126":127,"_93":128,"_51":-5},"episode",{"_13":38,"_15":52,"_27":53,"_17":54,"_55":56,"_18":57,"_20":58,"_59":60,"_61":-5,"_62":60,"_63":-5,"_64":65,"_66":67,"_68":-5,"_69":-5,"_70":71,"_72":73,"_74":-5,"_35":36,"_39":75,"_41":-5,"_42":-5,"_43":-5,"_76":77,"_78":79,"_80":81,"_82":83,"_84":-5,"_85":-5,"_86":87,"_88":-5,"_89":-5,"_46":-5,"_90":91,"_92":-5,"_93":-5,"_51":-5},"og_image_media","Build Trust by Building Community","build-trust-by-building-community","Learn how to build trust and lead with heart by fostering a sense of community. See why social commerce is the next big thing in sales. Plus, wisdom on self-awareness that every leader needs to hear, especially if you’re leading in times of big change.","summary","

Today’s guest is Milind Pant, CEO of Amway. Amway is the largest direct selling company in the world, with over ONE MILLION independent business owners – a.k.a. entrepreneurs.

Milind has tapped into something that’s helping him grow as a leader AND helping his entrepreneurs at Amway grow their businesses.

That secret ingredient is community.

We all want to do business with people we know and trust.

But the big question is … as leaders, how do we build those relationships in today’s digital landscape? How can we develop that sense of community with our customers?

If you’re not sure, listen to this episode. There is a wealth of wisdom and inspiration here to help you build trust by building community.

You’ll also learn:

A proven blueprint to set yourself up for success in any new role
The opportunity awaiting when social media and e-commerce intersect
The most dangerous thing to avoid in leadership, especially in seasons of big change
How to differentiate your business from a huge competitive force like Amazon

Take your learning further. Get proven leadership advice from these (free!) resources:

The How Leaders Lead App: A vast library of 90-second leadership lessons to stay sharp on the go

Daily Insight Emails: One small (but powerful!) leadership principle to focus on each day

Whichever you choose, you can be sure you’ll get the trusted leadership advice you need to advance your career, develop your team, and grow your business.

","WEBVTT\n\n1\n00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.710\nWelcome to How Leaders Lead, where every week you get to listen in while I\n\n2\n00:00:07.710 --> 00:00:08.600\ninterview some\n\n3\n00:00:08.600 --> 00:00:10.960\nof the very best leaders in the world.\n\n4\n00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:14.240\nI break down the key learning so that by the end of the episode, you'll have\n\n5\n00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:14.840\nsomething\n\n6\n00:00:14.840 --> 00:00:18.760\nsimple you can apply as you develop into a better leader.\n\n7\n00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:21.120\nThat's what this podcast is all about.\n\n8\n00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:25.280\nToday's guest is my friend, Millen Pant, CEO of Amway.\n\n9\n00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:29.810\nNow Amway just happens to be the largest direct selling company in the world\n\n10\n00:00:29.810 --> 00:00:31.360\nwith over 1 million\n\n11\n00:00:31.360 --> 00:00:36.240\nindependent business owners, aka entrepreneurs.\n\n12\n00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:39.460\nAnd as you'll hear today, Millen has tapped into something that's helping him\n\n13\n00:00:39.460 --> 00:00:39.840\ngrow as\n\n14\n00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:44.960\na leader and helping his entrepreneurs at Amway grow their businesses.\n\n15\n00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:48.080\nNow what I'm talking about here is community.\n\n16\n00:00:48.080 --> 00:00:52.060\nWe all want to do business with people we trust, people we know.\n\n17\n00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:56.220\nBut the big question is, as leaders, how do we build those relationships in\n\n18\n00:00:56.220 --> 00:00:57.180\ntoday's digital\n\n19\n00:00:57.180 --> 00:01:01.360\nlandscape, how can we develop that sense of community with our customers?\n\n20\n00:01:01.360 --> 00:01:04.320\nWell, if you're not sure, keep listening.\n\n21\n00:01:04.320 --> 00:01:08.050\nThere's a wealth of wisdom and inspiration here to help you build trust by\n\n22\n00:01:08.050 --> 00:01:09.800\nbuilding community.\n\n23\n00:01:09.800 --> 00:01:15.610\nSo here's my conversation with my good friend and soon to be yours, Millen Pant\n\n24\n00:01:15.610 --> 00:01:16.000\n.\n\n25\n00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:26.730\nMillen, you grow up in India and here you are living in aid of Michigan and God\n\n26\n00:01:26.730 --> 00:01:27.460\n, I have\n\n27\n00:01:27.460 --> 00:01:29.260\nno idea where that is.\n\n28\n00:01:29.260 --> 00:01:31.780\nAnd you're the CEO of Amway.\n\n29\n00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:33.300\nWho would have thunk it?\n\n30\n00:01:33.300 --> 00:01:37.600\nDavid, this is, first of all, it's a privilege to speak with you and gosh, you\n\n31\n00:01:37.600 --> 00:01:38.340\nknow, when\n\n32\n00:01:38.340 --> 00:01:42.720\nI was growing up, I probably couldn't even put New York City on the map, leave\n\n33\n00:01:42.720 --> 00:01:43.380\nit on,\n\n34\n00:01:43.380 --> 00:01:44.820\nfigure out where Ada Michigan is.\n\n35\n00:01:44.820 --> 00:01:48.560\nSo this is, this is surely not a part of any plan.\n\n36\n00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:53.720\nGive us a little snapshot of your journey and how you got to Ada.\n\n37\n00:01:53.720 --> 00:01:59.920\nDavid, I belong to the photo of the Himalayas in India.\n\n38\n00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:08.890\nAnd as we were growing up in, in any sort of a normal family, loving parents, I\n\n39\n00:02:08.890 --> 00:02:09.800\nguess we\n\n40\n00:02:09.800 --> 00:02:15.680\nwere rich in parents taking care of us.\n\n41\n00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:20.090\nIn India, there is a, there is a phrase called for family values, what we would\n\n42\n00:02:20.090 --> 00:02:20.760\ncall family\n\n43\n00:02:20.760 --> 00:02:24.950\nvalues here is a phrase called sunscar, which essentially is family values to\n\n44\n00:02:24.950 --> 00:02:25.520\nthe right\n\n45\n00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:26.520\nthing.\n\n46\n00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:31.430\nAnd that's how our parents brought us up and kind of give us the confidence\n\n47\n00:02:31.430 --> 00:02:32.240\nthat you can\n\n48\n00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:35.760\nbe whatever you wish to be.\n\n49\n00:02:35.760 --> 00:02:39.410\nOn hindsight, David, not at that point of time, we were growing up, but on\n\n50\n00:02:39.410 --> 00:02:40.320\nhindsight, we had\n\n51\n00:02:40.320 --> 00:02:47.960\nvery modest, modest material means we never had air conditioning.\n\n52\n00:02:47.960 --> 00:02:51.820\nAnd you know, you've been to India multiple times, you know, it's, most of the\n\n53\n00:02:51.820 --> 00:02:52.360\nyear is,\n\n54\n00:02:52.360 --> 00:02:56.090\nis hundred degrees and above, but we know air conditioning at home, we never\n\n55\n00:02:56.090 --> 00:02:56.560\nmissed\n\n56\n00:02:56.560 --> 00:02:57.880\nit.\n\n57\n00:02:57.880 --> 00:03:02.120\nThe first time we got television at home and a color television at home, even,\n\n58\n00:03:02.120 --> 00:03:02.640\neven for\n\n59\n00:03:02.640 --> 00:03:11.530\nthat was when I was in my teens, but we grew up happy and we studied hard and,\n\n60\n00:03:11.530 --> 00:03:12.560\nyou know,\n\n61\n00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:17.120\njust, just had a good set of foundational values.\n\n62\n00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:22.560\nWhat prepared you from the business perspective to take on this am way role?\n\n63\n00:03:22.560 --> 00:03:29.230\nDavid, I think that journey, if I was to go back, would, would go back to my\n\n64\n00:03:29.230 --> 00:03:29.960\ninitial\n\n65\n00:03:29.960 --> 00:03:36.320\ndays in, in, you know, in India, I joined it, you know, straight after my, my\n\n66\n00:03:36.320 --> 00:03:36.840\nmanagement\n\n67\n00:03:36.840 --> 00:03:38.000\nschool.\n\n68\n00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:43.480\nAnd I still remember the training program there was, was very interesting.\n\n69\n00:03:43.480 --> 00:03:48.600\nIt was a combination of going across functions and across categories, a fairly\n\n70\n00:03:48.600 --> 00:03:49.520\nwell rounded\n\n71\n00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:51.400\nperspective at an early stage.\n\n72\n00:03:51.400 --> 00:03:57.120\nOne of the, one of the stints was to spend eight weeks in an Indian village.\n\n73\n00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:01.240\nSo here I was, you know, after having done my strategy and my marketing in, in\n\n74\n00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:01.960\nschool,\n\n75\n00:04:01.960 --> 00:04:06.240\nalready to, you know, to, to go and do glamorous things.\n\n76\n00:04:06.240 --> 00:04:11.080\nAnd I spent eight weeks as what you would call a paying guest, you know, in a,\n\n77\n00:04:11.080 --> 00:04:11.400\nin a\n\n78\n00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:17.020\nvillager, a fairly poor village with no running water, sporty electricity, no\n\n79\n00:04:17.020 --> 00:04:18.080\nbathrooms.\n\n80\n00:04:18.080 --> 00:04:23.680\nI used to take, take, take a, take a bat in the village well out in the open.\n\n81\n00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:28.160\nAnd those kinds of experiences really set a, set a great foundation.\n\n82\n00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:29.960\nAnd then I got lucky.\n\n83\n00:04:29.960 --> 00:04:32.280\nI got a chance to meet, meet you.\n\n84\n00:04:32.280 --> 00:04:35.300\nWe were living in Durban, South Africa at that point of time, we should talk\n\n85\n00:04:35.300 --> 00:04:35.640\nabout\n\n86\n00:04:35.640 --> 00:04:41.060\nthat story sometime, David, but one thing like to another and the last 10, 12\n\n87\n00:04:41.060 --> 00:04:42.400\nyears,\n\n88\n00:04:42.400 --> 00:04:47.440\nI've had the privilege of, of just living like a global nomad with, you were in\n\n89\n00:04:47.440 --> 00:04:48.000\nDurban\n\n90\n00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:52.920\nfrom Durban, we moved to Delhi, from Delhi to Bangkok, all with YAM, with\n\n91\n00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:54.880\nBangkok to Shanghai,\n\n92\n00:04:54.880 --> 00:04:59.120\nthe, you know, the, the opportunity of a lifetime, from Shanghai to Dallas.\n\n93\n00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:03.320\nAnd here we are in, in a, in a grand rapids in Michigan.\n\n94\n00:05:03.320 --> 00:05:06.400\nSo it's been quite a hell of a journey.\n\n95\n00:05:06.400 --> 00:05:10.720\nAnd I'm very thankful for all the opportunities that came my way.\n\n96\n00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:15.800\nYou know, the one you have over a million independent business owners, as I, as\n\n97\n00:05:15.800 --> 00:05:17.000\nI mentioned,\n\n98\n00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:20.000\nyou explained the AMUI business model to us.\n\n99\n00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.400\nWell, it's a fascinating model.\n\n100\n00:05:22.400 --> 00:05:28.830\nIt was started by two friends, David, 60 years back, rich in J, and it's based\n\n101\n00:05:28.830 --> 00:05:29.360\non three\n\n102\n00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:31.160\nideas.\n\n103\n00:05:31.160 --> 00:05:37.440\nThe first idea is all about unleashing entrepreneurship.\n\n104\n00:05:37.440 --> 00:05:40.280\nThat's the core, first idea.\n\n105\n00:05:40.280 --> 00:05:42.000\nBut that's not the only idea.\n\n106\n00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:43.200\nThere are two others.\n\n107\n00:05:43.200 --> 00:05:45.840\nThe second is a social idea.\n\n108\n00:05:45.840 --> 00:05:49.760\nSo entrepreneurs work as a part of a community.\n\n109\n00:05:49.760 --> 00:05:52.120\nThey grow and nurture other entrepreneurs.\n\n110\n00:05:52.120 --> 00:05:57.040\nThey have relationships that are based on trust and are based on heart.\n\n111\n00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:02.240\nAnd the third part of AMUI, it's about health and wellness.\n\n112\n00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:08.260\nThe core portfolio of AMUI is got to do with holistic wellness, long-term\n\n113\n00:06:08.260 --> 00:06:10.960\nimmunity, organic\n\n114\n00:06:10.960 --> 00:06:13.880\nproducts, starting from taking care of mother earth.\n\n115\n00:06:13.880 --> 00:06:20.640\nAnd these three ideas of entrepreneurship, social connections, and health and\n\n116\n00:06:20.640 --> 00:06:21.520\nwellness\n\n117\n00:06:21.520 --> 00:06:29.080\ncome together across the world in over 100 markets with a million distributors.\n\n118\n00:06:29.080 --> 00:06:33.560\nAnd it's as vibrant today as it was 60 years back.\n\n119\n00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:37.630\nYou know, it's really interesting because when you think of direct sales\n\n120\n00:06:37.630 --> 00:06:39.240\norganizations,\n\n121\n00:06:39.240 --> 00:06:43.910\na lot of people think of like Ponzi schemes and pyramid schemes, and how do you\n\n122\n00:06:43.910 --> 00:06:44.280\nhandle\n\n123\n00:06:44.280 --> 00:06:47.280\nthe misperceptions of your industry?\n\n124\n00:06:47.280 --> 00:06:56.560\nWell, the most important thing for any entrepreneur to be successful across any\n\n125\n00:06:56.560 --> 00:06:58.000\nindustry is to\n\n126\n00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:01.120\nbe able to serve their customers.\n\n127\n00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:03.720\nAnd that's what our entrepreneurs do best.\n\n128\n00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:08.600\nAnd they do it with a portfolio that's about beauty and health and wellness.\n\n129\n00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:13.800\nIt's fascinating, David, as I join AMUI and I, as part of my listen and learn\n\n130\n00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:14.400\nmy first\n\n131\n00:07:14.400 --> 00:07:19.640\nhundred days, as I went across the world, I met this entrepreneur in our debut.\n\n132\n00:07:19.640 --> 00:07:25.800\nWe call them AMUI business owners in Tokyo, Makiko San.\n\n133\n00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:29.480\nAnd she insisted she wanted to meet me and kind of draw me in.\n\n134\n00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:30.720\nShe said, \"You cook together.\"\n\n135\n00:07:30.720 --> 00:07:33.520\nSo she'd be acting duri chicken and Indian bass with your eyes.\n\n136\n00:07:33.520 --> 00:07:37.160\nWe cook it like a community of friends.\n\n137\n00:07:37.160 --> 00:07:39.650\nAnd she said, \"Mylen, I want to share with you how I'm planning to build my\n\n138\n00:07:39.650 --> 00:07:40.240\nbusiness.\"\n\n139\n00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:43.640\nI said, \"Okay, here's an entrepreneur in Tokyo.\"\n\n140\n00:07:43.640 --> 00:07:47.410\nAnd she dished out a mobile phone and started making a presentation from IG\n\n141\n00:07:47.410 --> 00:07:48.520\nfeeder, Instagram\n\n142\n00:07:48.520 --> 00:07:49.520\nfeed.\n\n143\n00:07:49.520 --> 00:07:54.450\nAnd she said, \"Mylen, I've built a business for 20 years and I've built it home\n\n144\n00:07:54.450 --> 00:07:54.880\nto home\n\n145\n00:07:54.880 --> 00:07:56.400\nand offline.\n\n146\n00:07:56.400 --> 00:08:03.060\nAnd today I'm building my community online around my passion, which is cooking,\n\n147\n00:08:03.060 --> 00:08:03.280\naround\n\n148\n00:08:03.280 --> 00:08:05.920\nmy role as a mom, as an entrepreneur.\n\n149\n00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:08.520\nAnd she had 20,000 Instagram followers.\n\n150\n00:08:08.520 --> 00:08:13.880\nDavid, David in April last year, I had four and a half Instagram followers.\n\n151\n00:08:13.880 --> 00:08:18.480\nAnd I looked at her and I said, \"Wow, isn't this something?\n\n152\n00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:21.440\nIf you could have a million Makiko sounds across the world.\n\n153\n00:08:21.440 --> 00:08:27.760\nIf you could help a 23-year-old anywhere in the world, be it in Miami, London,\n\n154\n00:08:27.760 --> 00:08:28.400\nSydney,\n\n155\n00:08:28.400 --> 00:08:34.160\nShanghai, Delhi, Kuala Lumpur, Bionis-Aras, who can come to us need not have\n\n156\n00:08:34.160 --> 00:08:35.280\nany capital,\n\n157\n00:08:35.280 --> 00:08:38.320\nneed not have a college degree.\n\n158\n00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:44.750\nEveryone is welcome and we help us succeed at her time, at her flexibility, at\n\n159\n00:08:44.750 --> 00:08:45.880\nher freedom\n\n160\n00:08:45.880 --> 00:08:49.080\nand build a business on her own terms.\n\n161\n00:08:49.080 --> 00:08:51.160\nWon't that be great?\n\n162\n00:08:51.160 --> 00:08:57.340\nAnd that's how our am way journeyed to what we call social commerce, a 10-year\n\n163\n00:08:57.340 --> 00:08:57.520\nplan that\n\n164\n00:08:57.520 --> 00:08:58.680\nwe've put into place.\n\n165\n00:08:58.680 --> 00:09:03.920\nIt's a fantastic idea that helps people across the world be successful.\"\n\n166\n00:09:03.920 --> 00:09:04.920\nThat's great.\n\n167\n00:09:04.920 --> 00:09:06.920\nI love your enthusiasm.\n\n168\n00:09:06.920 --> 00:09:07.920\nThat's fantastic.\n\n169\n00:09:07.920 --> 00:09:15.200\nAnd I know am way is a family-owned business and you're the first outside CEO.\n\n170\n00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:17.040\nTell us about the hiring process.\n\n171\n00:09:17.040 --> 00:09:18.560\nThat had to be fascinating.\n\n172\n00:09:18.560 --> 00:09:22.840\nI guess I got lucky, David.\n\n173\n00:09:22.840 --> 00:09:28.150\nThe first time I got enough of the opportunity, that is a CEO role, I was\n\n174\n00:09:28.150 --> 00:09:28.680\nintrigued.\n\n175\n00:09:28.680 --> 00:09:32.640\nI was intrigued more because I looked at the brief.\n\n176\n00:09:32.640 --> 00:09:33.840\nIt was a global business.\n\n177\n00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:41.760\nI didn't realize that am way had 90% of its revenues outside of United States.\n\n178\n00:09:41.760 --> 00:09:46.960\nYou're actually 75% around businesses between Tokyo and Mumbai in Asia.\n\n179\n00:09:46.960 --> 00:09:48.760\nSo I said, that's fascinating.\n\n180\n00:09:48.760 --> 00:09:52.880\nThat kind of plays up to the area I know best.\n\n181\n00:09:52.880 --> 00:09:54.960\nThen it's a business of brands.\n\n182\n00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:57.280\nI said, all right, that sounds good too.\n\n183\n00:09:57.280 --> 00:09:59.240\nThen I said, what about the products?\n\n184\n00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:03.890\nI requested Amrita, who you know well, my wife, to say, all right, why don't we\n\n185\n00:10:03.890 --> 00:10:04.120\norder\n\n186\n00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:06.560\nsome products online?\n\n187\n00:10:06.560 --> 00:10:10.980\nShe did that and lo and behold, 48 hours, we got a box of artistry, beauty\n\n188\n00:10:10.980 --> 00:10:12.200\nproducts and\n\n189\n00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:13.680\nneutralite and gummies.\n\n190\n00:10:13.680 --> 00:10:17.920\nMy son and I finished off the gummies in like 24 hours.\n\n191\n00:10:17.920 --> 00:10:24.550\nI said, great product, global business, brands, but family-owned, like you said\n\n192\n00:10:24.550 --> 00:10:25.240\n, privately\n\n193\n00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:26.240\nheld.\n\n194\n00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:27.240\nWhat does that mean?\n\n195\n00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:33.690\nThen I were invited over by the divorce and the Van Andel families to Ada,\n\n196\n00:10:33.690 --> 00:10:34.960\nMichigan and\n\n197\n00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:38.650\nfrankly, even though I was living in Dallas, I really didn't know where Ada,\n\n198\n00:10:38.650 --> 00:10:39.280\nMichigan is\n\n199\n00:10:39.280 --> 00:10:40.520\non the map.\n\n200\n00:10:40.520 --> 00:10:46.450\nBut we went with a very open mind, both of us took a younger son along and my\n\n201\n00:10:46.450 --> 00:10:47.560\nGod, what\n\n202\n00:10:47.560 --> 00:10:50.160\na wonderful experience it was.\n\n203\n00:10:50.160 --> 00:10:54.320\nWe were invited to their homes for meals.\n\n204\n00:10:54.320 --> 00:10:56.560\nWe met their kids.\n\n205\n00:10:56.560 --> 00:11:01.680\nIt was one family to another family, very down to earth.\n\n206\n00:11:01.680 --> 00:11:06.180\nAnd I thought to myself, and as we were returning to Dallas, Amrita and I chat,\n\n207\n00:11:06.180 --> 00:11:06.880\nwe said, we\n\n208\n00:11:06.880 --> 00:11:11.570\ngrew a million miles away in the photo of the Himalayas, but the value system\n\n209\n00:11:11.570 --> 00:11:12.080\nand the\n\n210\n00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:18.030\nfamily values that our parents inculcated in us are very similar to the family\n\n211\n00:11:18.030 --> 00:11:18.680\nvalues\n\n212\n00:11:18.680 --> 00:11:22.280\nof the divorce and the Van Andel families in West Michigan.\n\n213\n00:11:22.280 --> 00:11:25.920\nAnd whichever the process goes, our heart was made.\n\n214\n00:11:25.920 --> 00:11:29.080\nAnd how many generations of family members did you meet?\n\n215\n00:11:29.080 --> 00:11:34.510\nI met, we met generation two, generation three and the generation four is still\n\n216\n00:11:34.510 --> 00:11:34.840\nvery\n\n217\n00:11:34.840 --> 00:11:35.840\nyoung.\n\n218\n00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:37.640\nWell, that's great.\n\n219\n00:11:37.640 --> 00:11:38.640\nI love it.\n\n220\n00:11:38.640 --> 00:11:39.640\nI love it.\n\n221\n00:11:39.640 --> 00:11:41.480\nAnd it's a great American story.\n\n222\n00:11:41.480 --> 00:11:43.000\nThere's no question, Amway.\n\n223\n00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:44.400\nIt is.\n\n224\n00:11:44.400 --> 00:11:50.530\nYou know, what gave you the confidence you were ready to take on that job and\n\n225\n00:11:50.530 --> 00:11:51.640\nsucceed?\n\n226\n00:11:51.640 --> 00:11:54.560\nYou know, how hard was it for you really to make the big leap?\n\n227\n00:11:54.560 --> 00:11:57.000\nI mean, you were leaving a young branch.\n\n228\n00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:02.760\nYou were on your, you had a great job as the head of Pizza Hut International\n\n229\n00:12:02.760 --> 00:12:03.440\nand, you\n\n230\n00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:06.520\nknow, you had a good security blanket.\n\n231\n00:12:06.520 --> 00:12:07.680\nI did.\n\n232\n00:12:07.680 --> 00:12:13.340\nAnd you know, that question, David, reminds me of a similar decision that I\n\n233\n00:12:13.340 --> 00:12:14.480\nwent through\n\n234\n00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:19.700\nand towards the end of 2017, as you know, Amrita and the family had moved to\n\n235\n00:12:19.700 --> 00:12:20.400\nDublin,\n\n236\n00:12:20.400 --> 00:12:22.680\nSouth Africa with Unilevel.\n\n237\n00:12:22.680 --> 00:12:24.680\nAnd we were well settled there.\n\n238\n00:12:24.680 --> 00:12:31.570\nAnd, you know, one morning in December, I got an email in my Gmail account from\n\n239\n00:12:31.570 --> 00:12:32.280\nsomeone\n\n240\n00:12:32.280 --> 00:12:36.200\ncalled David Novak when I was with Unilevel, who said, \"Millant.\"\n\n241\n00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:39.950\nAnd, you know, David, I knew it was from you because it said, \"M-I-L-A-N-D,\"\n\n242\n00:12:39.950 --> 00:12:40.600\ninstead\n\n243\n00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:44.800\nof \"M-I-L-A-N-D,\" which is of, which is with Indian names, who knows.\n\n244\n00:12:44.800 --> 00:12:50.650\nBut it said, \"And whether you get your authentic personality and you're offered\n\n245\n00:12:50.650 --> 00:12:51.280\nto just have\n\n246\n00:12:51.280 --> 00:12:53.160\na conversation.\"\n\n247\n00:12:53.160 --> 00:12:57.400\nAnd one thing led to another, and I left Unilevel to join YAM, which, and I'm\n\n248\n00:12:57.400 --> 00:12:58.280\nso thankful to\n\n249\n00:12:58.280 --> 00:13:01.760\nyou for giving me that opportunity.\n\n250\n00:13:01.760 --> 00:13:07.610\nAnd it was then a decision which was as much based on rational and intellectual\n\n251\n00:13:07.610 --> 00:13:08.320\nreasons\n\n252\n00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:12.920\nas it was based on emotional and reasons of the heart.\n\n253\n00:13:12.920 --> 00:13:18.160\nAnd it's the same thing that happened when I moved from YAM to Amrit.\n\n254\n00:13:18.160 --> 00:13:25.800\nIt was as much based on the sense of adventure, of being a CEO, of being able\n\n255\n00:13:25.800 --> 00:13:27.120\nto work with\n\n256\n00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:31.550\na large global company with a million entrepreneurs and do my little bit to\n\n257\n00:13:31.550 --> 00:13:32.520\nserve them and make\n\n258\n00:13:32.520 --> 00:13:39.450\nthem successful as it was the conference of common values and value systems\n\n259\n00:13:39.450 --> 00:13:40.560\nbetween people\n\n260\n00:13:40.560 --> 00:13:43.600\nI met in the families and my family.\n\n261\n00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:48.560\nYou know, Millen and I apologize for misspelling your name back there.\n\n262\n00:13:48.560 --> 00:13:53.600\nI do know that it's M-I-L-I-N-D-N-I-L-A-N-D.\n\n263\n00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:59.110\nBut you know, you mentioned you had a big learning session or you spent some\n\n264\n00:13:59.110 --> 00:13:59.760\ntime, you\n\n265\n00:13:59.760 --> 00:14:04.090\nsaid launch and learn session or how did you go about learning the challenges\n\n266\n00:14:04.090 --> 00:14:05.800\nfor the company?\n\n267\n00:14:05.800 --> 00:14:13.670\nDavid, this is something that I've found useful in every big move that I've\n\n268\n00:14:13.670 --> 00:14:15.080\nmade, which is\n\n269\n00:14:15.080 --> 00:14:17.440\nto listen and learn.\n\n270\n00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:21.640\nWhen I joined Amrit, I made it explicit to my team and to the entire\n\n271\n00:14:21.640 --> 00:14:22.880\norganization and\n\n272\n00:14:22.880 --> 00:14:27.320\nto the board that I will spend my first 100 days to listen and learn.\n\n273\n00:14:27.320 --> 00:14:28.680\nSo what did I do?\n\n274\n00:14:28.680 --> 00:14:33.240\nThe first thing I did is I went to where the rubber hits the road.\n\n275\n00:14:33.240 --> 00:14:37.760\nI went to the markets to spend time with the managing directors, to spend time\n\n276\n00:14:37.760 --> 00:14:38.160\nwith our\n\n277\n00:14:38.160 --> 00:14:42.120\nentrepreneurs, to listen to the stories and how they were building the business\n\n278\n00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:42.280\n.\n\n279\n00:14:42.280 --> 00:14:47.830\nBecause I knew with all the strengths we have, we had to massively transform,\n\n280\n00:14:47.830 --> 00:14:48.920\nto be relevant\n\n281\n00:14:48.920 --> 00:14:53.370\nto entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs and to the competition that was coming to\n\n282\n00:14:53.370 --> 00:14:53.760\nus from\n\n283\n00:14:53.760 --> 00:14:55.720\nmultiple angles, including e-commerce.\n\n284\n00:14:55.720 --> 00:14:59.270\nSo I went to the markets to listen to them and to listen to the entrepreneurs\n\n285\n00:14:59.270 --> 00:15:00.360\nand Makiko\n\n286\n00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:05.000\nSun in Tokyo is one of those I met, but I traveled across the world.\n\n287\n00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:12.720\nThe second thing I did was to go outside Amrit and I looked at digital and\n\n288\n00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:14.160\ntechnology\n\n289\n00:15:14.160 --> 00:15:16.880\ncompanies and looked at startups and nutrition.\n\n290\n00:15:16.880 --> 00:15:22.080\nSo we spent time in California, went across on a whole week-long trip, visiting\n\n291\n00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:22.880\nthe usual\n\n292\n00:15:22.880 --> 00:15:26.680\nnames, the Facebook and the Google, but also a number of other startup\n\n293\n00:15:26.680 --> 00:15:28.200\ncompanies in nutrition.\n\n294\n00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:30.880\nThen I went to Hangzhou to spend time in Alibaba.\n\n295\n00:15:30.880 --> 00:15:33.360\nSo we looked outside and then we learned from there.\n\n296\n00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:35.960\nAnd the third thing I did was to reach out to the gurus.\n\n297\n00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:37.560\nI reached out to you David.\n\n298\n00:15:37.560 --> 00:15:40.960\nI reached out to Indra, who I've known for quite some time.\n\n299\n00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:44.080\nI reached out to Ram Charan.\n\n300\n00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:45.240\nAnd I reached out.\n\n301\n00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:51.550\nI even went to two programs, one by Watson, one by BCT for new CEOs, just to\n\n302\n00:15:51.550 --> 00:15:52.640\nwrap my mind\n\n303\n00:15:52.640 --> 00:15:54.640\naround and build my plan.\n\n304\n00:15:54.640 --> 00:16:00.480\nAnd once my 100 days were done, I then shared my listen and learn learnings and\n\n305\n00:16:00.480 --> 00:16:01.200\nmy thoughts\n\n306\n00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:04.880\non where I believe, what are the strengths of Amrit, what are the changes I'm\n\n307\n00:16:04.880 --> 00:16:05.320\nseeing\n\n308\n00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:11.940\nand where we need to go in an organization-wide memo in April last year, which\n\n309\n00:16:11.940 --> 00:16:12.480\nwas the starting\n\n310\n00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:14.640\nof my journey in Amrit.\n\n311\n00:16:14.640 --> 00:16:20.080\nWhere did you decide, Bill, and where you could add the most value as CEO?\n\n312\n00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:25.520\nWhat did you make your media priorities after that learning experience?\n\n313\n00:16:25.520 --> 00:16:34.000\nMy biggest priority, David, is to nurture our culture.\n\n314\n00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:37.120\nWe have an awesome culture in Amrit.\n\n315\n00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:40.680\nIt's built on longstanding values.\n\n316\n00:16:40.680 --> 00:16:44.960\nIt's a culture of the heart.\n\n317\n00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:52.680\nAnd my main role is to nurture that culture into what we call founders growth\n\n318\n00:16:52.680 --> 00:16:53.960\nmindset.\n\n319\n00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:58.980\nSo we take the best of the spirit of founders, the pioneering spirit of rich\n\n320\n00:16:58.980 --> 00:17:00.360\nand J, and combine\n\n321\n00:17:00.360 --> 00:17:04.560\nit with what Kallad Dweck in a book mindset talked about having a growth\n\n322\n00:17:04.560 --> 00:17:05.360\nmindset and not\n\n323\n00:17:05.360 --> 00:17:07.240\na fixed mindset.\n\n324\n00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:09.240\nAnd that's the journey I personally own.\n\n325\n00:17:09.240 --> 00:17:10.400\nMy leadership team is on.\n\n326\n00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:14.320\nAnd the entire 6,000 employees of Amrit.\n\n327\n00:17:14.320 --> 00:17:18.880\nAnd that's my first and foremost priority.\n\n328\n00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:21.560\nAlong with culture, of course, we're looking at talent.\n\n329\n00:17:21.560 --> 00:17:25.360\nWe're looking at various ways of building capability.\n\n330\n00:17:25.360 --> 00:17:30.880\nWe're encouraging people to be able to feel safe, to take risk.\n\n331\n00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:38.150\nThere's so much that's changing so fast around us that we need everyone in Am\n\n332\n00:17:38.150 --> 00:17:39.120\nrit to feel secure\n\n333\n00:17:39.120 --> 00:17:44.080\nand to be on their own personal journey of founders growth mindset.\n\n334\n00:17:44.080 --> 00:17:49.380\nYou know, Millen, I know some people who have family members and friends that\n\n335\n00:17:49.380 --> 00:17:50.360\nare in direct\n\n336\n00:17:50.360 --> 00:17:51.680\nselling organizations.\n\n337\n00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:59.360\nAnd you know, the real limitation to growth and revenue growth really comes\n\n338\n00:17:59.360 --> 00:18:00.520\ndown to the\n\n339\n00:18:00.520 --> 00:18:06.560\npersonal limitations that the entrepreneur itself has.\n\n340\n00:18:06.560 --> 00:18:11.850\nHow important is it for you to develop that capability, helping people get the\n\n341\n00:18:11.850 --> 00:18:12.400\nskills\n\n342\n00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:13.400\nthey need?\n\n343\n00:18:13.400 --> 00:18:16.360\nI think that's a critical role.\n\n344\n00:18:16.360 --> 00:18:24.720\nAnd in the Amway ecosystem, our leaders play a big part in that.\n\n345\n00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:30.260\nThat is the most important role of the leader, a distributor leader, is to\n\n346\n00:18:30.260 --> 00:18:32.400\nnurture and coach.\n\n347\n00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:37.790\nIn some sense provide the skills as well as have, say, I got your back to\n\n348\n00:18:37.790 --> 00:18:38.800\nsomeone who's\n\n349\n00:18:38.800 --> 00:18:43.920\nstarting a new and who may fail a number of times before they succeed.\n\n350\n00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:49.080\nSo that's a big role that the distributor leaders play in an organization.\n\n351\n00:18:49.080 --> 00:18:54.160\nWhat we do as an Amway to help the new ABA or the new person to succeed is to\n\n352\n00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:54.800\nmake it\n\n353\n00:18:54.800 --> 00:19:01.210\nas easy as possible for her to acquire and retain customers and to get the\n\n354\n00:19:01.210 --> 00:19:02.160\ntools and\n\n355\n00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:08.420\nthe skills required for her from day one to start learning and start learning\n\n356\n00:19:08.420 --> 00:19:09.560\nnew things.\n\n357\n00:19:09.560 --> 00:19:13.900\nAnd then the leaders provide a sense of community that helps them succeed and\n\n358\n00:19:13.900 --> 00:19:14.920\nobviously it has\n\n359\n00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:17.440\nthe sense that I got your back.\n\n360\n00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:20.120\nYou know, I heard you say her.\n\n361\n00:19:20.120 --> 00:19:21.120\nYes.\n\n362\n00:19:21.120 --> 00:19:26.120\nYou know, so what percentage of your Amway business owners are female?\n\n363\n00:19:26.120 --> 00:19:31.170\nDavid, as you said, we have a million distributors close to two thirds are\n\n364\n00:19:31.170 --> 00:19:32.600\nfemales rather than\n\n365\n00:19:32.600 --> 00:19:37.380\nsome of our most successful markets like Korea, where we have a billion dollar\n\n366\n00:19:37.380 --> 00:19:38.440\nbusiness in\n\n367\n00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:40.840\na country of 50 million people.\n\n368\n00:19:40.840 --> 00:19:45.520\n90% of our Amway business owners and entrepreneurs are women.\n\n369\n00:19:45.520 --> 00:19:48.640\nAnd how are you developing their skills in particular?\n\n370\n00:19:48.640 --> 00:19:51.320\nIs there something unique you're doing on that front?\n\n371\n00:19:51.320 --> 00:19:54.760\nThere is a lot of work that is taking place, David.\n\n372\n00:19:54.760 --> 00:20:01.140\nI think if I was to take that question and kind of just take a step back, I\n\n373\n00:20:01.140 --> 00:20:01.520\nthink it\n\n374\n00:20:01.520 --> 00:20:07.120\nstarts with the global leadership team itself in Amway first.\n\n375\n00:20:07.120 --> 00:20:10.880\nMy colleagues and I, there are 10 of us in the global leadership team.\n\n376\n00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:12.640\nIt's completely balanced on gender.\n\n377\n00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:14.480\nThere are five women, five men.\n\n378\n00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:19.120\nWe've got seven different ethnicities in the 10 of us.\n\n379\n00:20:19.120 --> 00:20:21.320\nWe've got, you know, Malaysian or Chinese.\n\n380\n00:20:21.320 --> 00:20:22.320\nI'm Indian.\n\n381\n00:20:22.320 --> 00:20:24.720\nThere's a Persian, French, there's Italian, there's African-American.\n\n382\n00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:26.080\nWe've got seven different ethnicities.\n\n383\n00:20:26.080 --> 00:20:32.280\nSo very diverse leadership team, very balanced on gender.\n\n384\n00:20:32.280 --> 00:20:36.960\nAnd that is kind of the shadow that we're putting across, across the world.\n\n385\n00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:41.590\nBut specifically coming to your question about entrepreneurs, we are looking at\n\n386\n00:20:41.590 --> 00:20:42.280\ndifferent\n\n387\n00:20:42.280 --> 00:20:50.280\ncommunities where women, young moms, young women are able to express their\n\n388\n00:20:50.280 --> 00:20:51.120\ninterest and\n\n389\n00:20:51.120 --> 00:20:53.520\npassion and build those communities.\n\n390\n00:20:53.520 --> 00:20:59.350\nFor example, we've got a whole set of communities that we have built on beauty,\n\n391\n00:20:59.350 --> 00:21:00.360\npowered by our\n\n392\n00:21:00.360 --> 00:21:01.360\nproducts.\n\n393\n00:21:01.360 --> 00:21:05.480\nWe've got a whole program called Passionistas that runs across the world.\n\n394\n00:21:05.480 --> 00:21:07.960\nWe've got communities around cooking.\n\n395\n00:21:07.960 --> 00:21:13.810\nIt is a little-known secret that Amway's got a whole set of portfolio products\n\n396\n00:21:13.810 --> 00:21:14.840\non cooking,\n\n397\n00:21:14.840 --> 00:21:16.640\nespecially in Asia.\n\n398\n00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:20.400\nWe've got communities on fitness.\n\n399\n00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:25.840\nThere are so many communities across the world that help women succeed.\n\n400\n00:21:25.840 --> 00:21:32.800\nAnd you know, our work can be done from home at a person's own time.\n\n401\n00:21:32.800 --> 00:21:38.690\nAnd especially young moms truly find that to be a blessing in societies across\n\n402\n00:21:38.690 --> 00:21:40.760\nthe world.\n\n403\n00:21:40.760 --> 00:21:47.320\nYou know, Bill, what was the most surprising thing you learned about Amway?\n\n404\n00:21:47.320 --> 00:21:52.880\nWell, there were so many surprising things that I learned about Amway.\n\n405\n00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:58.840\nDavid, you know, one of my surprises was that I didn't realize I had no idea\n\n406\n00:21:58.840 --> 00:21:59.320\nthat Amway\n\n407\n00:21:59.320 --> 00:22:05.190\nhas 6,000 acres of organic farms across three countries in Brazil, Mexico, and\n\n408\n00:22:05.190 --> 00:22:05.880\nin Washington\n\n409\n00:22:05.880 --> 00:22:06.880\nState.\n\n410\n00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:12.080\nAnd the first time I went to those organic farms, I said, \"Oh my God, we've\n\n411\n00:22:12.080 --> 00:22:12.800\nbeen taking\n\n412\n00:22:12.800 --> 00:22:17.280\ncare of Mother Earth for the last 85 years.\n\n413\n00:22:17.280 --> 00:22:24.710\nToday, you know, I don't know, is it farm to table and so on and so forth, our\n\n414\n00:22:24.710 --> 00:22:25.960\nmainstream\n\n415\n00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:31.190\nideas, Amway and NutriLite have been doing this for 85 years starting with\n\n416\n00:22:31.190 --> 00:22:33.040\norganic farming.\n\n417\n00:22:33.040 --> 00:22:35.440\nThat was a big surprise to me.\n\n418\n00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:39.640\nThe fact that we had entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs, I remember I went to\n\n419\n00:22:39.640 --> 00:22:40.120\nThailand\n\n420\n00:22:40.120 --> 00:22:44.720\ncountry where, you know, in JAMA, I spent a number of years.\n\n421\n00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:49.360\nAnd I met those young entrepreneurs and they weren't fired.\n\n422\n00:22:49.360 --> 00:22:51.520\nThey wanted to change and change fast.\n\n423\n00:22:51.520 --> 00:22:53.040\nThey wanted digital tools.\n\n424\n00:22:53.040 --> 00:22:57.840\nThey wanted to help us move faster in terms of change that we wanted to.\n\n425\n00:22:57.840 --> 00:23:01.320\nThat was a surprise to meet entrepreneurs like that.\n\n426\n00:23:01.320 --> 00:23:06.330\nAnd I think the culture of Amway, a number of organizations, you know, talk\n\n427\n00:23:06.330 --> 00:23:07.400\nabout purpose\n\n428\n00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:10.230\nand I think that's one of the things that, you know, you hear most leaders\n\n429\n00:23:10.230 --> 00:23:11.760\ntalking about.\n\n430\n00:23:11.760 --> 00:23:15.580\nIn Amway, it's been the same purpose for 60 years and it'll be the same purpose\n\n431\n00:23:15.580 --> 00:23:15.880\nfor the\n\n432\n00:23:15.880 --> 00:23:19.760\nnext 60 years, which is helping people have better, healthier lives.\n\n433\n00:23:19.760 --> 00:23:23.640\nIt's not something that, you know, a group of consultants or even the CEO kind\n\n434\n00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:24.160\nof wrote\n\n435\n00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:27.560\nit down on a piece of paper and it's on walls somewhere.\n\n436\n00:23:27.560 --> 00:23:30.870\nIt lives in every employee's heart and that I've found with a very special and\n\n437\n00:23:30.870 --> 00:23:31.600\nvery different\n\n438\n00:23:31.600 --> 00:23:33.720\nthing in Amway.\n\n439\n00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:34.960\nSo you have this purpose.\n\n440\n00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:36.040\nIt was established.\n\n441\n00:23:36.040 --> 00:23:38.520\nSo as the CEO, what's your role?\n\n442\n00:23:38.520 --> 00:23:45.200\nSo my role is to keep the why and strengthen the why, which is a purpose.\n\n443\n00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:51.000\nAnd everything about the how and the what is changing.\n\n444\n00:23:51.000 --> 00:23:52.640\nAnd what is the biggest change?\n\n445\n00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:58.660\nThe biggest change is, is our is, is to help attract and help our young\n\n446\n00:23:58.660 --> 00:24:00.120\nentrepreneurs,\n\n447\n00:24:00.120 --> 00:24:04.440\nthe new entrepreneurs succeed in this world of social commerce.\n\n448\n00:24:04.440 --> 00:24:10.840\nDavid, what's happening across the world today is that there is a very\n\n449\n00:24:10.840 --> 00:24:12.360\nsuccessful business\n\n450\n00:24:12.360 --> 00:24:14.080\nmodels and e-commerce.\n\n451\n00:24:14.080 --> 00:24:19.560\nThere's Amazon here, there is Alibaba, there is Flipkart in India and so on\n\n452\n00:24:19.560 --> 00:24:20.320\nacross the\n\n453\n00:24:20.320 --> 00:24:21.320\nworld.\n\n454\n00:24:21.320 --> 00:24:26.560\nThere are also hugely successful models in social platforms, you know, Facebook\n\n455\n00:24:26.560 --> 00:24:26.920\n, in\n\n456\n00:24:26.920 --> 00:24:31.320\nKaka, in Korea, line, WeChat in China.\n\n457\n00:24:31.320 --> 00:24:38.600\nWhat's taking place today is that e-commerce and social platforms are merging\n\n458\n00:24:38.600 --> 00:24:39.560\ntogether\n\n459\n00:24:39.560 --> 00:24:45.160\nto build a new business model, a huge opportunity called social commerce.\n\n460\n00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:50.520\nAnd Amway is designed in its ideas that I talked to you about earlier,\n\n461\n00:24:50.520 --> 00:24:51.600\nentrepreneur,\n\n462\n00:24:51.600 --> 00:24:58.010\nsocial and health and wellness to be one of the leaders in this new emerging\n\n463\n00:24:58.010 --> 00:24:58.520\nindustry\n\n464\n00:24:58.520 --> 00:24:59.520\nand business models.\n\n465\n00:24:59.520 --> 00:25:05.760\nSo we are reinventing traditional direct selling into social commerce.\n\n466\n00:25:05.760 --> 00:25:16.840\nAnd that is our biggest long term strategic change that we are making.\n\n467\n00:25:16.840 --> 00:25:21.400\nSo Millen, you've got to take your team with you to really go on this journey.\n\n468\n00:25:21.400 --> 00:25:25.110\nHow are you going about aligning the team to to attack these growth\n\n469\n00:25:25.110 --> 00:25:26.280\nopportunities?\n\n470\n00:25:26.280 --> 00:25:32.040\nOther than reading, taking people with you.\n\n471\n00:25:32.040 --> 00:25:35.480\nBut by the way, I did that, David.\n\n472\n00:25:35.480 --> 00:25:40.000\nI read I'm taking people with you.\n\n473\n00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.700\nAnd I don't know if I mentioned this to you and the section there on trust and\n\n474\n00:25:44.700 --> 00:25:45.400\nhow trust\n\n475\n00:25:45.400 --> 00:25:47.320\nis built and trust is destroyed.\n\n476\n00:25:47.320 --> 00:25:52.470\nBut one of the things we've been doing, David is for my team to answer your\n\n477\n00:25:52.470 --> 00:25:53.760\nquestion, is\n\n478\n00:25:53.760 --> 00:26:00.280\nwe are on a journey to lead from the heart.\n\n479\n00:26:00.280 --> 00:26:09.710\nEach of us would want to lead with love and humility and not fall into pride\n\n480\n00:26:09.710 --> 00:26:11.040\nand fear.\n\n481\n00:26:11.040 --> 00:26:14.260\nWhen there is so much change that takes place with a team that has been built\n\n482\n00:26:14.260 --> 00:26:15.320\nthat is so\n\n483\n00:26:15.320 --> 00:26:18.440\ndiverse, there is it's human.\n\n484\n00:26:18.440 --> 00:26:23.360\nIt's human for me at times a massive change or crisis like the pandemic to\n\n485\n00:26:23.360 --> 00:26:23.920\neither going\n\n486\n00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:25.880\nto pride or fear.\n\n487\n00:26:25.880 --> 00:26:31.760\nAnd we are staying above the line and staying with lead from the heart.\n\n488\n00:26:31.760 --> 00:26:36.340\nSomething that a couple who you know well, Stephen and Mara started with and\n\n489\n00:26:36.340 --> 00:26:37.320\nthey've continued\n\n490\n00:26:37.320 --> 00:26:39.840\nto work with us in Ambi on the journey.\n\n491\n00:26:39.840 --> 00:26:44.490\nThat is being in some sense the primary intervention that we are using in the\n\n492\n00:26:44.490 --> 00:26:45.760\nsenior leadership\n\n493\n00:26:45.760 --> 00:26:46.760\nteam today.\n\n494\n00:26:46.760 --> 00:26:48.960\nAnd then there are others.\n\n495\n00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:51.960\nCommunication is a big part of that, David.\n\n496\n00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:56.060\nI have realized as I was talking to you earlier, it's not so much about email\n\n497\n00:26:56.060 --> 00:26:57.000\ncommunication\n\n498\n00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:01.740\nbut surprisingly surprise, surprise my main channel of communication is\n\n499\n00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:02.720\nInstagram and\n\n500\n00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:07.280\nit's daily and that helps me keep in touch with our entrepreneurs across the\n\n501\n00:27:07.280 --> 00:27:07.840\nworld and\n\n502\n00:27:07.840 --> 00:27:10.920\nour employees across the world almost real time.\n\n503\n00:27:10.920 --> 00:27:15.320\nSo what are you going to Instagram on today?\n\n504\n00:27:15.320 --> 00:27:22.720\nWell, you know today's or the most recent Instagram post to be about a new\n\n505\n00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:23.600\ninnovation\n\n506\n00:27:23.600 --> 00:27:28.440\nthat our China team did in the midst of the pandemic in 90 days, a new immunity\n\n507\n00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:29.040\nproduct\n\n508\n00:27:29.040 --> 00:27:35.350\nwhich I have taken as the example of great agility of the team to do, you know,\n\n509\n00:27:35.350 --> 00:27:35.800\nto provide\n\n510\n00:27:35.800 --> 00:27:38.800\nproducts that help the society in the long run.\n\n511\n00:27:38.800 --> 00:27:44.750\nBut there is so much more that I'm learning, you know, as I navigate Instagram,\n\n512\n00:27:44.750 --> 00:27:45.240\nit's\n\n513\n00:27:45.240 --> 00:27:50.010\nmy, it's required for me to be on a growth mindset in a way that I didn't think\n\n514\n00:27:50.010 --> 00:27:50.560\nI would\n\n515\n00:27:50.560 --> 00:27:52.360\nbe able to do.\n\n516\n00:27:52.360 --> 00:27:56.160\nSo now you're an Instagram junkie which is fantastic, you know.\n\n517\n00:27:56.160 --> 00:28:00.710\nYou know, I imagine, Bill, and that the gig economy is really affecting your,\n\n518\n00:28:00.710 --> 00:28:01.280\nyou know,\n\n519\n00:28:01.280 --> 00:28:08.050\nyour business to some extent, you know, is it enabling you to require more new\n\n520\n00:28:08.050 --> 00:28:09.200\nbusiness,\n\n521\n00:28:09.200 --> 00:28:12.680\nAmway business owners or is it becoming more competitive?\n\n522\n00:28:12.680 --> 00:28:15.080\nOkay, that's a great question.\n\n523\n00:28:15.080 --> 00:28:19.040\nAnd the way, you know, I'd say is that we talked about social commerce, right?\n\n524\n00:28:19.040 --> 00:28:24.560\nThe confluence of e-commerce and social platforms that are taking place.\n\n525\n00:28:24.560 --> 00:28:30.040\nThere are during this pandemic, you know, which has been very tough, but it has\n\n526\n00:28:30.040 --> 00:28:31.040\naccelerated\n\n527\n00:28:31.040 --> 00:28:35.920\nour journey, the tenure journey that I mentioned to you because there are three\n\n528\n00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:36.800\nearly trends\n\n529\n00:28:36.800 --> 00:28:38.280\nthat are emerging.\n\n530\n00:28:38.280 --> 00:28:43.240\nThe first is there is a need in society for people with supplemental income,\n\n531\n00:28:43.240 --> 00:28:43.880\nwhich is\n\n532\n00:28:43.880 --> 00:28:44.880\ncalled gig economy.\n\n533\n00:28:44.880 --> 00:28:47.960\nYou know, economies are hurt.\n\n534\n00:28:47.960 --> 00:28:52.500\nThe people are unemployed and it's probably going to take a while before\n\n535\n00:28:52.500 --> 00:28:53.640\ncountries across\n\n536\n00:28:53.640 --> 00:28:59.280\nthe world are back to their feet and the most vulnerable sections are back on\n\n537\n00:28:59.280 --> 00:29:00.360\ntheir feet.\n\n538\n00:29:00.360 --> 00:29:02.040\nAnd that's a big need in society.\n\n539\n00:29:02.040 --> 00:29:06.440\nAnd that's a need that Amway can fulfill in its own small way.\n\n540\n00:29:06.440 --> 00:29:12.030\nThe second thing that's happening in terms of megatrends early is there's a\n\n541\n00:29:12.030 --> 00:29:12.840\nhuge focus\n\n542\n00:29:12.840 --> 00:29:15.720\non health and wellness and long-term immunity.\n\n543\n00:29:15.720 --> 00:29:17.040\nIt's a need in society again.\n\n544\n00:29:17.040 --> 00:29:22.250\nAll of us are concerned about, you know, our family, our spouses, our parents,\n\n545\n00:29:22.250 --> 00:29:23.080\nour kids,\n\n546\n00:29:23.080 --> 00:29:24.920\nour neighbors, our community.\n\n547\n00:29:24.920 --> 00:29:28.120\nHow do we after hand-washing and social distancing?\n\n548\n00:29:28.120 --> 00:29:33.260\nWhat else do we do on a long-term in terms of habits to be able to have, have,\n\n549\n00:29:33.260 --> 00:29:33.800\nbuild\n\n550\n00:29:33.800 --> 00:29:35.320\nup our immunity?\n\n551\n00:29:35.320 --> 00:29:40.740\nAnd the third trend is online is the new offline and, you know, the two of us\n\n552\n00:29:40.740 --> 00:29:41.720\nhaving this conversation\n\n553\n00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:48.000\nover Zoom and a podcast is just a way of that trend manifesting itself.\n\n554\n00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:52.900\nSo as far as the gig economy is concerned, that's a tailwind for the Amway\n\n555\n00:29:52.900 --> 00:29:54.320\nbusiness.\n\n556\n00:29:54.320 --> 00:29:59.710\nAnd Amway perhaps was the original gig economy player even before the term was\n\n557\n00:29:59.710 --> 00:30:00.840\ncoined because\n\n558\n00:30:00.840 --> 00:30:05.920\nit offered freedom and flexibility to anyone who wanted to join in.\n\n559\n00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:06.920\nThat's interesting.\n\n560\n00:30:06.920 --> 00:30:10.870\nYou know, you know, when you're the largest of anything and you're the largest\n\n561\n00:30:10.870 --> 00:30:11.640\ndirect-selling\n\n562\n00:30:11.640 --> 00:30:18.330\norganization in the world, it's easy to rest on your laurels and get complacent\n\n563\n00:30:18.330 --> 00:30:18.640\n.\n\n564\n00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:23.440\nWhat are you doing to drive even more fire in the belly of the organization?\n\n565\n00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:28.970\nI think the one thing that I, you know, the leadership team, I'm part of and\n\n566\n00:30:28.970 --> 00:30:29.920\nthe entire\n\n567\n00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:38.710\norganization wakes up to every morning, David, is this deep-rooted desire or,\n\n568\n00:30:38.710 --> 00:30:39.720\nyou know, fire\n\n569\n00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:46.560\nin the belly or desire in the heart of helping the entrepreneur, especially the\n\n570\n00:30:46.560 --> 00:30:47.320\nnew young\n\n571\n00:30:47.320 --> 00:30:49.280\nentrepreneur succeed.\n\n572\n00:30:49.280 --> 00:30:52.840\nThat is something that's pervasive in the organization.\n\n573\n00:30:52.840 --> 00:30:57.690\nAnd that new entrepreneur, you know, she might, as I said, might be in Seoul or\n\n574\n00:30:57.690 --> 00:30:58.160\nTokyo\n\n575\n00:30:58.160 --> 00:31:01.840\nand Shanghai or Delhi or Miami.\n\n576\n00:31:01.840 --> 00:31:09.370\nShe is today, needs even more of Amway, both in terms of the entrepreneurship\n\n577\n00:31:09.370 --> 00:31:11.360\ntools we provide,\n\n578\n00:31:11.360 --> 00:31:15.980\nboth in terms of digital and technology that we provide, innovative products we\n\n579\n00:31:15.980 --> 00:31:17.040\nprovide,\n\n580\n00:31:17.040 --> 00:31:19.600\npartnership with leaders that we provide for her to be successful.\n\n581\n00:31:19.600 --> 00:31:22.400\nAnd that's something that continues to drive us.\n\n582\n00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:31.520\nThat is the core belief that is deep embedded in Amway.\n\n583\n00:31:31.520 --> 00:31:36.230\nSomewhat like, you know, if I was to recollect a young days, it was a success\n\n584\n00:31:36.230 --> 00:31:37.440\nof the restaurant\n\n585\n00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:39.240\njournal manager.\n\n586\n00:31:39.240 --> 00:31:42.360\nHe or she was the leader number one.\n\n587\n00:31:42.360 --> 00:31:46.100\nAnd all of us woke up in whichever role, whichever function, whichever part of\n\n588\n00:31:46.100 --> 00:31:46.560\nthe world\n\n589\n00:31:46.560 --> 00:31:51.100\nwe were, we always woke up to think, what would we do that will help the\n\n590\n00:31:51.100 --> 00:31:51.980\nrestaurant\n\n591\n00:31:51.980 --> 00:31:53.800\njournal manager succeed.\n\n592\n00:31:53.800 --> 00:31:55.800\nIt's the same principle in Amway.\n\n593\n00:31:55.800 --> 00:32:02.100\nIt is what do we do to help the entrepreneur succeed, especially during the\n\n594\n00:32:02.100 --> 00:32:03.240\nearly stages\n\n595\n00:32:03.240 --> 00:32:05.240\nof our journey?\n\n596\n00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:09.600\nSo you're really focused on developing this social commerce.\n\n597\n00:32:09.600 --> 00:32:13.060\nAnd is that one of the reasons why you're demonstrating your new acuity to\n\n598\n00:32:13.060 --> 00:32:14.800\nInstagram?\n\n599\n00:32:14.800 --> 00:32:21.400\nI think I stumbled into Instagram more than anything else, David.\n\n600\n00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:26.300\nI probably thought I'm going to be, you know, spectacularly failing.\n\n601\n00:32:26.300 --> 00:32:29.500\nBut I'm quite enjoying it.\n\n602\n00:32:29.500 --> 00:32:36.120\nAnd the thing that I enjoy the most is I can see entrepreneurs across the world\n\n603\n00:32:36.120 --> 00:32:37.580\ntheir authentic\n\n604\n00:32:37.580 --> 00:32:41.900\npersonality and ways that they're building the business.\n\n605\n00:32:41.900 --> 00:32:47.880\nI would never be able to get that real experience, authentic experience by any\n\n606\n00:32:47.880 --> 00:32:49.620\nPowerPoint deck\n\n607\n00:32:49.620 --> 00:32:51.480\nor any report that comes to me.\n\n608\n00:32:51.480 --> 00:32:55.520\nI get it through live, through Instagram.\n\n609\n00:32:55.520 --> 00:32:56.520\nYeah.\n\n610\n00:32:56.520 --> 00:32:58.700\nYou know, you've got a lot of competition.\n\n611\n00:32:58.700 --> 00:33:01.180\nI'm sure that everybody has Amazon.\n\n612\n00:33:01.180 --> 00:33:05.660\nAmazon's this big, big elephant, you know, out there.\n\n613\n00:33:05.660 --> 00:33:07.500\nHow's it affecting your business?\n\n614\n00:33:07.500 --> 00:33:12.660\nWell, you know, David, competition is good.\n\n615\n00:33:12.660 --> 00:33:17.900\nCompetition keeps us on a toes and drives us to keep better.\n\n616\n00:33:17.900 --> 00:33:20.060\nAmazon has everything.\n\n617\n00:33:20.060 --> 00:33:21.060\nIt has the capital.\n\n618\n00:33:21.060 --> 00:33:22.620\nIt has the capabilities.\n\n619\n00:33:22.620 --> 00:33:25.540\nIt has the momentum.\n\n620\n00:33:25.540 --> 00:33:28.580\nBut Amazon does not have one thing that Amway has.\n\n621\n00:33:28.580 --> 00:33:31.460\nAnd I don't think it's in their business model to have it.\n\n622\n00:33:31.460 --> 00:33:33.940\nAmazon does not have the entrepreneur.\n\n623\n00:33:33.940 --> 00:33:36.340\nIt doesn't have the Amway business owner.\n\n624\n00:33:36.340 --> 00:33:38.860\nAnd that is a secret source of Amway.\n\n625\n00:33:38.860 --> 00:33:44.380\nThere is, there are people there who want to buy from people who build, who\n\n626\n00:33:44.380 --> 00:33:46.260\ntrust relationships.\n\n627\n00:33:46.260 --> 00:33:51.860\nWe can provide health and wellness solutions to people from those who they\n\n628\n00:33:51.860 --> 00:33:52.860\ntrust and those\n\n629\n00:33:52.860 --> 00:33:54.220\nwho know them.\n\n630\n00:33:54.220 --> 00:33:56.540\nAnd we can do that with our products.\n\n631\n00:33:56.540 --> 00:34:01.250\nWe can do that with the immense amount of data and algorithms that we can help\n\n632\n00:34:01.250 --> 00:34:02.540\nour entrepreneurs\n\n633\n00:34:02.540 --> 00:34:03.540\nwith.\n\n634\n00:34:03.540 --> 00:34:08.940\nWe, you know, Amazon and models like that in e-commerce will always be\n\n635\n00:34:08.940 --> 00:34:10.540\nsuccessful because\n\n636\n00:34:10.540 --> 00:34:14.740\nthere are customers who will always need only an easy, frictionless experience.\n\n637\n00:34:14.740 --> 00:34:18.980\nAnd for a number of categories, that is true even in our own home.\n\n638\n00:34:18.980 --> 00:34:24.260\nBut in health and wellness particularly and to a large extent in beauty, people\n\n639\n00:34:24.260 --> 00:34:25.060\nwant to\n\n640\n00:34:25.060 --> 00:34:28.860\nbe a part of a community and buy from those who they trust.\n\n641\n00:34:28.860 --> 00:34:33.740\nAnd the Amway business owner, the entrepreneur is our secret recipe.\n\n642\n00:34:33.740 --> 00:34:38.120\nOne that, that stands us and provides us a competitive advantage that Amazon\n\n643\n00:34:38.120 --> 00:34:40.180\ncannot match.\n\n644\n00:34:40.180 --> 00:34:45.780\nYou know, Mill and I understand that Amway has over 800 patents.\n\n645\n00:34:45.780 --> 00:34:48.980\nSo innovation is obviously very important to you.\n\n646\n00:34:48.980 --> 00:34:55.110\nAnd you know, tell us a story about the most exciting new idea that you've seen\n\n647\n00:34:55.110 --> 00:34:55.940\nso far.\n\n648\n00:34:55.940 --> 00:35:03.960\nDavid, I could give you so many from across the world.\n\n649\n00:35:03.960 --> 00:35:11.810\nBut perhaps the one that kind of brings the best of Amway out is a new product\n\n650\n00:35:11.810 --> 00:35:13.800\nwhich was\n\n651\n00:35:13.800 --> 00:35:17.440\nvery unlikely and it's still not being commercialized.\n\n652\n00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:22.080\nAnd I'll give you a context and I'll just get to your question specifically.\n\n653\n00:35:22.080 --> 00:35:26.080\nThis was in the early days of the pandemic in the United States.\n\n654\n00:35:26.080 --> 00:35:30.880\nOf course, it started around the lunar year and other parts of the world.\n\n655\n00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:37.840\nSo I got a call from the CEO of the largest hospital network in West Michigan\n\n656\n00:35:37.840 --> 00:35:38.600\nsaying that\n\n657\n00:35:38.600 --> 00:35:39.600\nwe need help.\n\n658\n00:35:39.600 --> 00:35:42.280\nI said, what is it?\n\n659\n00:35:42.280 --> 00:35:44.320\nI mean, we would love to do whatever we can.\n\n660\n00:35:44.320 --> 00:35:46.160\nWe are part of the community here.\n\n661\n00:35:46.160 --> 00:35:47.600\nWe're completely committed to it.\n\n662\n00:35:47.600 --> 00:35:50.240\nShe said, we need hand sanitizers.\n\n663\n00:35:50.240 --> 00:35:51.240\nCan Amway help?\n\n664\n00:35:51.240 --> 00:35:53.000\nI said, well, I'll find out.\n\n665\n00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:55.240\nWe really don't make hand sanitizers.\n\n666\n00:35:55.240 --> 00:35:59.710\nAnd even if you wanted to make it might be weeks or months, but at a time we\n\n667\n00:35:59.710 --> 00:36:00.840\ncan manufacture\n\n668\n00:36:00.840 --> 00:36:03.880\nor produce them for you.\n\n669\n00:36:03.880 --> 00:36:08.270\nAnyways, I call up my colleagues and I said, this is a request that's come from\n\n670\n00:36:08.270 --> 00:36:09.600\nthe community.\n\n671\n00:36:09.600 --> 00:36:10.600\nWhat can we do?\n\n672\n00:36:10.600 --> 00:36:13.800\nThey said, you know, we don't make it, but let us figure it out.\n\n673\n00:36:13.800 --> 00:36:22.380\nWow, David, to cut a long story short, in five days flat, we not only got the\n\n674\n00:36:22.380 --> 00:36:23.880\npackaging,\n\n675\n00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:28.900\nthe formulation, the FDA approval, the manufacturer, the hand sanitizers, and\n\n676\n00:36:28.900 --> 00:36:30.040\nwe delivered it to\n\n677\n00:36:30.040 --> 00:36:31.640\nhospitals across West Michigan.\n\n678\n00:36:31.640 --> 00:36:36.520\nThere's one here, you know, with me on my desk.\n\n679\n00:36:36.520 --> 00:36:40.880\nAnd this showed the innovation.\n\n680\n00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:43.000\nIt showed the agility.\n\n681\n00:36:43.000 --> 00:36:45.680\nIt showed the empowerment of a cross-functional team.\n\n682\n00:36:45.680 --> 00:36:48.000\nI was frankly, you know, hold up in my home.\n\n683\n00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:50.040\nI had no clue how this would be done.\n\n684\n00:36:50.040 --> 00:36:52.640\nBut the team went and did that.\n\n685\n00:36:52.640 --> 00:36:57.410\nAnd that's the spirit and what I call the best of Amway being unleashed across\n\n686\n00:36:57.410 --> 00:36:58.800\nthe world\n\n687\n00:36:58.800 --> 00:37:04.440\nthat's happening in innovation and the hand sanitizer is one example of that.\n\n688\n00:37:04.440 --> 00:37:05.440\nThat's a great story.\n\n689\n00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:10.040\nAnd you know, Bill, and I know you talk a lot about the importance of courage.\n\n690\n00:37:10.040 --> 00:37:16.540\nDo you have an experience in your leadership past where that really became\n\n691\n00:37:16.540 --> 00:37:17.720\nsomething that\n\n692\n00:37:17.720 --> 00:37:21.360\nreally meant a lot to you?\n\n693\n00:37:21.360 --> 00:37:33.610\nGive it a, for me, courage at times starts with understanding one's fears and\n\n694\n00:37:33.610 --> 00:37:34.040\nkind of\n\n695\n00:37:34.040 --> 00:37:41.840\nacknowledging that one is vulnerable.\n\n696\n00:37:41.840 --> 00:37:49.520\nAnd to do that, first, one's own self and then to those around in colleagues,\n\n697\n00:37:49.520 --> 00:37:50.880\nyou know,\n\n698\n00:37:50.880 --> 00:37:51.880\nwho trust.\n\n699\n00:37:51.880 --> 00:38:02.230\nSo I've been through many instances in my career where I learned the value of\n\n700\n00:38:02.230 --> 00:38:03.560\ncourage,\n\n701\n00:38:03.560 --> 00:38:09.840\nperhaps on hindsight, even more than being courageous at that time.\n\n702\n00:38:09.840 --> 00:38:15.630\nI think the classic one which you will relate to very well is when I move to\n\n703\n00:38:15.630 --> 00:38:16.120\nChina as a\n\n704\n00:38:16.120 --> 00:38:25.950\npart of YAM, a highly successful business, very proud team, 400,000 employees,\n\n705\n00:38:25.950 --> 00:38:26.200\nbusiness\n\n706\n00:38:26.200 --> 00:38:28.680\nbuilt over multiple decades.\n\n707\n00:38:28.680 --> 00:38:32.680\nAt that time, required a change.\n\n708\n00:38:32.680 --> 00:38:38.000\nAnd I went there and it was complex.\n\n709\n00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:43.080\nComplexity of the business itself, complexity of not knowing the language, you\n\n710\n00:38:43.080 --> 00:38:43.840\nknow, all\n\n711\n00:38:43.840 --> 00:38:49.880\nmeetings and all emails being in Mandarin was for the new experience.\n\n712\n00:38:49.880 --> 00:38:58.530\nAnd just the pace of change that was required and the dynamics of the team with\n\n713\n00:38:58.530 --> 00:38:59.520\nvery strong\n\n714\n00:38:59.520 --> 00:39:02.400\nleaders with very strong opinions.\n\n715\n00:39:02.400 --> 00:39:09.620\nAnd I learned my lesson that I need to be even more courageous in times like\n\n716\n00:39:09.620 --> 00:39:10.440\nthis to\n\n717\n00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:15.880\nmake sure that we do the right thing to help the restaurant general manager\n\n718\n00:39:15.880 --> 00:39:16.840\nacross China,\n\n719\n00:39:16.840 --> 00:39:18.720\nin this case, succeed.\n\n720\n00:39:18.720 --> 00:39:24.210\nSo that's been one learning on courage, when I was not as courageous than as I\n\n721\n00:39:24.210 --> 00:39:24.920\nshould have\n\n722\n00:39:24.920 --> 00:39:29.520\nbeen during the early stages of my days in YAM China.\n\n723\n00:39:29.520 --> 00:39:32.960\nWell, you were very courageous just to take that job.\n\n724\n00:39:32.960 --> 00:39:33.960\nThank you, David.\n\n725\n00:39:33.960 --> 00:39:37.080\nYou know, as an Indian going into China.\n\n726\n00:39:37.080 --> 00:39:40.410\nAnd one of the reasons why you got that job was because of your cultural\n\n727\n00:39:40.410 --> 00:39:41.960\nsensitivity.\n\n728\n00:39:41.960 --> 00:39:45.360\nAnd now you're in well over 100 countries in Amway.\n\n729\n00:39:45.360 --> 00:39:49.850\nAnd what do you think would be the number one thing you have to do to really\n\n730\n00:39:49.850 --> 00:39:50.620\nrun a truly\n\n731\n00:39:50.620 --> 00:39:52.480\nglobal company?\n\n732\n00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:59.900\nYou know, especially in the world we're living in and the friction that we see\n\n733\n00:39:59.900 --> 00:40:00.760\nin societies\n\n734\n00:40:00.760 --> 00:40:05.960\nand focus on differences more than similarities.\n\n735\n00:40:05.960 --> 00:40:10.330\nI would go back to something I learned, David, which we mentioned earlier in\n\n736\n00:40:10.330 --> 00:40:11.520\nthis conversation\n\n737\n00:40:11.520 --> 00:40:15.040\nduring my time as GM of Thailand.\n\n738\n00:40:15.040 --> 00:40:19.690\nAnd I learned that from my mistakes, which is first and foremost, the leader\n\n739\n00:40:19.690 --> 00:40:20.280\nneeds to\n\n740\n00:40:20.280 --> 00:40:25.010\nlead from the heart and to lead with love and humility with a high degree of\n\n741\n00:40:25.010 --> 00:40:25.680\nempathy\n\n742\n00:40:25.680 --> 00:40:30.680\nand sensitivity to people across the world.\n\n743\n00:40:30.680 --> 00:40:36.100\nEveryone gets up every morning to do their best and to be successful, you know,\n\n744\n00:40:36.100 --> 00:40:36.520\nto be\n\n745\n00:40:36.520 --> 00:40:42.080\na good dad, good mom, a good colleague, a good friend at work and do the best\n\n746\n00:40:42.080 --> 00:40:42.680\nin the\n\n747\n00:40:42.680 --> 00:40:44.040\njob.\n\n748\n00:40:44.040 --> 00:40:51.820\nAnd it's my job, it's my responsibility to have a culture and environment that\n\n749\n00:40:51.820 --> 00:40:52.560\neveryone\n\n750\n00:40:52.560 --> 00:40:57.480\ncan shine to their best of who they want to be.\n\n751\n00:40:57.480 --> 00:41:03.140\nAnd to me, in my personal behavior, that comes with leading with love and\n\n752\n00:41:03.140 --> 00:41:04.320\nhumility instead\n\n753\n00:41:04.320 --> 00:41:06.120\nof pride and fear.\n\n754\n00:41:06.120 --> 00:41:09.290\nYou know, when you say leading with love, you know, that sounds pretty soft,\n\n755\n00:41:09.290 --> 00:41:10.000\nvery, very\n\n756\n00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:11.000\nkind of stuff.\n\n757\n00:41:11.000 --> 00:41:16.120\nI mean, you know, the people eyes roll over when you say that?\n\n758\n00:41:16.120 --> 00:41:27.570\nWell, yes, it does till we go deeper into it and understand, for example,\n\n759\n00:41:27.570 --> 00:41:29.800\ngiving honest\n\n760\n00:41:29.800 --> 00:41:36.920\ntrue feedback to people is a reflection of love.\n\n761\n00:41:36.920 --> 00:41:42.330\nYou know, we want the best for those who work with us and who we work around\n\n762\n00:41:42.330 --> 00:41:42.920\nand that is\n\n763\n00:41:42.920 --> 00:41:52.440\nlove to put what you used to talk about a lot, David, to put we before me is an\n\n764\n00:41:52.440 --> 00:41:53.720\nexpression\n\n765\n00:41:53.720 --> 00:41:55.160\nof love.\n\n766\n00:41:55.160 --> 00:41:59.440\nThose of us who, and it's human, those of us who get self-centered or selfish\n\n767\n00:41:59.440 --> 00:42:00.000\nat times\n\n768\n00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:03.600\nand put me before we, that's not an expression of love towards others.\n\n769\n00:42:03.600 --> 00:42:09.830\nSo, yes, I think at times in a conventional social corporate environment, it\n\n770\n00:42:09.830 --> 00:42:10.600\nmay seem\n\n771\n00:42:10.600 --> 00:42:15.860\nto be softy, softy, but this is very much go to what Amway is and it's very\n\n772\n00:42:15.860 --> 00:42:17.400\nmuch go to\n\n773\n00:42:17.400 --> 00:42:19.000\nus being a people business.\n\n774\n00:42:19.000 --> 00:42:22.280\nWe are not into brick and mortars.\n\n775\n00:42:22.280 --> 00:42:25.560\nWe are our distributors, our humans.\n\n776\n00:42:25.560 --> 00:42:29.540\nWhen we have to work with them and take them with us, it's not about appealing\n\n777\n00:42:29.540 --> 00:42:30.000\nto their\n\n778\n00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:33.200\nintellect, it's appealing to their heart.\n\n779\n00:42:33.200 --> 00:42:37.680\nAnd for them to be able to trust us that we have got the best interest in mind\n\n780\n00:42:37.680 --> 00:42:38.200\nand all\n\n781\n00:42:38.200 --> 00:42:40.560\nthat starts with love and humility.\n\n782\n00:42:40.560 --> 00:42:45.860\nAnd by the way, I'm on my personal journey and there are times where I can get\n\n783\n00:42:45.860 --> 00:42:46.680\ninto pride\n\n784\n00:42:46.680 --> 00:42:51.720\nand fear especially when there is this crisis or this pressure and reward to it\n\n785\n00:42:51.720 --> 00:42:52.520\n, but it's\n\n786\n00:42:52.520 --> 00:42:56.620\na good reminder and help with my colleagues at work to have the awareness and\n\n787\n00:42:56.620 --> 00:42:57.440\nwith Ambrita\n\n788\n00:42:57.440 --> 00:43:03.120\nat home to have the awareness that one has to continue on that journey.\n\n789\n00:43:03.120 --> 00:43:08.090\nYou mentioned these are challenging times of earlier and this country now is\n\n790\n00:43:08.090 --> 00:43:08.720\nfacing the\n\n791\n00:43:08.720 --> 00:43:12.560\naftermath of the tragic death of George Floyd.\n\n792\n00:43:12.560 --> 00:43:16.400\nHow have you addressed this within your organization?\n\n793\n00:43:16.400 --> 00:43:25.710\nI think though, we being David staying true to the idea of Ambray, that Ambray\n\n794\n00:43:25.710 --> 00:43:26.400\nis for\n\n795\n00:43:26.400 --> 00:43:27.400\neveryone.\n\n796\n00:43:27.400 --> 00:43:34.350\nSo the first thing we've done is to clearly communicate where we stand and we\n\n797\n00:43:34.350 --> 00:43:35.240\n've done\n\n798\n00:43:35.240 --> 00:43:43.040\nthat in clear ways that Black lives matter.\n\n799\n00:43:43.040 --> 00:43:50.050\nAnd internally, we are taking a number of steps that help people have\n\n800\n00:43:50.050 --> 00:43:51.840\nconversations that\n\n801\n00:43:51.840 --> 00:43:58.800\nare difficult, that are awkward at times.\n\n802\n00:43:58.800 --> 00:44:06.140\nThere are unity circles within Ambray, groups that get together and talk about\n\n803\n00:44:06.140 --> 00:44:07.280\nreal issues\n\n804\n00:44:07.280 --> 00:44:14.490\nin society that the real hurt that is there and first and foremost, start a\n\n805\n00:44:14.490 --> 00:44:15.800\nhealing process.\n\n806\n00:44:15.800 --> 00:44:21.300\nWe are working with the community here in Grand Rapids to see what substantive\n\n807\n00:44:21.300 --> 00:44:21.800\ndifferences\n\n808\n00:44:21.800 --> 00:44:29.320\nwe can make in a home here in Grand Rapids beyond the current news cycle.\n\n809\n00:44:29.320 --> 00:44:33.760\nThat's outstanding and hopefully we're going to get some real change this time\n\n810\n00:44:33.760 --> 00:44:34.440\naround on\n\n811\n00:44:34.440 --> 00:44:35.440\nthis.\n\n812\n00:44:35.440 --> 00:44:38.640\nAnd, Millen, you've had so much success in your career.\n\n813\n00:44:38.640 --> 00:44:44.560\nDo you have what you would call an epic fail and what did it teach you?\n\n814\n00:44:44.560 --> 00:44:51.240\nDavid, I'm still working progress and I've had multiple epic fails.\n\n815\n00:44:51.240 --> 00:44:53.240\nSo where do you want me to start?\n\n816\n00:44:53.240 --> 00:44:58.720\nLet me go back to my Unilever days.\n\n817\n00:44:58.720 --> 00:45:05.700\nAnd David, this was my first role as marketing director in India for the ice\n\n818\n00:45:05.700 --> 00:45:08.680\ncream category.\n\n819\n00:45:08.680 --> 00:45:17.800\nAnd I was younger and confident, perhaps cocky then.\n\n820\n00:45:17.800 --> 00:45:19.680\nAnd this is a small business.\n\n821\n00:45:19.680 --> 00:45:22.600\nIn India today, it's a $6 billion business.\n\n822\n00:45:22.600 --> 00:45:25.400\nIt's been highly successful over years.\n\n823\n00:45:25.400 --> 00:45:30.480\nFor me, it was like a second MBA and so much I learned there as I did in YAMM.\n\n824\n00:45:30.480 --> 00:45:33.370\nSo I went to the ice cream business, which is a smaller business in the Unile\n\n825\n00:45:33.370 --> 00:45:34.480\nver struggling,\n\n826\n00:45:34.480 --> 00:45:35.480\nnot making money.\n\n827\n00:45:35.480 --> 00:45:39.040\nIt was a really tough business and one of the things that attracted me to the\n\n828\n00:45:39.040 --> 00:45:39.520\nfact that\n\n829\n00:45:39.520 --> 00:45:40.520\nit was a tough challenge.\n\n830\n00:45:40.520 --> 00:45:45.580\nAnd I moved to the business and I think it was the May or June of the year in\n\n831\n00:45:45.580 --> 00:45:46.240\nthe middle\n\n832\n00:45:46.240 --> 00:45:47.240\nof summer.\n\n833\n00:45:47.240 --> 00:45:49.800\nOur business was primarily impulse products.\n\n834\n00:45:49.800 --> 00:45:54.700\nAnd what I said for myself, and I said in my first 100 days, I'm going to build\n\n835\n00:45:54.700 --> 00:45:54.960\nand\n\n836\n00:45:54.960 --> 00:45:57.120\nexecute a turnaround plan.\n\n837\n00:45:57.120 --> 00:45:58.720\nSo I didn't listen to her.\n\n838\n00:45:58.720 --> 00:46:04.970\nI rented and saying, I'll build a turnaround plan, got new positioning, new\n\n839\n00:46:04.970 --> 00:46:07.600\nadvertising,\n\n840\n00:46:07.600 --> 00:46:09.240\nvery huge, very indulgent.\n\n841\n00:46:09.240 --> 00:46:17.710\nWe made 20 or 25 new products in 100 days from ideas to manufacturing and went\n\n842\n00:46:17.710 --> 00:46:18.600\nand launched\n\n843\n00:46:18.600 --> 00:46:20.360\nit without bank.\n\n844\n00:46:20.360 --> 00:46:26.800\nBy the time this happened, this was then start of September.\n\n845\n00:46:26.800 --> 00:46:33.440\nAnd there was a little bit of a problem that summer was over and this was...\n\n846\n00:46:33.440 --> 00:46:42.580\nAnd while the business did improve, it was no turnaround that one had planned\n\n847\n00:46:42.580 --> 00:46:43.520\nfor.\n\n848\n00:46:43.520 --> 00:46:49.650\nAnd for me, this was not only an epic failure, it was my first public failure\n\n849\n00:46:49.650 --> 00:46:51.040\nand a setback.\n\n850\n00:46:51.040 --> 00:46:58.280\nAnd one that I, when I reflect on it, was truly a time for learning.\n\n851\n00:46:58.280 --> 00:47:05.780\nAs a person, as a colleague, learning not to be in a fixed mindset and to pick\n\n852\n00:47:05.780 --> 00:47:06.400\nthis up\n\n853\n00:47:06.400 --> 00:47:09.640\nand then see what one gets from there.\n\n854\n00:47:09.640 --> 00:47:15.500\nBut it was when I look back even now and I meet my people I worked with, then I\n\n855\n00:47:15.500 --> 00:47:16.000\nsometimes\n\n856\n00:47:16.000 --> 00:47:18.840\nask them, why did you fire me?\n\n857\n00:47:18.840 --> 00:47:20.920\nI think you really were very generous.\n\n858\n00:47:20.920 --> 00:47:24.840\nAnd they felt new.\n\n859\n00:47:24.840 --> 00:47:26.480\nIt's always fun to hear those stories.\n\n860\n00:47:26.480 --> 00:47:29.400\nYou know, it's been fun hearing your insights, Millinda.\n\n861\n00:47:29.400 --> 00:47:33.230\nI want to have a little bit more fun with you here and ask you a lightning\n\n862\n00:47:33.230 --> 00:47:34.360\nround of questions.\n\n863\n00:47:34.360 --> 00:47:35.360\nSo are you ready for this?\n\n864\n00:47:35.360 --> 00:47:36.360\nSure, David.\n\n865\n00:47:36.360 --> 00:47:37.360\nOkay.\n\n866\n00:47:37.360 --> 00:47:40.840\nWhat three words best describe you?\n\n867\n00:47:40.840 --> 00:47:47.240\nRestless, energetic, passionate.\n\n868\n00:47:47.240 --> 00:47:49.360\nWhat's your biggest pet peeve?\n\n869\n00:47:49.360 --> 00:47:56.920\nMy biggest pet peeve, David, is when I come across people who do not want to\n\n870\n00:47:56.920 --> 00:47:57.960\nchange as\n\n871\n00:47:57.960 --> 00:48:02.000\nfast as they can.\n\n872\n00:48:02.000 --> 00:48:07.160\nIf you could trade places with one person for a day, who would it be and why?\n\n873\n00:48:07.160 --> 00:48:14.720\nI think during these days at home, the one household member I want to trade\n\n874\n00:48:14.720 --> 00:48:16.160\nplaces where\n\n875\n00:48:16.160 --> 00:48:20.320\nthere is a diva lab tyra.\n\n876\n00:48:20.320 --> 00:48:26.640\nHe's not the best life in the world.\n\n877\n00:48:26.640 --> 00:48:31.280\nWhat's something about you that only a few people would know?\n\n878\n00:48:31.280 --> 00:48:37.000\nDavid, this is a fun fact.\n\n879\n00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:44.170\nYou know, the first job in Unilever after I did my management undergrad and as\n\n880\n00:48:44.170 --> 00:48:44.840\nI said\n\n881\n00:48:44.840 --> 00:48:50.730\nin strategy and marketing was not to handle a brand management of one of the\n\n882\n00:48:50.730 --> 00:48:51.640\nbrands like\n\n883\n00:48:51.640 --> 00:48:55.000\nDAWA or AXA or Lipton.\n\n884\n00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.720\nIt was in a business unit that made leather shoes for exports in Unilever.\n\n885\n00:48:59.720 --> 00:49:03.040\nI said, \"Okay, that's great.\n\n886\n00:49:03.040 --> 00:49:04.040\nThat sounds fantastic.\n\n887\n00:49:04.040 --> 00:49:07.000\nMaybe I'll get a chance to go to London or New York where customers are based.\n\n888\n00:49:07.000 --> 00:49:11.680\nI never traveled outside of India at that point of time when I joined Unilever\n\n889\n00:49:11.680 --> 00:49:11.760\n.\"\n\n890\n00:49:11.760 --> 00:49:16.410\nMy gentleman just still remember, said, \"No, young man, you got to start with\n\n891\n00:49:16.410 --> 00:49:17.200\nthe foundation\n\n892\n00:49:17.200 --> 00:49:18.200\nof the business.\n\n893\n00:49:18.200 --> 00:49:21.360\nYou got to start with leather tanneries.\"\n\n894\n00:49:21.360 --> 00:49:29.220\nMy first role in Unilever was vendor management of leather processing.\n\n895\n00:49:29.220 --> 00:49:34.640\nThis is close to 30 years back in India, tanneries.\n\n896\n00:49:34.640 --> 00:49:39.840\nThat false smell is still in my nostrils even today.\n\n897\n00:49:39.840 --> 00:49:44.640\nNow, do you have any hidden talents?\n\n898\n00:49:44.640 --> 00:49:51.160\nDavid, or how Bollywood dancing?\n\n899\n00:49:51.160 --> 00:49:59.520\nYou know, Melon, you've been in 24/7, huge travel jobs for a long time.\n\n900\n00:49:59.520 --> 00:50:04.120\nWhat's the best way or what do you have any advice on how to manage work-life\n\n901\n00:50:04.120 --> 00:50:05.000\nbalance?\n\n902\n00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.840\nIt's a tough one, David, and it's even got tougher during the pandemic.\n\n903\n00:50:09.840 --> 00:50:16.350\nI must admit, there are in the first four or six weeks, one was very exhausted\n\n904\n00:50:16.350 --> 00:50:17.160\nbecause\n\n905\n00:50:17.160 --> 00:50:20.160\nweekdays, weekends, we're merging it to each other.\n\n906\n00:50:20.160 --> 00:50:24.360\nAgain, the same thing happened with travel with 90% of our business outside of\n\n907\n00:50:24.360 --> 00:50:24.960\nthe United\n\n908\n00:50:24.960 --> 00:50:25.960\nStates.\n\n909\n00:50:25.960 --> 00:50:32.440\nI've inculcated a couple of habits that hopefully could be useful for others.\n\n910\n00:50:32.440 --> 00:50:34.960\nOne is daily exercise.\n\n911\n00:50:34.960 --> 00:50:37.560\nA couple of feet is being just 20 minutes.\n\n912\n00:50:37.560 --> 00:50:42.760\nIt could just be a run or getting onto a bike or whatever it is in just 20\n\n913\n00:50:42.760 --> 00:50:43.720\nminutes of daily\n\n914\n00:50:43.720 --> 00:50:44.920\nexercise.\n\n915\n00:50:44.920 --> 00:50:49.420\nThe second thing which I've picked up in the last couple of years, David, is\n\n916\n00:50:49.420 --> 00:50:49.760\njust in the\n\n917\n00:50:49.760 --> 00:50:53.600\nafternoon, take 10 minutes to shut my eyes and meditate.\n\n918\n00:50:53.600 --> 00:51:01.420\nIt clears my head and it kind of gives me a renewed energy for the rest of the\n\n919\n00:51:01.420 --> 00:51:02.200\nday.\n\n920\n00:51:02.200 --> 00:51:08.320\nThe third one, David, is I've moved back in some sense to my roots and moved to\n\n921\n00:51:08.320 --> 00:51:09.600\npredominantly\n\n922\n00:51:09.600 --> 00:51:11.400\nplant-based diets.\n\n923\n00:51:11.400 --> 00:51:16.320\nNot 100%, but predominantly plant-based diets, which I guess fits in very well\n\n924\n00:51:16.320 --> 00:51:17.160\nwith neutral\n\n925\n00:51:17.160 --> 00:51:18.160\nlight now.\n\n926\n00:51:18.160 --> 00:51:24.160\nThese are the three habits one that is one is inculcating going forward.\n\n927\n00:51:24.160 --> 00:51:25.160\nThat's great.\n\n928\n00:51:25.160 --> 00:51:28.920\nBill, as we wrap this up, I want to go back.\n\n929\n00:51:28.920 --> 00:51:33.180\nThat's one of my career highlights in terms of people is that I interviewed you\n\n930\n00:51:33.180 --> 00:51:33.560\nand you\n\n931\n00:51:33.560 --> 00:51:36.000\ndidn't take the job.\n\n932\n00:51:36.000 --> 00:51:38.830\nI thought you were going to take the job and I asked, \"What happened to this\n\n933\n00:51:38.830 --> 00:51:39.320\nguy named\n\n934\n00:51:39.320 --> 00:51:40.320\nMillen Pant?\"\n\n935\n00:51:40.320 --> 00:51:43.240\nThey said, \"Well, he turned us down.\"\n\n936\n00:51:43.240 --> 00:51:47.370\nI sent you an email and I said, \"When I look back on the last year, the fact\n\n937\n00:51:47.370 --> 00:51:48.000\nthat we didn't\n\n938\n00:51:48.000 --> 00:51:52.760\nhire you is one of my biggest disappointments.\n\n939\n00:51:52.760 --> 00:51:57.060\nYou sent me an email back and we interviewed again and then we were lucky\n\n940\n00:51:57.060 --> 00:51:57.960\nenough to get\n\n941\n00:51:57.960 --> 00:52:02.520\nyou to come to Yum Branch, which is KFC Pizza at Taco Bell.\n\n942\n00:52:02.520 --> 00:52:05.920\nYou did a great job there and it's great to see you hitting the ground running\n\n943\n00:52:05.920 --> 00:52:06.520\nin Amway\n\n944\n00:52:06.520 --> 00:52:08.760\nand they're lucky to have you.\n\n945\n00:52:08.760 --> 00:52:12.960\nThank you so much for taking the time to be in this podcast.\n\n946\n00:52:12.960 --> 00:52:15.320\nThank you, David.\n\n947\n00:52:15.320 --> 00:52:20.120\nThat Millen and being in your office in Louisville and looking at all the\n\n948\n00:52:20.120 --> 00:52:21.720\nrecognition photos,\n\n949\n00:52:21.720 --> 00:52:27.790\nnot only on the walls, but across every inch of your office spaces, it was a\n\n950\n00:52:27.790 --> 00:52:29.200\nmemory, a\n\n951\n00:52:29.200 --> 00:52:30.200\ntreasure.\n\n952\n00:52:30.200 --> 00:52:31.640\nDavid, thank you for this conversation.\n\n953\n00:52:31.640 --> 00:52:32.640\nIt's a privilege.\n\n954\n00:52:32.640 --> 00:52:37.640\nEnjoy every minute of it.\n\n955\n00:52:37.640 --> 00:52:40.640\nGreat.\n\n956\n00:52:40.640 --> 00:52:44.280\nMe too.\n\n957\n00:52:44.280 --> 00:52:46.480\nThat was really fun catching up with Millen.\n\n958\n00:52:46.480 --> 00:52:49.240\nHe has such an authentic passion for people.\n\n959\n00:52:49.240 --> 00:52:53.160\nHe loves creating an environment where they can thrive and that is just what he\n\n960\n00:52:53.160 --> 00:52:53.680\n's doing\n\n961\n00:52:53.680 --> 00:52:57.720\nfor the 1 million independent business owners at Amway.\n\n962\n00:52:57.720 --> 00:53:02.230\nThat number just blows me away and he's really leaning into the edge they have\n\n963\n00:53:02.230 --> 00:53:03.120\nover a company\n\n964\n00:53:03.120 --> 00:53:08.160\nlike Amazon and that's the community his entrepreneurs can build.\n\n965\n00:53:08.160 --> 00:53:12.000\nWe all want to do business with people we know and trust.\n\n966\n00:53:12.000 --> 00:53:14.160\nSo what does that mean for you as a leader?\n\n967\n00:53:14.160 --> 00:53:15.560\nLet's dig in a little.\n\n968\n00:53:15.560 --> 00:53:19.640\nThis week as a part of your weekly personal development plan, list three ways\n\n969\n00:53:19.640 --> 00:53:20.440\nyou can build\n\n970\n00:53:20.440 --> 00:53:23.240\na stronger community around your brand.\n\n971\n00:53:23.240 --> 00:53:27.780\nNow social media is an obvious place to start, but remember that community also\n\n972\n00:53:27.780 --> 00:53:28.440\nformed when\n\n973\n00:53:28.440 --> 00:53:33.360\npeople share a mission, when they feel heard and when they can solve problems\n\n974\n00:53:33.360 --> 00:53:34.280\ntogether.\n\n975\n00:53:34.280 --> 00:53:38.900\nThe great leaders I know put effort into developing that sense of community\n\n976\n00:53:38.900 --> 00:53:39.640\nbecause it creates\n\n977\n00:53:39.640 --> 00:53:44.650\nthe kind of incredible trust and relationships that successful businesses are\n\n978\n00:53:44.650 --> 00:53:45.480\nbuilt on.\n\n979\n00:53:45.480 --> 00:53:47.640\nDo you want to know how leaders lead?\n\n980\n00:53:47.640 --> 00:53:52.200\nWhat we learned today is the great leaders build trust by building community.\n\n981\n00:53:52.200 --> 00:53:56.280\nThanks again for tuning in to another episode of How leaders lead where every\n\n982\n00:53:56.280 --> 00:53:56.920\nThursday you\n\n983\n00:53:56.920 --> 00:54:01.000\nget to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world.\n\n984\n00:54:01.000 --> 00:54:04.660\nI may get a point to give you something simple on each episode that you can\n\n985\n00:54:04.660 --> 00:54:05.320\napply to your\n\n986\n00:54:05.320 --> 00:54:08.920\nbusiness so that you will become the best leader you can be.\n\n987\n00:54:08.920 --> 00:54:18.920\n[BLANK_AUDIO]\n\n988\n00:54:18.920 --> 00:54:28.920\n[BLANK_AUDIO]","

David Novak 0:04

Welcome to How leaders lead where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world, I break down the key learnings so that by the end of the episode you'll have something simple you can apply as you develop into a better leader. That's what this podcast is all about. Today's guest is my friend millon pant, CEO of Amway. Now, Amway just happens to be the largest direct selling company in the world, with over 1 million independent business owners, aka entrepreneurs. And as you'll hear today, Millan has tapped into something that's helping him grow as a leader, and helping his entrepreneurs and Amway grow their businesses. Now, what I'm talking about here is community. We all want to do business with people, we trust people we know. But the big question is, as leaders, how do we build those relationships in today's digital landscape? How can we develop that sense of community with our customers? Well, if you're not sure, keep listening. There's a wealth of wisdom and inspiration here to help you build trust by building community. So here's my conversation with my good friend, and soon to be yours. millon, pan.

millon, you grow up in India, in here you are living in Ada, Michigan, and God, I have no idea where that is, is you're the CEO of Amway, who would have thunk

Milind Pant 1:32

it. David, this is it. First of all, it's a privilege to speak with you. And gosh, you know, when I was growing up, I probably couldn't even put New York City on the map, leave around, figure out where ADA Michigan is. This is, this is surely not a part of any plan.

David Novak 1:49

Give us a little snapshot of your journey of how you got to ADA.

Milind Pant 1:53

David, I belong to the foothills of the Himalayas, in India. And as we were growing up, in in any citizen, normal family, loving parents, I guess we were we were rich in, in, in parents taking care of us. In India, there is a there is a phrase called for family values, what we would call family values here as face called sanskaar, which essentially is family values do the right thing. And that's how our parents brought us up and kind of gave us the confidence that you can be whatever you wish to be. On hindsight, David, not at that point of time, we were growing up. But in hindsight, we had very modest modest material means we never had air conditioning and you know, you'd be doing multiple types. You know, it's most of the years is 100 degrees and above, but if you know what you're conditioning at home, you never missed it. The first time we got television at home and a color television at home, even even for that was when I was in my teens. But we grew up happy. And we studied hard and you know, just just had a good set of foundation of values

David Novak 3:16

were prepared you and from a business perspective to take on this Amway role.

Milind Pant 3:22

David, I think that journey, if I was to go back would would go back to my initial days in in Unilever in India. I joined it you know straight after my management school. And I still remember the training program there was was very interesting, it was a combination of going across functions and across categories of fairly well rounded perspective at an early stage one of the one of the steps was to spend eight weeks in an Indian village. So here was your after having done my strategy and my marketing and in school already to you know, to to go into glamorous things. And I spent eight weeks as what you would call a paying guest in a village of fairly poor village with no running water, spotty electricity, no bathrooms we used to take take take a bath in the village well out in the open and those kinds of experiences really set a set a great foundation and then I got lucky I got a chance to meet meet you. We were living in Durban South Africa at that point of time. We should talk about the story sometime David but one thing led to another and the last 1012 years I've had the privilege of of just living like a global Nomad with you were in Dublin from Dublin we moved to Delhi, from Delhi to Bangkok all with yum with Bangkok to Shanghai the you know the the opportunity of a lifetime from Shanghai to Dallas and here we are in Ada, Ada, Grand Rapids and Michigan. So it's been quite a hell of a journey. And I'm very thankful for all the opportunities that came my way.

David Novak 5:10

You know, Bill and you you have over a million independent business owners as I, as I mentioned, could you explain the Amway business model to us?

Milind Pant 5:20

Well, it's a fascinating model, it was started by two friends, David 60 years back, are rich and Jay. And it's based on three ideas. The first idea is all about unleashing entrepreneurship. That's the core first idea. But that's not the only idea. There are two others. The second is a social idea. So entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs work as a part of a community. They grow and nurture other entrepreneurs, they have relationships that are based on trust another based on heart. And the third part of Amway. It's about health and wellness. The core portfolio of Amway is got to do with holistic, wellness, long term immunity, or organic product starting from taking care of mother earth. And these three ideas of entrepreneurship, social connections, and health and wellness come together across the world, in over 100 markets with a million distributors, and it's as vibrant today as it was six years back. You know,

David Novak 6:33

it's it's, it's really interesting, because when you think of direct sales organizations, you a lot of people think of like Ponzi schemes and pyramid schemes, and how do you handle the misperceptions of your industry?

Milind Pant 6:47

Well, the most important thing, for for any entrepreneur, to be successful across any industry is to be able to serve their customers. And that's what entrepreneurs do best and they do it with a portfolio that's about beauty and health and wellness. It's fascinating. David as a as a join angry, and I at the bottom, I listen and learn my first 100 days, as I'm going across the world. I met this entrepreneur and in our area, we call them Amway business owners, and in Tokyo, Makiko. Som, and she insisted she wanted to meet me and you know, kind of draw me and she said, We'll cook together, she had to do the chicken and Indian basmati rice with cooking like a group or a community of friends. And she's a million I want to share with you how I'm trying to build my business. I said, Okay, here's an entrepreneur in in Tokyo, and she dished out a mobile phone and started making a presentation from an IG feed or Instagram feed. And she said, she said melon had built a business for 20 years, and I built it home to home and offline. And today, I'm building my community online around my passion, which is cooking around my role as a mom as an entrepreneur. She had 20,000 Instagram followers, David David in April last year, I had four and a half Instagram followers, right? And I looked at I said, Why isn't this something if we could have a million Mikiko sounds across the world if we could, if we could help a 23 year old anywhere in the world, be it in Miami, London, Sydney, Shanghai, Delhi, Kuala Lumpur pianist heiress who can come to us need not need to have any capital didn't have a college degree. Everyone is welcome. And we help us succeed at her time and her flexibility and her freedom and build a business on our own terms. Won't that be great? And that's how our angry journey to walk the halls social commerce, a 10 year plan that we've put into place, it's a fantastic idea that helps people across the world be successful.

David Novak 9:04

That's great. You know, I love your enthusiasm. That's fantastic. And, you know, I know Amway is a family owned business, and you're the first outside CEO. Tell us about the hiring process that had to be fascinating.

Milind Pant 9:18

I guess I got I got lucky. David. The first time, you know, I got enough of the opportunity at that as a CEO role. I was intrigued. I was intrigued more because you're not you're not going to look at the brief if it was a global business. I didn't realize that Amway had 90% of its revenues outside of United States. You're actually 75% round with businesses between Tokyo and Mumbai in Asia. So that's fascinating. That kind of plays up to the area I know. I know best. Then it's a it's a business of brands. Is that all right, that sounds good too. Then I said like what are the products? So I requested an MRI The who, you know, well, my wife to say already, why don't you order some products online. And she did that and you know lo behold of 48 hours, we got a box of artistry beauty products and Nutrilite and gummies. And my son and I finished off the gummies in like 24 hours that size it like Okay, great product, global business brands. But you know, family owned, like you said, privately held, what does that mean? So I'm written I were invited over by by the DeVos. And Jay Van Andel families to do Ada, Michigan, and frankly, don't even know we're living in Dallas, I really didn't know where ADA Michigan is on the map. But we went in a very open mind. Both of us took a younger son alarm. And my God, what out what a wonderful experience it was. We were invited to the homes for meals, we met the kids. It was one family to another family very down to earth. And I thought to myself, and as we were returning to Dallas, Amrita and I chatted, we said, we grew up million miles away in the foothills of the Himalayas. But the value system and the family values that our parents inculcated in us, are very similar to the family values of the divorce and the value of families in West Michigan. And whichever way the process goes, our heart was made.

David Novak 11:25

How many generations of family members did you meet?

Milind Pant 11:29

I read, right. We met we met generation to generation three, and the generation four is still very young.

David Novak 11:36

Oh, that's great. I love it. I love it. And it's a great American story. There's no question Amway.

Milind Pant 11:42

It is,

David Novak 11:44

you know, what gave you the confidence you were ready to take on that job and succeed. You know, how hard was it for you really to make the big leap? I mean, you were leaving a yum brands, you were on your way. You had a great job as the head of pizza International. And, you know, you had a good security blanket.

Milind Pant 12:06

I did and and, you know that question, David reminds me of a similar decision that I, I went through and towards the end of 2017, as you know, you know, I'm retired and the family had moved to Durban, South Africa with Unilever. And we were well settled there. And, you know, one morning in December, I got an email in my Gmail account, from someone called David Novak. When I was with Unilever, who said, Milan and you know, David, I knew it was from you, because it said Mi La nd instead of Mr. Li, nd, which is a which is with Indian names, who knows. But it said, and it went on to get your authentic personality. And, and your your offer to just have a conversation. And one thing led to another and I left Unilever to join yarn, which and I'm so thankful to you for giving me that opportunity. And it was then a decision, which was as much based on on rational and intellectual reasons, as it was based on emotional and reasons of the heart. And it's the same thing that happened when I moved from yum. To Amway, it was as much based on on the sense of adventure of being a CEO of being able to work with a large global company with a million entrepreneurs and do my do my little bit to serve them and make them successful, as it was the the Conference of common values and value systems between people I met in the families and my family.

David Novak 13:43

You know, Milan, I apologize for misspelling your name back. I do know that it's mi L. I am AMD,

Unknown Speaker 13:53

but you know, you

David Novak 13:54

mentioned you had a big learning session, or you spent some time you said Lunch and Learn session, or how did you go about learning the challenges for the company?

Milind Pant 14:05

David, this is something that I've found useful and every big, big moves that I've made, which is to listen and learn. When I joined Amway, you know, I made it explicit to my team and to the entire organization and to the board, that I will spend my first 100 days to listen along. So what did I do? The first thing I did is, I rent to where the rubber hits the road, I went to the markets, to spend time with the managing directors, to spend time with our entrepreneurs to listen to the stories and how they were building the business. Because I knew with all the strengths we have, we had to massively transform to be relevant to entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs and to the competition that was coming to us from multiple angles, including e commerce. I went I went to the markets, to listen to them and to listen to the entrepreneurs and Mikiko son in Tokyo is one of those I met but I travel across the world. The second thing I did was to do to go outside Amway. And I looked at digital and technology companies and looked at startups in nutrition. So we spent time in California when the cross on on a whole week long trip, visiting the usual names, the Facebook and the Google, but also a number of other startup companies in nutrition. And then I went to Hong Jo, to spend time in Alibaba. So we looked outside. And then we learned from there. And the third thing I did was to reach out to the gurus I reached out to you, David, I reached out to Indra, you know, who I've known for, for quite some time, I reached out to Ramcharan. And I reached out, I even went to went to two programs, one by water, and one by BCG for new CEOs, just to wrap my mind around and build my plan. And once my 100 days were done, I then shared my my listening on learnings and my thoughts on where I believe, what are the strengths of Ambay? What are the changes I'm seeing and where we need to go? And then an organization wide memo in April last year, which was the starting of my journey, and ambi

David Novak 16:14

Where did you decide villain, you know, where you could add the most value as CEO? I mean, what did you make your immediate priorities after that, at that learning experience?

Milind Pant 16:24

My My biggest priority, David, is is to nurture our culture. We we are we have an awesome culture. And I'm where it's, it's, it's built on, on long standing values. It's a culture of the heart. And my, my main role is to nurture that culture into what we call founders growth man's mindset. So we take the best of the spirit of our founders, the pioneering spirit of rich and Jay, and combine it with Carol Dweck, in a book mindset talked about having a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. And that's the journey I personally on my leadership team has on an entire 16 or 16,000 employees of Amway are on and that's my, that's my first first and foremost priority. Along with culture, of course, we're looking at talent, we're looking at various ways of building capability, we encouraging people people to be able to feel safe, to take risk. There is so much as changing so fast around us, that we need everyone in some way to feel secure and to be on their own personal journey of founders growth mindset.

David Novak 17:43

You know, Milan, I know some people who have family members and friends that are in direct selling organizations, and you know, that the real limitation to growth and revenue growth is it really comes down to the personal limitations that the the the entrepreneur itself has, you know, how important is you to is it for you to develop that capability helping people get the skills they need?

Milind Pant 18:13

I think that's that's a that's a critical role. And in our, in our, in the Amway Amway ecosystem, our leaders play a big part in either the most important role of the leader or distributor leader is to is to nurture and coach and in some sense, provide the skills as well as have a say, I've got your back to someone who's starting a new, and who may fail a number of time before they succeed. So that's a big role that the distributor leaders play in an organization. What we do as an Amway to help the new A B or the new person to succeed, is to make it as easy as possible for her to acquire and retain customers and to get the tools and the skills required for her from day one, to start earning and stop learning new things. And then the leaders provide a sense of community that helps them succeed. And obviously, it has the sense of I got your back.

David Novak 19:17

You know, I I heard you say her? Yeah, you know, so what percentage of your Amway business owners are female?

Milind Pant 19:25

David, as you say, we have a million distributors. Close to two thirds are our female rather than some of our most successful markets like Korea, where we have a billion dollar business in a country of 50 million people? 90% of our Amway business owners or entrepreneurs are women.

David Novak 19:45

And how are you developing their skills in particular, is there something unique you're doing on that front?

Milind Pant 19:51

There is there's a lot of work that is taking place, David, I think the if I was to take that question and kind of just take take us A bad I think it starts with the global leadership team itself in anger first. My colleagues and I, there are 10 of us in the global leadership team. It's completely balanced on gender, there are five women, five men. We've got seven different ethnicities in the 10 of us. We've got, you know, Malaysian, Chinese, I'm Indian, there's an ocean freight, there's Italian, there's African American, because seven different ethnicities, a very diverse leadership team very balanced on on gender. And that is kind of the shadow that we are putting across across the world. But specifically coming to your question about entrepreneurs, we are looking at different communities, where women, young bonds, young women are able to do to express their interest and passion and build those communities. For example, we've got a whole set of communities that we help them build on beauty, you know, powered by our products, we've got a whole program called fashionistas that runs across the world, we've got communities around cooking, it is it is it is a little known secret that Camrys got a whole set of portfolio of products. On cooking, especially in Asia, we got we got communities and fitness. There is so many communities across the world that help women succeed. And, you know, our work can be done from home at at at a person's own time. And especially young moms truly find that to be a blessing in societies across the world.

David Novak 21:40

You know, Bill, and you know what, what was the what was the most surprising thing you learned about Amway?

Milind Pant 21:47

Well, there are so many surprising things that I learned about Amway. David, you know, one of my surprises was that I didn't realize I had no idea that Amway has 6000 acres of organic farms across campus, in Brazil, Mexico, and in Washington State. And the first time I went to those organic farms and said, Oh, my God, we've been taking care of mother earth for the last 85 years. At today, today, you know, I don't know Is it is it, farm to table and so for the mainstream ideas, I'm a neutral. I've been doing this for any five years, starting with organic farming. That was a big surprise to me. The fact that we had entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs, I don't know why I went to Thailand country where, you know, in jam, I spent a number of years, and I met those young entrepreneurs, and they were on fire. They wanted to change and change fast, they wanted digital tools, they wanted to help us move faster in terms of change that we wanted to, that was a surprise to meet meet entrepreneurs like that. And, and I think the culture of Amway, a number of organizations, you know, talk about purpose. And I think that's one of the things that you hear most leaders talking about in Amway has been the same purpose for 60 years. And it will be the same purpose for the next six years, which is helping people live better, healthier lives. It's not something that you know, a group of consultants, or even the CEO kind of wrote it down on a piece of paper, and it's on a wall somewhere. It lives in every employee's heart, and that I found with a very special and very different thing. And I'm where,

David Novak 23:33

so you have this purpose, it was established. So as the CEO, what's your role?

Milind Pant 23:38

So my role is, is to keep the why and strengthen the why which is of purpose, but everything about the how and the what is changing?

David Novak 23:50

And what is the biggest change?

Milind Pant 23:52

The biggest change is is our is is to, is to help attract and help our young entrepreneurs and new entrepreneurs succeed in this world of social commerce. David, what's happening across the world today is that there is a very successful business models in E commerce. There's Amazon here, there is Alibaba there is Flipkart in India and so on across the world. There are also a hugely successful models and in social platforms, in Facebook, in Krakow in Korea, line WeChat in China. What's taking place today is that ecommerce and social platforms are merging together to build a new business model, a huge opportunity called social commerce. And Andre is designed in his ideas that I talked to you about earlier entrepreneur, social and health and wellness, to be one of the leaders in this new emerging industry and business models of VR. We are reinventing traditional direct selling into social commerce. And that is our biggest long term strategic change that we are making.

David Novak 25:16

So, Milan, you've got to take your team with you to really go on this journey. How are you going about aligning the the team to tap these growth opportunities

Milind Pant 25:26

other than reading, taking people with you? But what about the way I did that? David, I read I taking people with you. And I don't know if I mentioned this to you and the section there on trust. And you know how trust is built and trust is destroyed. But one of the things we've been doing, David is is for my team to answer your question is we're on a journey to do lead from the heart. Each of us would want to lead with love and humility, and not fall into pride and fear. When there's so much change that takes place with a team that has been built that is so diverse. There is it's human, it's human for me, at times of massive change or, or crisis, like the pandemic, to either go into pride, or fear. And we are we're staying above the line and staying with with lead from the heart. Something that you know, a couple of who, you know, well, Steven and Maura started with and they've continued to work with us in Ambien the journey that has been, that has been in some sense, the primary intervention that we're using in the senior leadership team today, and then there are others. Communication is a is a big part of that, David. And I realized, as I was talking to you earlier, it's not it's not so much about email communication. But you know, surprisingly, surprise, surprise, my main channel of communication is Instagram, and is daily. And that helps me keep in touch with our entrepreneurs across the world and our employees across the world almost real time.

David Novak 27:10

So what are you going to Instagram on today?

Milind Pant 27:16

Well, you know, today's today's are the most recent Instagram posts within about a new innovation that our channel team dead in the middle of the pandemic in 90 days, a new immunity product, which I've which I've taken as the example of, of great agility of the team, to do, you know, to provide products that help the society in the long run, but there is so much more that I'm learning, you know, as, as I as I, as I navigate Instagram, it's my, it's required for me to be on a growth mindset in a way that I didn't think I would be able to do.

David Novak 27:51

So now you're an Instagram junkie, which is fantastic. You know, I imagined Milan that the gig economy is really affecting your, you know, your business to some extent, you know? Is it enabling you to require more new business, Amway business owners? Or is it becoming more competitive?

Milind Pant 28:12

Okay, that's a great question. And, and the way, you know, we I'd say is, we talked about social commerce, right, the the confluence of E commerce and social platforms that are taking place, there are during this pandemic, you know, it has been very tough, but it has accelerated our journey, the 10 year journey that I that I mentioned to you, because there are three early trends that are emerging. The first is, there is a need in society for people with supplemental income, which is called gig economy. You know, economies are hurt, their people are unemployed, and it's probably going to take a while, before countries across the world are back to do their feet in the most, most vulnerable sections about back on their feet. And that's a big need in society. And and that's a, that's a need that Amway can can fulfill in its own small way. The second thing that's happening in terms of of mega trends early is there's a huge focus on health and wellness and long term immunity. It's a need in society, again, all of us are concerned about, about, you know, our family, our spouses, our parents or kids, or neighbors or community. How do we after hand washing and, and social distancing? What else do we do on a long term in terms of habits to be able to have have build up our immunity? And the third trend is online is the new offline and you know, the two of us having this conversation over zoom, and a podcast is just just a way of, of that trend manifesting itself. So as far as the gig economy is concerned, that's a tailwind for the Amway business. And an Amway perhaps was the original gig economy player even before the term was coined. because it offered freedom and flexibility to anyone who wanted to join in,

David Novak 30:05

that's interested, you know, you know, when you're the largest of anything, and you're the largest direct selling organization in the world, it's easy to rest on your laurels and get complacent. What are you doing to drive even more fire in the belly of the organization?

Milind Pant 30:23

I think though, the one thing that I am I, you know, the leadership team I'm part of, and an entire organization wakes up to every morning, David, is this deep rooted desire, or, you know, fire in the belly or desire in the heart of helping the entrepreneur, specially the new young entrepreneurs succeed? That is something that's pervasive in the organization. And that new entrepreneur, she might, as I said, might be in Seoul, or Tokyo and Shanghai, or Delhi, or Miami, she is today needs even more of an array, both in terms of the entrepreneurship tools we provide, both in terms of digital and technology that we provide innovative products, we provide partnership with a leader that we provide for her to be successful. And that's something that continues to drive us. That is the core belief. That is is is deep, embedded in an angry somewhat like, if he fails to recollect the young days, it was a success of the restaurant general manager, he or she was the leader number one. And all of us woke up in whichever role whichever function whichever part of the world, we were, we always woke up to think what would we do that will help the restaurant General Manager succeed is the same principle and, um, weigh in is what do we do to help the entrepreneur succeed, especially during the early stages of our journey?

David Novak 32:05

So you're really focused on developing this social commerce? And is that one of the reasons why you're demonstrating your new acuity to Instagram?

Milind Pant 32:16

I think I stumbled into Instagram, more than anything else, David, I probably taught I'm, I'm going to be your spectacularly failing, and I'm quite enjoying it. And the thing that I enjoy them I enjoy the most is I can see entrepreneurs across the world. There are authentic personality and ways that they're building the business, I would never be able to get that real experience authentic experience by any PowerPoint deck, or any report that comes to me I get it true. live through Instagram.

David Novak 32:56

You know, you've got a lot of competition, I'm sure. But everybody has Amazon, Amazon's this big, big elephant, you know, out there, how's it affecting your business?

Milind Pant 33:07

Well, you know, David, competition is good. Competition keeps us on our toes and drives us to keep better. Amazon has everything. It has the capital, it has the capabilities, it has the momentum. But Amazon does not have one thing that angry has, and I don't think it's in their business model to have it. Amazon does not have the entrepreneur. It doesn't have the Amway business owner. And that is a secret sauce of Amway. There is there are people there who want to buy from people who build who trust relationships, we can provide health and wellness solutions to people from those who they trust and those who know them. And we can do that with a product. We can do that with immense amount of data. And algorithms that we can help our entrepreneurs with. We you know, Amazon and models like that, and ecommerce will always be successful because they're our customers will always need only an easy frictionless experience and for a number of categories. That is true even in our own home. But in health and wellness particularly and to a large extent in beauty. People want to be a part of a community and buy from those who they trust. And the Amway business owner, the entrepreneur is our our secret recipe, one that that that stands us and provides us a competitive advantage that Amazon cannot match.

David Novak 34:40

You know, Mila and I understand that Amway has over 800 patents. So innovation is obviously very important to you. You know, tell us a story about the most exciting new idea that you've seen so far.

Milind Pant 34:55

Um, David, I would I could give you some So many from across the world. But perhaps the one that kind of brings the best of MBA out is is is an is a is a new product i, which was very unlikely and it's still not been commercialized. And I'll give you a context. I'll just get to your question specifically. This was in the early days of the pandemic, in the United States. Of course, it It started around the lunar year and other parts of the world, middle of March, and I got a call from the CEO of the largest hospital network in West Michigan, saying that we need help. I said, What is it? I mean, we would love to love to do whatever we can be a part of the community here, we are completely committed to he said, We need hand sanitizers. Can we help? said well, I'll find out we really don't make hand sanitizers. And even if he wanted to make it might be weeks or months. By the time we can we can we can manufacture or or or or producing for you. Anyways, I call up my my colleagues and I said this is a request that's come from the community, what can we do, they said, you know, we don't make it. But let us figure it out. While David, To cut a long story short, in five days flat, we not only got the packaging, the formulation, the FDA approval, we manufacture the hand sanitizers, and we delivered it to hospitals across West Michigan, rather, there's, there's one here, you know, read me on my on my desk. And this showed the innovation, it showed the agility, it showed the empowerment of a cross functional team, I was frankly, you know, holed up in my home, I had no clue how this would be done. But the team went and went and did that. And that's the spirit and what I call the best of anger being unleashed across the world. That's happening in innovation and the hand sanitizer is one, one example of that. That's a great

David Novak 37:04

story. And, you know, Bill, and I know you talk a lot about the importance of courage, do you have a, an experience in your leadership past where that really became something that really meant a lot to you?

Milind Pant 37:21

David, for me, courage, at times, starts with understanding one's fears. And kind of acknowledging that one is one is one is vulnerable. And, and to do that, first one's own self, and then to those around him colleagues, you know, one one who trust so I've been I've been through many instances in my career, where I, I learned the value of, of courage, perhaps, on hindsight, even more than being courageous at that, at that time. I think the classic one, which you will relate to very well is, is when I when I moved to China, as a part of young Holly success, successful business, very proud, team 400,000 employees business built over multiple decades, at that time, required a change. And, and I went there, and I it was it was complex complexity of the business itself, complexity of not knowing the language, you know, all meetings and all emails being in Mandarin, was the new experience. And, and just the pace of change that was required, and the dynamics of the team, with very strong leaders with very strong opinions. And I learned my lesson, that I need to be even more courageous in times like this, to make sure that we do the right thing to help the restaurant General Manager across China, in this case, succeed. So that's, that's been one, one learning on courage or one where I was not as courageous that as I should have been, during the early stages of my days in young China,

David Novak 39:29

where you were very courageous to take that job. Thank you, you know, as as Indian going into into China, and one of the reasons why he got that job was because of your cultural sensitivity and, and now you're in well over 100 countries and Amway. And what do you think would be the number one thing you have to do to really run a truly global company?

Milind Pant 39:51

You know, especially in the in the in the world we're living in and, and the friction that we see in societies and focus on differences more than similarities, I would go back to something I learned David, which we mentioned earlier in this conversation during my time as gm of Thailand. And I learned that from my mistakes, which is, first and foremost, the leader needs to lead from the heart, and to lead with love and humility, with a high degree of empathy and sensitivity to people across the world. Everyone gets up every morning, to do their best to be successful. You know, to be a good dad, good mom, a good colleague, a good friend at work and do the best in the job. And it's, it's, it's my job, it's my responsibility to to have a culture and environment that everyone can shine to their best, best of who they want to be. And to me in my personal behavior, that comes with leading with, with love and with humility, instead of pride and fear,

David Novak 41:05

you know, when you say leading with love, you know, that sounds pretty soft, airy fairy kind of stuff, you know, the people eyes roll over when you say that,

Milind Pant 41:15

well, yes, it does. Till till we go deeper into it. And and understand. For example, giving honest, true feedback to people is a is a reflection of love. You know, we want the best for those who work with us and you know, who we work around and, and that is love to put what would you use to talk about a lot, David, to put V before me, is an expression of love those those of us who and it's human to all of us who get self centered or selfish at times and put me before V. That's the expression of love towards others. So, so yes, I think at times in a conventional service, a corporate environment, it may seem to be softy, softy. But this is very much go to what Amway is, is very much go to as being a people business. We are not into brick and mortars. We are our distributors are humans, when we have to work with them and take them with us. It's not about appealing to the intellect, it's appealing to their heart. And for them to be able to trust us that we have got the best interest in mind and all that starts with loving humility. And and by the way, I remember that personal journey. And there are times when I can get into pride and fear, especially when there is this crisis or this pressure and revert to it. But it's a good reminder and help with my colleagues at work to have the awareness and with Amrita at home, to have the awareness that, you know, when asked to continue on that journey.

David Novak 43:02

You know, you mentioned these are challenging times earlier, and this country now is facing the aftermath of the tragic death of George Floyd. How have you addressed this within your organization?

Milind Pant 43:16

I think the V being you know, David, staying true to the idea of Amway, that Amway is for everyone. So the first thing we've done is to clearly communicate, where we stand. And we've done that, in, in, in in in clear ways that black lives matter. And internally, we are taking number of steps that help people have conversations that are difficult, that are awkward at times. You know, there are there are unity circles within um, where groups that get together and talk about real issues in society that they are the real hurt that is there and and first and foremost, start a healing process. We are we are working with the community here in Grand Rapids to see what substantive differences we can make in a home here in Grand Rapids beyond say the current news cycle,

David Novak 44:29

well, that's outstanding and then you know, and hopefully we're gonna get some real change this time around on this and mill and you've had so much success in your career. Do you have a what you would call an epic fail? And what did it teach you,

Milind Pant 44:44

David? I'm still working progress. And I've had multiple epic fail. So where do you want me to start let Okay, let me let me go back to my Unilever days and the David, this was my first role as marketing director in India for the ice creams category. And I was, I was, you know, younger and, and confident, perhaps cocky, then, and this is a small business Unilever in India today is a $6 billion business, it's been highly successful. Over the years. For me, it was like a second MBA and so much I learned there, as I did in yum. So I went to this ice cream business, which is a smaller business in Unilever, struggling not making money. So it was a really tough business. And one of the things that attracted me to the fact that it was a tough challenge, and I moved to the business and, and I think it was the May or May or June of the year, in the middle of summer, our business of primarily impulse products, and you know, what I set for myself, as I said, in my first 100 days, I want to build and execute a turnaround plan. So I didn't listen to learn, okay, I went in saying I'll build a turnaround plan, got new positioning, in new advertising, very cute, very intelligent, we made 2020 or 25 new products in in 100 days, from ideas to manufacturing, and went in launch date without bank. By the time this happened, this was then start of September. And, you know, there was a little bit of a problem that some of us Oh, and this will work. And while while the business did improve, it was a no turnaround. That what had one had planned for and, and for me, this was not only an epic failure, it was my first public failure and a setback. And one that I when I reflect on it was was was truly a time for for learning, learning. Learning as as a person as an a colleague, learning not to be in a fixed mindset, and and to pick this up and then see what 111 gets from there. But it was it was when I look back even now when I went made meet my people I worked with then I sometimes ask ask them, Why did you find me? I think you need it was very generous.

David Novak 47:24

It's always fun to hear those stories, you know, and it's been fun hearing your insights. Melinda, I want to have a little bit more fun with you here and ask you a lightning round of questions. So are you ready for this show, David? Okay, what three words best describe you?

Milind Pant 47:39

I'm restless. Energetic, passionate.

David Novak 47:46

What's your biggest pet peeve?

Milind Pant 47:49

My biggest pet peeve. David is when I when I come across people who do not want to change as fast as they can.

David Novak 48:01

If you could trade places with one person for a day, who would it be and why? Ah.

Milind Pant 48:09

I think I think your duty these days I told him the 111 household member I want to trade places where this is a is a diva. A diva live by Tyra got the best life in the world.

David Novak 48:25

What was something about you that only a few people would know?

Milind Pant 48:31

David, this is this is all of this little fun fact. You know, a first job in Unilever. After I did my my management, undergrad and you know, the second strategy and marketing was not to handle a brand management of one of the brands like Dharwar or x or or Lipton. It was in a in a business unit that made leather shoes for exports in Unilever. I said okay, that's great. That sounds fantastic. Maybe I'll get a chance to go to London or New York where customers are based. I never never traveled outside of India at that point of time and join Unilever. So my gentleman I still remember sets and no young man. You got to start with the foundation of the business. You got to start with leather tanneries. So my first role in Unilever was vendor management of leather processing. This is close to 30 years back in India tanneries died foul smell is still in my nostrils even today.

David Novak 49:42

Do you have any hidden talents?

Milind Pant 49:44

Give it perhaps Bollywood dancing.

David Novak 49:51

You know, you know Milan you've been in 24/7 Huge travel jobs for a long time. What's the best way or what do you have any advice on how to manage work life balance?

Milind Pant 50:04

It's a tough one, David. And it's even got tougher during the pandemic. And I must admit there are in the first, you know, four to six weeks one was very exhausted. Because, you know, weekdays, weekends were merging with each other. And again, the same thing happened with travel. With 90% of our business outside of United States, I've inculcated a couple of habits that you know, hopefully could be useful for others. One is daily exercise. Even if it's been just 20 minutes, it could just be a run, or getting onto a bike or whatever it is just 20 minutes of daily exercise. The second thing, which I've picked up in the last couple of years, David, is just in the afternoon, take 10 minutes to shut my eyes and meditate. It clears my head. And it kind of gives me a renewed energy for the rest of the day. And, and the third one, David is I've, I've moved back in some sense, I guess, to my roots, and move to predominantly plant based diets, not 100%, but predominantly plant based diets, which I guess fits in very well with Nutrilite. Now, but these are the three you know, habits. One that has one as inculcating going forward.

David Novak 51:23

Oh, that's great. You know, and millon, as we wrap this up, I want to go back. And it's one of my career highlights in terms of people is that I interviewed you and you didn't take the job. And I thought you were gonna take the job. And I asked what happened to this guy named Melon Pan? And they said, Well, he, he turned us down. So I sent you an email. And I said, you know, when I look back on the last year, the fact that we didn't hire you is one of my biggest disappointments. And you sent me an email back and we interviewed again. And then you know, we were lucky enough to get you to come to yum branch, which is KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. And you did a great job there. And it's great to see you hitting the ground running and Amway. And they're lucky to have you and thank you so much for taking the time to be on this podcast.

Milind Pant 52:12

Thank you, David. It's, you know that that meal and being in your office, and low well and looking at all the recognition photos, not only on the walls, but you know, across every inch of your office spaces. It was is a is a memory I treasure. David, thank you for this conversation. It's a privilege. enjoyed every minute of it.

David Novak 52:34

Great, me too.

Well, that was really fun catching up with Millan. He has such an authentic passion for people. He loves creating an environment where they can thrive. And that is just what he's doing. For the 1 million independent business owners at Amway. That number just blows me away. And he's really leaning into the edge they have over a company like Amazon, and that's the community his entrepreneurs can build. We all want to do business with people we know and trust. So what does that mean for you as a leader? Let's dig in a little. This week is a part of your weekly personal development plan. Lis three ways you can build a stronger community around your brand. Now social media is an obvious place to start. But remember that community also formed when people share a mission when they feel heard, and when they can solve problems together. The great leaders I know put effort into developing that sense of community because it creates the kind of incredible trust and relationships that successful businesses are built on. So do you want to know how leaders lead? Well, we learned today is the great leaders build trust by building community. Thanks again for tuning in to another episode of how leaders lead where every Thursday you get to listen in while I interview some of the very best leaders in the world. I make it a point to give you something simple on each episode that you can apply to your business so that you will become the best leader you can be

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