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- [00:00]
Priscilla Rice
Episode 922, the Power Beneath the Surface.
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Dr. Ivan Meisner
You're listening to the official BI podcast with BI founder and chief visionary officer, Dr. Ivan Meisner. Stay tuned for networking and referral marketing tips from the man who's been called the father of modern networking, along with suggestions and insights into getting the most from your membership in the world's largest networking organization, bni.
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Priscilla Rice
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the official BI Podcast. I'm Priscilla Rice, and I'm coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. And I'm joined on the phone today by the founder and the Chief visionary officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello, Ivan, how are you and where are you?
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Dr. Ivan Meisner
I am headed to California in just a couple of days. Going to visit some B and I people and visit my daughter there.
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Priscilla Rice
Oh, perfect. And what do you have to share with us today?
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Dr. Ivan Meisner
Well, today I want to talk about the power beneath the surface. Now, most people join BNI for referrals. They want more business. And that's, of course, who can blame. And that's what we all want. But really, that's the tip of the iceberg. That's what you see at a weekly meeting. But what they really bought, what most people really bought, runs much deeper than the tip of the iceberg. And so what I want to do is go beneath the surface to explore the hidden power of BNI that fuels the success for hundreds of thousands of members worldwide. And you can take a look at the transcript here, and I've got a JPEG of it that you can see. And if you take a look at this visual that I'm talking about today, you can see the BNI iceberg, the image that highlights what members really got. And it's. It's powerful and it's packed with insights. Now, I can't take credit for the designing this. This was developed by Gina Harold, our director of global learning and management. And she did it at a presentation. And I was so impressed with it, I thought it would be perfect for one of my podcasts. So let's. Let's discuss the iceberg theory here.
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Priscilla Rice
Okay.
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Dr. Ivan Meisner
Above the waterline, you see the BNI meeting, it's structured, it's professional, it's focused on generating referrals. And yes, that meeting is powerful, very powerful. But what supports that visible structure is even more profound. Below the surface, we find the structure. Commitment, education, coaching, and mentoring. These aren't extras, they're the foundation. So let's start with the structure. Think about the tools like msp, member success, Program training, In some areas, something called the Passport program. These aren't just boxes to check. They're systems designed to transform how you show up in your business and in your group. Then we have B and I connect. Nobody, no networking organization in the world connects hundreds of thousands of business professionals in a single network the way BNI does. Yes, there are organizations like LinkedIn, but if you want to reach out to somebody on LinkedIn and say, hey, could you take me to a meeting and introduce me to a bunch of people, they're going to say, who, I'm sorry, who are you? And why do you want that? But in bni, you can do that, and people do that all the time. We also have Business Builder, which the BNI Podcast is on. But we have many, many other things, webinars and trainings and, you know, MSP trainings and other things on Business Builder that help with our philosophy of lifelong learning, our value of lifelong learning. And of course, BNI connects not just a database. It's a global portal of connection, education, opportunity, and it allows us to tap into the thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of minds around the world 24, 7. And then there's Success Net and BNI. This BNI podcast, yep, one you're listening to right now. These are tools for growth that keep giving. These are all below the waterline. This is the, you know, we, we often only see the tip of the iceberg in bni, but this is how big the iceberg really is. The real investment is growth through education and coaching in B and I. So let's shift gears to what I believe is the most underappreciated part of bni, and that is education, coaching and mentoring. We don't teach this in colleges and universities anywhere in the world. I realized this 40 years ago when I started BNI. Now, right now I'm singing to the choir because you're listening to this podcast. But for many people who aren't, they need to come listen to these podcasts, you need to get more people in the choir to look at this information, to listen to this information, because this is what's below the waterline. We added things like education coordinators for this very need. Education coordinators were not part of the B and I system originally. They were added years later when I started publishing books and before we have the technology that we do now, like, like BNI podcast and. And the educational platforms we had. But when I started doing books, we added the education coordinator to. To help teach these concepts and ideas within a chapter. Networking is more taught than caught. Let me explain that networking is more taught than caught. Once you're immersed in the BNI ecosystem, you start catching things that change your business and your mindset. But you do that by learning about them. So as you learn about them, as you're taught about them, you catch on to these ideas. Things like mentoring. If you haven't seen my book, the Networking Mentor, pick up that book. It's really. It's a BNI book. It's about mentoring within bni, and it's about whose story are you in and whose lives are you changing and how that helps you at the same time. Take a good look at Power Teams There are many podcasts on Power Teams. One of them is episode 549. It's a all about power teams, episode 549, and we'll include the link here in the transcript. Power Teams are one of the things that are below the the waterline in a BNI meeting. One to ones, one to ones are so powerful. And you've heard me talk about these. Just do a search on one to Ones and you'll come up with all kinds of podcasts that will confirm this for you. The things below the B and iceberg that we call we, we all see, it's real. It's the real heart of business growth. It's about sharpening your skills, gaining clarity, aligning your networking with your actual results. It's no coincidence that members who engage in these layers tend to outperform others. You're not just attending meetings, you're participating in a mastermind every week. Whether you're learning from your director, your chapter president, or a seasoned mentor, you're growing every time you engage. Whether you're on Business Builder, Success Net, my blog, this podcast. You're growing every time you engage. And let's not forget webinars, workshops. These aren't just events, they're growth incubators. And we do webinars constantly. And they're up on Business Builder. This really requires a culture of commitment. BNI is isn't a spectator sport. The business value that comes from bni, the the greatest value comes to those who fully engage. Those who attend leadership team training, read networking materials, invest in their power teams. Because here's the truth. When you go all in on your chapter, your chapter goes all in on you. You build a reputation. You deepen trust. You create a referral machine that works even when you're sleeping. That's what I love about referrals. They work even when you're sleeping, when you're on vacation, you could be getting referrals into your business. That's the power of referral marketing. Commitment is what turns visibility into credibility and eventually into profitability. It's the C in the VCP process, that credibility that's so incredibly important and so many people skip or underestimate unless they're active in an organization like bni. Unless they're active in bni. One final thought. And then. And then, if you have any thoughts of your own, Priscilla, I'm happy to hear them. So what did members really buy when they joined bni? You look at this graphic of the iceberg. Yes, they bought referrals. Yes, they bought weekly structured meetings. But what they really bought was a system to scale their business. A community that sharpens their business expertise, a commitment engine that accelerates their growth. Referrals for life. Relationships for life. So here's my challenge to you, the listener. Go deeper. Explore what's beneath the surface of the iceberg. Engage with every tool, every training, every mentor you have access to. Because when you do, you'll discover that BNI isn't just a networking group, it's a growth ecosystem. And that's what really members bought when they joined bni. And so when we talk about the trainings and sometimes we get people saying we're just doing more B and I stuff. No, you're doing stuff to, to. To. To sharpen your axe, to, to enable you to. To be more successful at building your business. The, the things we teach in BNI are all about teaching you how to be more successful in business, particularly through referral marketing, but how to be more successful in business. And it's all below the tip of the iceberg. BNI is not only a great way to get business, it's an even better way to do business because we're helping everyone build their business together through education, support and training. And that's my message for today, Priscilla.
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Priscilla Rice
That's great, Ivan. That's a wonderful and very powerful lesson for all of us.
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Dr. Ivan Meisner
Yeah, I think so. And I'd love for education coordinators to share this one with, with their members. And, and I tell you what, if you're listening to this or reading the, the transcript, if you want to add something to, to all of the things that you're looking at on the iceberg, feel free to put it in the comments. I read all the comments that get posted. What else is below the tip of the iceberg that's not included in this graphic? And I want to thank Gina again for doing this graphic for us.
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Priscilla Rice
Okay, well, that's great.
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Dr. Ivan Meisner
Thank you.
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Priscilla Rice
I think that's a wonderful podcast. Thank you so much. This podcast is sponsored by MeisnerAudioPrograms.com these audio programs will provide you with the tools and the inspiration to powerfully enhance your BNI experience. So check out the great material that's available to you@meisneraudioprograms.com and then use the promo code IVAN5O for 50% off of everything. All of the proceeds go to the B and I Foundation. Thank you so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we look forward to having you join us again next week for another exciting episode of the official BNI podcast.