Leadership in Action - November 2008

“They are actually looking for us! They just don’t know we are here!!!
—FRANK L. VANDE”RSLOOT

something that they themselves did not see.

Investing in those .com companies never made any sense to me. Fortunately, I never invested a penny. My brokers thought I was nuts. They told me I was going to be left behind- that I needed to get in on the ground floor. I’m certain they were using the same pitch on their other clients. And why were they pitching the .com companies? Because all the other brokers were doing it! No one understood the business plans of the .coms. They just feared they would be left out. Six months before the .com bubble burst in late 2000, I explained my concerns in the President’s Message of Leadership in Action. I warned readers about these so called internet companies and advised them to proceed with caution before investing in one of these companies. I do not know how many people listened to me or how many people dumped their stocks before the bubble burst, but I know some did and I have always hoped that many acted. I do not mention this to boast about how right we were on our predictions, I only want to point out that it is better to use common sense than to follow the masses.

Then in September of 2005 I wrote about what was happening in the financial markets. This article ran as the November 2005 President’s Message. Melaleuca Director of Corporate Affairs Cole Clinger and I had met with Senior and Executive Directors earlier in September of 2005 in Baltimore, Atlanta, Tulsa, Dallas, Phoenix, Irvine, and Seattle. We predicted

that the housing industry and financial markets were headed into “The Perfect Storm.” We pointed out that as soon as interest rates started increasing, those with variable rates or balloon clauses in their mortgages would not be able to make their home payments, resulting in millions of defaulted mortgages, creating a large number of excess homes on the market, which would destroy the value of homes in the marketplace causing more foreclosures and eventually resulting in bank foreclosures. We predicted that these foreclosures would cause a chain reaction that would rock the nation’s financial institutions and those around the World. The intent of those meetings was to encourage our people to avoid the financial pitfalls that we feared were going to happen to those who had lived beyond their means.

Over the last three months, all of those dire predictions have now come true. What we did not predict is that the government would approve a $700- billion bailout package for the banks and financial institutions. Again, it is not my purpose here to brag about how right we were with our predictions. I only want to point out that if you take a second to look around at what is happening today, you can often figure out what is going to happen tomorrow. With close study and observation, serious analysis, and some common sense, you can make sure that you end up in a much better place than where the masses end up. The only thing that is amazing about this is the fact

that the vast majority follow the masses in whatever direction the masses are going and very few study things out for themselves.

Okay, I am finally getting to my point. Let’s take a close look at the current national crisis and use a little common sense as to where it can take us! People are hurting financially, many have lost their retirement savings. Three months ago they were financially secure, now they are in financial ruins. People need money and financial security more than ever and they know they will not get it from their employer!

They are actually looking for us! They just don’t know we are here!!! They will be glad to learn what we have for them! We can show them 23 years of solid growth and prosperity for people who want to own their own businesses. We are financially secure. We have the safest, most effective natural products in the World. A proven business model! No risk! No substantial investment! Everyone can do it.