We have Chris McDermott in this “Leadership Unplugged” whom I had the pleasure of knowing personally and working together on a project.
Chris joined The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan in 2003 as the company’s first PR person. He become the Chief Executive Officer in 2015.
Could you tell us about your education?
I was born in the UK but grew up in South Africa. I left school at 16 with a Standard Eight (UK O-level equivalent) so that I could become a goldsmith. I did a five-year apprenticeship in Johannesburg and became a qualified jeweler in 1990. I returned to the UK in 1993 and decided to embark on a new career. In 1996, I qualified from Chippenham College with a City & Guilds 7790 in journalism and radio, and an A-level in General Studies.
What was your childhood dream?
I don’t recall having a specific childhood dream, but I do remember wanting to have some adventures in life and wanting to see the world, because living in South Africa at the time was very isolating.
There were two places that I vowed I would try and visit before I died: The Hollywood sign and Ayers Rock / Uluru, and I am thankful that I have had the opportunity through my work to see both.
What were your past experiences before your current role?
After leaving college, I did some local freelance journalism before landing a job with a PR agency. That in turn eventually led me to the 1:1 Diet and joined the business in 2003 as the company’s first PR person.
What do you consider the main factor behind your career success?
I joined the 1:1 Diet just as it was experiencing a resurge in the UK and this gave me the opportunity to grow and develop much as the business itself was doing. I have always tried to show initiative and volunteer for projects outside my comfort zone.
I am a firm believer that if you demonstrate the desire to learn and develop yourself for your next role, whilst at the same time excelling at your current one, promotion and advancement can be so much easier.
What has been your most inspiring moment?
I remember sitting with my boss in a hotel bar in Kuala Lumpur watching some tennis. She was my mentor who I very much respected and believed was totally infallible. We got chatting about how successful tennis players must have the mental strength to put each lost point behind them so that they can continue to believe that they will win the next one.
This led to us talking about the challenges of leading a business and she said that she made mistakes all the time and faced the same issue of still believing she could go forward successfully despite these mistakes. It dawned on me in that moment that this was the very essence of leadership, and that someone who I thought made no mistakes (or very few) was as human as the rest of us – but that she still had the belief and confidence in herself to keep going forward and not let these dropped points hold her back. This is something I have especially held close to me during my own time as a CEO.
Your hobbies?
Current affairs, military history and fiction writing
How would you describe being a direct selling executive to an outsider?
I believe that we work in one of the most exciting, demanding, challenging, and frustratingly misunderstood sectors in all of the business world. For a presentation recently I highlighted what I think are the 37 skills required to succeed in direct sales and focused on three:
1. Explaining the sector
This has to be the most frustrating. As direct sales executives, we don’t get to just dive into what we do when we are at social events or meeting people for the first time. Instead, when we are asked what we do and we say we work in the direct sales industry, we are usually confronted by a blank, slightly accusing expression. “Is that like a pyramid scheme / a con / a money making scam?”
So, we have to spend at least half an hour explaining first what direct sales isn’t, before we can actually get into what it actually is. How many other sectors are forced to do that? We have such incredible stories to tell about how we empower so many people, but we often have to go through this bizarre ritual of self-explanation first.
2. Resilience
You have to be solid to work in corporate direct sales. Have a passionate character and personality. And you have to be resilient, because a whole bunch of challenges and obstacles will get thrown at you in quick succession. You have to understand the comp plan and lead potentially thousands in the field into accepting and embracing it, you have to inspire these same people to empower themselves to grow and prosper, but you also have to worry about health and safety, product innovation, ESG and how to boost your followers on Instagram – sometimes all on the same day.
3. Leadership
You have to manage yourself, your internal teams and then the field and, in our case, at the 1:1 Diet, a network of international distributors. This could include 10,000s of thousands of people, many from very disparate backgrounds. Corporate direct sales leaders have to do this with confidence. We have to inspire and articulate a clear vision and purpose and we have to be people that others want to follow. And we have to do all this in a tumultuous world full of chaos, instability and a whole host of known unknowns. We are friendly but professional, honest but also pragmatic, we know where we want to go, but are also prepared to change course quickly if required.
What is your biggest achievement in your current position?
Being the first CEO after the business became 100% employee owned and leading the company through the recent pandemic.
And your biggest challenge in a direct selling company executive role?
Juggling all the 37 skills I mentioned above whilst at the same time ensuring I articulate a clear vision of where I believe the company is going.
What would be your best advice to those who are thinking of joining a direct sales company in a corporate position?
It is not for the faint-hearted, but if you want a career that is fast-paced, multifaceted and one where you genuinely get to directly empower and change people’s lives, then direct sales could be for you.
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