Episode 722: BNI Walkabout, Part I/第722集: BNI巡迴展，第一部分

 第722集: BNI巡迴展，第一部分

今天的嘉賓是BNI主席兼首席執行官格雷厄姆-維米勒，他最近訪問了美國29個州的BNI分會。以下是他要分享的關於BNI會員和董事在BNI過去18個月中幫助實現的進步的情況。

• 擴大的可能性:由於在線會議和在線網絡，更多的人能夠加入BNI並出席會議。
• 無處不在的關係建設:會員可以在任何時間、任何環境下建立自己的網絡和業務。
• 技術是力量的倍增器:在過去的12個月中，BNI會員完成了近180億美元的業務，並通過BNI在線™傳遞了超過1200萬個引薦人。
• 爆炸性的增長：自疫情開始以來，有700個新的分會成立。
• 重視多樣性和包容性:我們的分會內部越是多元化，他們就越能完成業務。多元化的網絡更強大。

下週請關注本採訪的第二部分!

第722集的完整文字記錄

Priscilla:

大家好，歡迎回到BNI官方播客。我是Priscilla Rice，我從加州伯克利的Live Oak錄音室為您帶來。今天與我通電話的是BNI的創始人和首席願景官Ivan Misner博士。

你好，Ivan，你在哪裡？

Ivan:

哦，我仍然不斷地通過Zoom在世界各地旅行。最近，我參加了在澳大利亞舉行的全國會議，以及在南非舉行的全國會議，還有世界上許多其他地方。

但我有一個旅行者，他一直在旅行，與我們通話。你們大多數人可能記得，他曾在我們的幾個播客中出現過。這就是Graham Weihmiller，他自2014年起擔任BNI的主席和首席執行官。他還擔任BNI基金會的董事，這對我來說是很重要的。在加入BNI之前，Graham Weihmiller是一家有35年曆史的家庭護理服務公司的首席執行官，該公司在美國各地有250個分支機構。在此之前，他曾在美國特許經營公司、美國銀行和美林證券擔任領導職務。Graham在哈佛大學獲得了MBA學位，是特許經營認證的執行者，也是六西格瑪黑帶，他喜歡說這不是那種能在暗巷中幫助你的黑帶。

他在2020年當選為國際特許經營協會（IFA）的董事會成員。而且他與Robert Skrob和你是《連接器效應》一書的共同作者，該書成為亞馬遜上的暢銷書。Graham和他的家人住在北卡羅來納州的夏洛特。他和他的妻子莎拉--一位兒科急診室醫生--有三個年幼的孩子，我曾有機會在多個場合見到他們。最後一次，是在我位於加爾維斯頓的公寓，看到你的孩子們，Graham很開心。他們真的長大了，因為他們有這樣的趨勢。你一定把他們養得很好。

Graham:

他們確實傾向於快速成長。他們在加爾維斯頓和你一起度過了一段完全愉快的時光。再次感謝你們。

Ivan:

是的，這是我的榮幸。所以，你做了這次環遊，我會讓你說說，但只是給大家一個快速的概述。你旅行了8000英里，從技術上講，這是一次 "駕車旅行"，但我更喜歡 "步行旅行 "這個詞。但是你走了8000英里，你去了美國29個州，16個站，你去了一個月。在這期間你跑了92英里，你抓了一條魚，這背後的故事很有趣。你有大量的樂趣，大量的學習；而這正是我真正想談的。跟我說說你在走訪中所學到的一些東西。我真的認為美國和世界各地的BNI會員可以從你在走訪中學到的東西中得到很多。順便說一句，歡迎回來。

Graham:

謝謝你，非常感謝你，很高興能回來。而且這是一次偉大的旅行。它很忙，並不總是容易的。但它是如此大量的學習和家庭時間的樂趣，與自然重新聯繫；並且只是有機會與全國各地的許多BNI會員和董事聯繫。所以這很好。因此，我們在旅行中學到了很多。首先，你知道，再次上路，學習和有機會繼續建立關係是多麼好的事情。我還被重新激發了一個想法，即商業領袖需要領導前進的道路，在過去的18個月裡，他們是怎樣的領袖，這真是不可思議。

在企業之外，就在他們的社區中，有這麼多領導的例子。他們總是發揮這種作用，但我認為現在比以往任何時候都更重要。我對BNI會員和董事在世界各地取得的進步感到非常振奮，特別是BNI的內容和它所提供的東西的可及性。因此，當然，非常振奮的想法是，你知道，商業領袖可以在適當的地方親自聯繫。現在他們可以與BNI在線聯繫。他們可以親自做一對一，或者你知道，在線。因此，只是我們的傳統和創新的融合，在過去18個月裡真的加速了，意味著BNI會員可以穿著睡衣建立網絡，我認為他們中的許多人都這樣做了。

Ivan: (laughing)

至少從至少從腰部以下。

Graham:

對。我更喜歡工裝褲，我經常因此被取笑。但我認為它們非常方便，但絕對。因此，我們希望人們能夠隨時隨地在任何環境中建立網絡和建立關係並建立他們的業務。我們真的稱之為無處不在的關係建立；我們希望在每一個環境中提供幫助，並在他們的情況下迎合人們的偏好。

就在幾年前，我在一個大型會議上排隊，我戴著BNI徽章，在我前面的人提到他們曾經是BNI的一員，他們很喜歡。但是她家裡有年幼的孩子，早上需要送他們去學校，所以她無法參加BNI會議。如果不是因為這個，她今天仍然是一個會員；那是幾年前的事了。快速發展，我們現在聽到很多處於這種情況的人的故事，能夠加入BNI，我們真的很高興，這種擴大的可及性是存在的。你知道，我在加州遇到的另一個會員，一個移民律師，情況也一樣，現在她公司的多個成員都參與了BNI，因為這增加了靈活性。他們不需要在交通中，他們可以登錄並建立關係，幫助建立他們的業務，並在此過程中加強其他成員的業務。因此，可及性是我們創新的一個重要部分，並將其與我們的傳統相融合，你知道，36年來一直在支持會員。

Ivan:

你知道，我一直在談論轉到網上的事，已經好幾年了。我當然沒有看到COVID的到來，雖然你做到了，而且我一直在告訴人們，很長一段時間，你在尋找一個角落，並在2020年1月開始轉型的分會，這對我來說是驚人的。我的意思是，我只是沒有看到它的到來。但我確實看到了未來，是技術的變化。我們有很多BNI會員仍然在拖著腳步做在線工作。但事實是，這就是未來。我在2018年為《企業家》雜誌寫了這篇文章，即轉向使用技術進行網絡，無論如何都會到來。這就像坐馬車的人說'不，我們不想要汽車'。這就像，你無法阻止它。我認為最好的事情是接受它，並在BNI的範圍內以盡可能有效的方式使用它。你同意這一點嗎？

Graham:

當然。絕對的。而且BNI在線將繼續發展。在過去的12個月裡，我們看到它非常成功；近180億美元的業務，超過1200萬的引薦人。因此，它是非常有效的，而且這些數字正在增長。我們也看到它對那些在正式成立分會之前剛剛走到一起的核心小組非常有效。所以有很多好處。

而我們真的想通過新興技術來加強這種模式。因此，我們開始更加積極和研究你所談到的東西，也就是虛擬現實和增強現實。我認為區塊鍊和人工智能在未來會有一個作用。因此，我們希望考慮，你知道，新興技術是真正令人興奮的機會，讓BNI會員繼續建立關係，繼續加強這個平台，幫助他們的企業比以往任何時候都更成功。

Ivan:

因此，我想回到你說的話，在過去的12個月裡，在跟踪的12個月裡，有180億美元的業務。這對我們來說是一個記錄。我的意思是，在跟踪的12個月內有180億美元，我不認為我們曾經接近過這個數字，甚至在COVID之前。而在COVID期間做到這一點，讓我大吃一驚。你談到了新的篇章。如果我說錯了，請糾正我，但我們已經開設了我認為是600新分會？700個？ "在COVID期間。

Graham:

是的，我們已經看到分會的啟動活動在加速。我的感覺是，通過BNI的移動應用，當然還有BNI Connect和BNI Online™的進展，引薦和完成業務的速度正在加快。因此，我們很高興看到技術在所有使BNI多年來成功的基礎上的疊加，你知道的。這當然是我們對Givers Gain的關注，我們都參與了大量的培訓。所以現在，它是一個加速器；技術是那些多年來一直存在的基本要素的加速器。

Ivan:

是的，它是一個力量的倍增器，毫無疑問。當互聯網第一次出現時，每個人都告訴我 "哦，互聯網會傷害BNI"。嗯，它沒有。你知道，在BNI的前11年，我們開設了500個小組，直到1996年。從1997年到2008年，我們有5000個小組。因此，技術一直是一種力量的倍增器，我認為對於那些接受它的人來說，將繼續如此。

在我們結束之前，你能不能談一談包容性的問題？這是你想在今天的第一部分中涉及的另一個話題。談談這個問題吧，這很重要，不僅在美國，而且在全世界。

Graham:

絕對是這樣。因此，BNI希望代表和支持世界上每一個企業家和商業領袖。而且，你知道，當你想一想，那是很多很多的企業家和商業領袖。因此，我們想把他們聚集在這個結構中，一個支持性的社區，一套目的驅動的價值觀，一個成熟的結構。所以我們知道，Ivan，我知道你在這方面做了很多研究，在我們的分會中，多樣性越多，他們能完成的業務就越多，而且多樣化的網絡更強大。這只是一個事實。

你知道，一個網絡或一個分會內的共同點越多，他們就越不會向外引薦。因此，多樣性絕對是一種力量，我們鼓勵它。 BNI一直非常關注和非常包容，並且絕對希望繼續建立這種關係。因此，我們希望每個企業家和商業領袖都能真正把自己算進去，你知道，很多人想到一個網絡小組，他們可能會緊張地去參觀，看看它是怎麼回事。BNI是一個對每個人都特別歡迎的地方。我們希望支持每一個企業。因此，我們希望企業領導人在世界各地的BNI分會中找到朋友、引薦夥伴，並最終找到機會和樂趣。

Ivan:

是的，很好，很好的觀點。你提到我已經談到了網絡和多樣性，請查看[BNI播客]第133集，"網絡是笨重的"，這是一個技術術語。這意味著我們只是和像我們一樣的人混在一起。當然，我還有其他一些關於多樣性和網絡的播客，包括第672集 "有意識地對待多樣性"，以及第694集 "多樣性、公平和包容"。關於這個主題的三個非常好的播客。

好吧，Graham，你有這麼多內容，我們要把它分成兩個播客。因此，我們將在下週再次邀請你回來。我想非常、非常感謝你今天來這裡。偉大的材料，我們下週再談。謝謝，Graham。

Graham:

謝謝

Ivan:

交還給你 Priscilla.

Priscilla:

好的，非常感謝你們兩個人。我想本週就到此為止。這個播客是由www.misneraudioprograms.com。這些音頻節目將為你提供工具和靈感，有力地提高你的BNI經驗，並幫助你建立你的業務。因此，請查看www.misneraudioprograms.com，使用促銷代碼IVAN50，所有音頻節目可享受50%的折扣[該代碼在有限時間內有效]。所有的收益都將捐給BNI基金會。因此，非常感謝您的收聽。我是Priscilla Rice，我們期待你下週再次加入我們的BNI官方播客的另一個令人興奮的節目。

Episode 722: BNI Walkabout, Part I

September 1, 2021 by Ivan Misner 3 Comments

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Synopsis

Today’s guest is BNI’s Chairman and CEO, Graham Weihmiller, who recently visited BNI chapters in 29 US states. Here’s what he has to share about the advances that BNI members and directors have helped to bring about in the last 18 months of BNI.

• Expanded Accessibility: Thanks to online meetings and online networking, more people are able to join BNI and make it to meetings.
• Ubiquitous Relationship Building: Members can network and build their businesses in any environment, at any time.
• Technology as a Force Multiplier: Over the last 12 months BNI members have done nearly $18 billion (USD) in closed business, and passed over 12 million referrals through BNI online™.
• Explosive Growth: ?700 new chapters launched since the start of the pandemic.
• Emphasis on Diversity & Inclusion: The more diversity within our chapters, the more business they can get done. Diverse networks are stronger.

Tune in for Part 2 of this interview next week!

Episodes Mentioned in Today’s Show

• Episode 133, “Networks are Clumpy”
• Episode 672, “Being Intentional About Diversity”
• Episode 694, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”

The Official BNI Podcast is sponsored by Misner Audio Programs.

Complete Transcript of Episode 722

Priscilla:
Hello everybody and welcome back to The Official BNI 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?

Ivan:
Oh, I still keep traveling all over the world through Zoom. Recently, I’ve been to the National Conference in Australia, and the National Conference in South Africa, as well as many other places around the world.

But I’ve got literally a traveler, who’s been traveling, on the line with us. And most of you may recall, he’s been on a couple of our podcasts. And that’s Graham Weihmiller, who is the Chairman and CEO of BNI since 2014. He also serves as a Director of the BNI Foundation, which is near and dear to my heart. Prior to joining BNI, Graham was the CEO of a 35-year-old homecare services company with 250 locations around the U.S. And previously to that he worked in leadership roles with American Franchise Company, Bank of America, and Merrill Lynch. Graham received his MBA from Harvard, and is a Certified Franchise Executive, as well as a Six Sigma Blackbelt, which he likes to say is not the kind of blackbelt that will help you in a dark alley.

He was elected to the board of the International Franchise Association (IFA) in 2020. And he’s the co-author, along with Robert Skrob and yours truly, of the book The Connector Effect, which became a best seller on Amazon. Graham lives with his family in Charlotte, North Carolina. He and his wife, Sarah – a pediatric emergency room doctor – have three young children who I’ve had the chance to meet on several occasions. The last time, it was at my condo in Galveston, and it was a blast seeing your kids Graham. They are really growing up as they have a tendency to do. You must be feeding them well.

Graham:
They do tend to be growing quickly. And they had a complete blast spending time with you in Galveston. Thank you again.

Ivan:
Yeah, it was my pleasure. So you did this walkabout, which I’ll let you talk about, but just to give a quick overview for everyone. You traveled 8000 miles and technically it was a “drive-about” but I like the term walkabout better. But you traveled 8000 miles, you went to 29 U.S. states, 16 stops, you were gone for a month. You ran 92 miles while you were doing it, you caught one fish, and the story behind that is funny. You had tons of fun, lots of learning; and that’s what I really want to talk about. Talk to me about some of the things that you’ve learned in your walkabout. I really think BNI Members around the U.S. and around the world could get a lot from what you learned in your walkabout. Welcome back, by the way.

Graham:
Thank you, thank you very much, great to be back. And it was a great trip. It was busy and not always easy. But it was such a great amount of learning and fun in family time, reconnecting with nature; and just having a chance to connect with many BNI Members and Directors around the country. So it was great. And so we learned a lot on the trip, I learned a lot. First of all, just how great it is to be, you know, out on the road again, learning and sort of having a chance to continue building relationships. I also was reinvigorated about the idea that business leaders need to lead the way forward, and what leaders they’ve been over the last 18 months has – it’s been incredible.

So many examples of leadership well outside of business, just in their communities. They always play that role, but I think more important than ever right now. And just very heartened by the advances that BNI Members and Directors have made possible around the world, specifically the accessibility of what BNI is all about and what it provides. And so, certainly, very heartened by the idea that, you know, business leaders can connect in-person where it’s appropriate. Now they can connect with BNI Online. They can do One-to-Ones in person or you know, online. So just the blending of our traditions plus innovation that’s really accelerated over the last 18 months means that BNI Members can network in their pajamas and I think many of them do.

Ivan: (laughing)
At least from at least from the waist down.

Graham:
Right. I prefer cargo pants, I oftentimes get made fun of for that. But I think they’re very handy, but absolutely. So we want people to be able to network and build relationships and build their businesses in any environment, at any time. We really call it ubiquitous relationship building; we want to help in every setting and cater to people’s preferences in their situations.

I was in line just a few years ago at a big conference, I was wearing a BNI badge and someone in front of me mentioned that they had been a part of BNI and they loved it. But she had young children at home and needed to get them to school in the morning so she couldn’t make the BNI meeting. And if it weren’t for that, she’d still be a member today; that was a few years ago. Fast forward, we’re hearing lots of stories of people in that situation now, being able to join BNI, and we’re just really happy that that expanded accessibility is there. And you know, another member I met along the way in California, an immigration attorney, and same situation, and now multiple members of her firm are involved with BNI because of that added flexibility. They don’t need to be in traffic, they can log-on and build relationships and help build their business and strengthen other members businesses along the way. So,  accessibility is a big part of what our innovation is about, and blending that with our traditions that, you know, have supported members for 36 years.

Ivan:
You know, I’ve been talking about moving to online for several years now. I certainly didn’t see COVID coming, although you did, and I’ve been telling people that for a long time, you were looking around a corner and started to transition chapters in January of 2020, which was to me amazing. I mean, I just didn’t see it coming. But what I did see coming, was the change in technology. And we’ve got a lot of BNI Members that are still kind of dragging their feet on doing online. But the truth is, that’s the future. And I wrote about this in 2018 for Entrepreneur, that moving to using technology for networking, is it’s coming no matter what. It’s like the people in, you know, horse and carriages saying ‘no, we don’t want the automobile’. It’s like, you can’t stop it. And I think the best thing to do is to embrace it and use it in a way that is as effective as possible, within the context of BNI. Would you agree with that?

Graham:
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And BNI Online will continue to develop. And so we’ve seen it be remarkably successful over the last 12 months; nearly $18 billion (USD) in closed business, over 12 million referrals. So it is remarkably effective, and those numbers are growing. We also see it very effective with core groups that are just coming together before they launch formally as a chapter. So there’s lots of benefits.

And we really want to strengthen that model with emerging technology. So we’re starting to get more active and research on something you’ve talked about, which is virtual reality and augmented reality. I think there’ll be a role for blockchain and artificial intelligence in the future. So we want to think about, you know, the emerging technologies as really exciting opportunities for BNI Members to continue building relationships and to continue strengthening that platform that helps their businesses be more successful than ever.

Ivan:
So I want to go back to something you said, $18 billion US dollars in business in the trailing past 12 months, the trailing 12 months. That’s a record for us. I mean, $18 billion in trailing 12 months, I don’t think we’ve ever come close to that, even pre-COVID. And to do it during COVID just blows my mind. You talked about new chapters. Correct me if I’m wrong, but we’ve opened I think 600? 700? new chapters during COVID.

Graham:
Yeah, we’ve seen an acceleration in chapter launch activity. And just with the referrals and the closed business, my sense is that the velocity of referrals and closed business is accelerating through things like BNI’s mobile app, certainly advances in BNI Connect, BNI online™, certainly. So we’re excited to see that overlay of technology on all that has made BNI, you know, successful for years. Which is of course our focus on Givers Gain, the heavy training that we all participate in. So now, it’s an accelerant; the technology is an accelerant over those fundamentals that have been in place for years.

Ivan:
Yeah, it’s a force multiplier, no question about it. When the internet first came out, everyone was telling me “Oh, the internet’s gonna hurt BNI.” Well, it did not. You know, the first 11 years of BNI, we opened 500 groups, through 1996. From 1997 to 2008, we had 5000 groups. So the technology has been a force multiplier and I think will continue to be that for those people who embrace it.

Before we wrap up, can you talk a little bit about inclusivity? That was another topic that you wanted to cover in today’s Part One. Talk a little bit about that, which is important, not just in the U.S., but worldwide.

Graham:
Absolutely. So BNI wants to represent and support every entrepreneur and business leader in the world. And, you know, when you think about it, that’s lots and lots of entrepreneurs and business leaders. And so we want to bring them together within this construct, a supportive community, a purpose driven set of values, a proven structure. And so we know, and Ivan, I know you’ve done a lot of research on this, the more diversity that are within our chapters, the more business they can get done, and diverse networks are stronger. It’s just a fact.

And you know, the more commonality within a network or a chapter, the less they’re going to be referring outside of that. So diversity is absolutely a strength, we encourage it. BNI has always been very focused and been very inclusive, and absolutely want to continue building that. So we want every entrepreneur and business leader out there to really count themselves in, you know, and a lot of folks think about a networking group, and they might be nervous to go visit and see what it’s about. BNI is an exceptionally welcoming place to everybody. And we want to support every business out there. So we hope that business leaders find friends, referral partners, and ultimately opportunity and fun, within BNI chapters around the world.

Ivan:
Yeah, great, great points. And you mentioned that I’ve talked about networks and diversity, check out [BNI Podcast] Episode Number 133, “Networks are Clumpy”, that’s the technical term. Which means that we just kind of hang out with people like ourselves. And of course, I have a couple of other podcasts on Diversity and Networking, including Episode Number 672, “Being Intentional About Diversity”, and Episode 694, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”. Three really good podcasts on this topic.

Well, Graham, you have so much in your walkabout, we’re gonna break this into two podcasts. And so we’re gonna have you back again next week. I want to really, really thank you for being here today. Great material, and we’ll talk again next week. Thanks, Graham.

Graham:
Thank you.

Ivan:
Over to you Priscilla.

Priscilla:
Okay, perfect. Thank you so much to both of you. I think that’s it for this week. This podcast is sponsored by www.misneraudioprograms.com. These audio programs will provide you with the tools and the inspiration to powerfully enhance your BNI experience and help you build your business as well. So check out the great material available to you at www.misneraudioprograms.com and use the promo code IVAN50 for 50% off all audio programs [this code is good for a limited time]. And all of the proceeds go to the BNI Foundation. So 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.

https://www.bnipodcast.com/2021/09/01/episode-722-bni-walkabout-part-i/