- Manipulate and narrow the range of a person's feelings
Not applicable.
- Make the person feel like if there are ever any problems it is always their fault, never the leader's or the group's
In the Amway business, a person is taught that if he follows the steps (or "pattern/ system for success") outlined by his upline, he too will become successful. No-one ever mentions the hard work that is actually needed to do this, or if they do, the work is dismissed in a statement such as "it was hard, but it was worth it." He is taught to contact X number of people and show the plan to Y number of people to sponsor Z number of people. Since Amway has been around for almost 40 years and has produced a number of multi-millionaires, their system HAS to work. The uplines teach, "If the "system for success" doesn't work for you, then YOU aren't doing what you need to be doing. YOU know what has to be done (or hear it again from your upline), so go out and do it." If a person starts to doubt his results, the upline will just tell him to "have faith" and "just keep doing what You're doing" until he becomes the type of distributor they want. Only later, when he is "ready," (meaning properly conditioned and unquestioning) will he be taught that he could receive an additional income from the sales of tools to his own downline. What the distributors don't talk about are the statistics inherent to any MLM business. If the distributor does not become a Direct in the specified time frame, it is always assumed that HE did not do the work that he was supposed to do. Again the uplines teach that he should know what has to be done (or hear it yet again from your them), so go out and do it. Forget the fact that the "Amway science" may not actually be applicable to everyone's personality. As with any business, there are going to be those people who just can't do it despite the fact that distributors repeatedly say "anyone who wants to go Direct, will."
From another member...
The "system" of success is often promoted as having a 100% success rate. When you are not making money, you are led to believe you are the only one and have somehow screwed up. I have a distributor in my group that advised he and his wife lost $25,000 in the last two years alone. As an Emerald I made around $30,000 despite constant promotion of $100,000 a year income (I have them on tape).
- Identity guilt
Who you are (not living up to your potential)- Your family
If you are having doubts or thinking about quitting you may be instructed to pull out your family picture and tell them that they are "not worthy of your best effort".
Your pastYour affiliationsYour thoughts, feelings, actionsSocial guiltHistorical guiltAs one member noted; "When I was in the business, I was not aware of any of these occurring. I don't know if they occur at the higher-up levels or not."
- Excessive use of fear
Distributors may fear that if they leave the business, they will not have as much "personal growth" as they would have in the business. Again, many Diamonds tell stories about how much they have "grown" as a person since they built the business. Stories range from the introvert who can now speak in front of an audience to the ignorant person who has come to love everyone in the world. Some distributors learn that if they just keep building the business, they too will become a better, friendlier, etc. person. They never realize that the tools they are using actually limit the amount of choices available to the them: distributors can only "grow" according to the AMO's guidelines. The only "growth" will be in areas that relate to the Amway business: being more personable, being a better businessman, and of course, being a more skilled liar (to tell people "I'm only successful when You're successful" while making more and more money from the sale of tools). I have yet to hear a story from a Diamond who claims he "grew" so much that he "out-grew" the Amway business!
- Extremes of emotional highs and lows
None that I am aware of- I have not done any research on this topic. I would believe that a distributor would be happy/ sad according to how is business is going: he is happy when he has a lot of people in his group, but sad when people quit or he does not make much money. I don't know if this would be considered "extreme," but a person's emotions are definitely linked to their business/ performance.
There are seminars every month and distributors' emotions tend to follow a huge swing during the seminars and last for a few weeks until they crash or come down, and then it is time to get in another large group meeting to begin the ride again. I have distributors that have on this ride for almost a decade now.
- Ritual and often public confession of "sins"
In the Amway business, people don't confess "sins," but, instead confess what they want out of life- their goals and dreams. Instead of holding the "bad things" against people, distributors use the person's "want" to build the business: You discuss the wealthy lifestyle, the exotic cars, the big house, the college education for your children, and of course, leaving your "9 to 5" job. If you start to slow down building the business (or even think about quitting), your upline will ask such pointed questions like: "Were you really serious about wanting all those dreams? Did you really want to give your kids the best college education? Were serious about spending more time with your kids before they grow up? Or did I misunderstand what you wanted in life?" What do you say then? The upline practically calls you a liar by placing you in the position of saying, "No, I wasn't serious about sending my kids to a good college." The logic is: if you want your dreams, you'll build the Amway business; if you do not want those dreams, why did you tell him that you wanted them in the first place?
At the night session of the seminars, the couple does their "rally" talk. This is about their life pre-Amway, in which many of us re-wrote how dark our past was before finding our Amway salvation. They reinforce how stupid but well-meaning parents told them to "get an education and get a good job" which led to their life of economic burdens. They often talk about initially being "negative" on a specific product or tapes etc....and now have seen the light.
- Phobia indoctrination
In the Amway business, distributors are taught that there is virtually no other lifestyle outside of the Amway business. The speeches teach that a distributor will only be happy when he reaches the Diamond level- and he should not even try to be happy in any other type of career. A distributor quickly learns that if he were to leave, he would be labeled as someone who has "lost their dream," or even worse, be labeled "a quitter." This completely ignores the fact that many people become disgusted with the business when they discover either the lies or the uplines? true source of income. The AMO's use the belief that people would rather continue to do something unsuccessfully than be labeled a "quitter" by their peers (meaning fellow distributors). There is also the irrational belief that, once a distributor quits, he could hear about how his downline went on to make thousands of dollars in the business. How often does this happen? I don't know if there are actual statistics, but when a Diamond tells how his own sponsor quit, distributors don't even think about quitting. Distributors may also be taught that if they leave the business, their spouses will divorce them or their children won't respect them anymore. Many Diamonds tell stories about how their own children would become disappointed by their slow rate of building the business. The way to cheer up the children, the Diamonds say, is to build faster and "go diamond!" After hearing enough of these stories, distributors who have children start to absorb this message and feel they can't disappoint their own children. In turn, this means they won't quit- even if they are working long hours to show the plan, leaving their kids, or if they aren't making much income.
Distributors are indoctrinated to loathe their jobs and oppressive bosses. I have had three direct distributors either get fired or leave their jobs under terrible circumstances due to this. I have another that has virtually destroyed his career with this attitudinal shift. The acronym "JOB' takes on several meanings .... Jerk On Board, Just Over Broke, Jackass Of the Boss etc.... The general mindset established is that you are going to send your boss's wife or a stockholder's wife to Hawaii or your own because now YOU own the business. Where are your priorities?.... If you are thinking of quitting, you are advised not to tell your upline; instead, wake up your kids and whisper to them, "You're not going to Disney World." Or, tell your wife that "She's not worth it." Or, look yourself in the mirror and admit you're not "man enough" to get the job done.... "On your tombstone will be 'eternally broke'" (literal quote from a Diamond)....Despite the love and compassion exhibited by the people who love you, God help you should you quit. You may be labeled a quitter, loser, "thumb sucking pin head", bone head, idiot, moron, broke guy, wimp, socialist, mentally unstable, ego out of control, maverick non-team player etc...
