Executive TLDR
Coaching vs. Instructing: Real leadership is shifting from telling people what to do to showing them step-by-step how to maximize their potential in the field.
The Triad of Leadership: Effective growth requires a balanced approach of correcting mistakes, protecting the team’s mindset, and providing clear direction.
Relationship-First Growth: Success starts with “proximity in partnership”—being in the homes of your recruits and building deep, personal bonds immediately.
The Power of Finishing: Using the story of Derek Redmond, the Alertes emphasize that your finish is more important than your start; resilience is the ultimate requirement.
Kingmaking Philosophy: True leaders focus on becoming “Kingmakers,” giving their team all the credit while relentlessly pursuing RVP promotions for others.
Video Summary In this compelling leadership session, Bernard and Aileen Alerte provide a masterclass on the transition from a salesperson to a high-level coach. Representing the “Army Team,” the Alertes share the philosophy that has fueled their organization’s expansion. The core of their message is that while managers give instructions, true coaches develop players by walking beside them through the process of professional and personal growth.
Aileen Alerte opens the session by addressing the foundational element of any successful organization: relationship building. She introduces the concept of “proximity in partnership,” explaining that the work begins the moment a new person joins the team. By physically going to a recruit’s home and meeting their family, a leader establishes a bond of trust that transcends the business transaction. She challenges the common misconception that one must be a “natural people person” to succeed. According to Aileen, if achieving your goals and building wealth requires you to be a people person, then you must adopt that trait as a professional necessity. She highlights that in a successful partnership, roles are fluid; partners must be willing to step in and handle whatever needs to be done, regardless of whether it plays to their natural strengths or weaknesses.
Bernard Alerte takes the stage to dive into the technical and emotional aspects of the “Art of Coaching.” He makes a sharp distinction between instructing and coaching. Instructing is the act of telling someone what to do, which often leads to limited results. Coaching, however, is the hands-on process of extracting the best performance from a player by showing them exactly how to execute. He introduces the “Correct, Protect, and Direct” framework as the primary responsibility of a leader:
Correcting: Identifying and fixing flaws in a representative’s approach before they become ingrained habits.
Protecting: Maintaining a positive, high-energy environment and guarding the team against external negativity or internal doubt.
Directing: Providing a clear, actionable roadmap and the specific drills required for a teammate to reach their next milestone.
A significant portion of the summary focuses on the “Army Team” culture, where “no one is bigger than the team.” Bernard emphasizes that every member is vital, even those currently struggling with zero production. By making everyone feel special and valuable, a coach creates the loyalty and confidence necessary for a “zero by zero” agent to eventually transform into a Senior Vice President (SVP) or National Sales Director (NSD). He urges leaders to embrace the role of a “Kingmaker”—someone who finds their greatest satisfaction in seeing their teammates walk across the stage and earn their own success.
The session concludes with a powerful lesson on resilience, illustrated by the iconic story of Derek Redmond at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Redmond, who tore his hamstring mid-race, chose to limp to the finish line with the help of his father rather than quit. Bernard uses this to remind the audience that while many will remember who won the gold, everyone remembers the person who refused to quit despite the pain. He encourages those who are currently struggling or “limping” in their business to realize that their struggle is a preparation for a future “catapult” past their competition. The ultimate goal is to finish the race for the sake of those who are counting on you.
FAQs
Q: What is the main difference between instructing and coaching? A: Instructing is simply telling people what to do; coaching is the hands-on process of showing them how to do it while helping them reach their full potential.
Q: Why does Aileen Alerte believe you should go to a recruit’s home immediately? A: To build a deep, personal relationship and “proximity in partnership.” Trust is more effectively built at a kitchen table than in a formal office setting.
Q: What are the three pillars of the Alertes’ coaching model? A: Correcting (fixing habits), Protecting (guarding the environment), and Directing (providing the roadmap).
Q: How should a leader treat a teammate with “zero by zero” production? A: They should be treated as just as important as a top producer. Today’s struggling agent can become tomorrow’s RVP if they feel valued and supported.
: What does “Inspect what you expect” mean for a coach? A: It means a leader must stay involved in the day-to-day drills and activities to ensure the team is actually executing the strategies discussed.
Q: What is a “Kingmaker” in the Alerte leadership philosophy? A: A leader who focuses on helping others reach the top and gives their team all the credit for the organization’s growth.
Q: How does Aileen Alerte view the “people person” requirement? A: She believes that if being a people person is what leads to success and wealth, you must choose to become one, even if it feels uncomfortable at first.
Q: What is the significance of the 1992 Olympics story in this talk? A: It serves as a metaphor for resilience, showing that finishing the race through struggle is more important and impactful than a perfect start.
Q: What is the “Army Team” goal for RVP promotions? A: Their goal is to have “no plan B” and relentlessly promote as many Regional Vice Presidents as possible to expand the organization’s reach.
Q: What does Bernard mean by “reproducing” rather than “producing”? A: Producing is doing the work yourself; reproducing is developing a player who can do the work without you, which is the key to true scale.
Q: How do you handle feelings of being “passed” by others in the business? A: View it as a period of preparation. The Alertes believe these phases are meant to help you “catapult” to even greater heights later on.
Q: Why is “never giving up on people” a core leadership tenet? A: Because a leader’s belief in a teammate is often the only thing that keeps that person in the business long enough to find their own success.
Q: What is the primary product of a “Coach” in this system? A: The primary product is not a sale, but a new, independent, and licensed leader.
Q: How does the “Army Team” handle conflict within a partnership? A: They acknowledge that partners will fight or disagree, but they stay focused on their shared goals and their commitment to building wealth together.
Glossary
RVP (Regional Vice President): The standard-bearing leadership level where an individual runs their own office and earns overrides on their team’s activity.
SVP / NSD: Senior Vice President and National Sales Director; advanced leadership tiers representing significant organizational growth and hierarchy.
Zero by Zero: A term for a representative who has recorded no sales and no new recruits during a specific period.
100 by 30: A high-level production goal, typically referring to 100 new recruits or “codes” by the 30th of the month.
The Kitchen Table: The traditional environment for field training and conducting financial house calls with families.
Overrides: Indirect compensation earned by a leader based on the sales and production of the agents they have recruited and trained.
Transcript:
Hello, familia. How’s everyone doing? I usually let Bernard do all the thanking because I forget people’s names when I get nervous. I just want to keep asking to talk about growth and how do we develop players and just to bring one point that is relationship building, the minute we hire someone we’re at their house. I mean, we can’t tell you how many times went to lisi’s house after we moved from long island to the Bronx. We traveled three or four times and nothing was happening. Guys, sometimes we think, oh, I’m not a people person. But if being a people person makes you millions, you got to do that. Correct. So there’s things that we may be uncomfortable doing but we got to do it because we have goals. We both have goals and if we’re in the same direction we got to work together. Another thing is that our roles change as partnerships.
I say whatever needs to get done, whether it’s my weakness or my strength. And I know that building. I mean, we haven’t been here in a long time, right. And I want to thank Keith about that. And I was you know, we feel that people are passing us and it’s not that we’re being prepared. We’re being prepared because we’re going to catapult and pass people. That’s what’s going to happen with the army team. So I just want to give it up to it’s hard to no. This is my best friend. There’s some people ask me how come how could you work with your husband? That’s my best friend. We fight. We add each other as the base, but we make it happen because this is the man that I want to live my rest of my life with and be wealthy.
How you guys doing? Listen, first, we’re so honored to be here. Just want to give all the glory to god for everything’s done for us. I mean, we feel totally blessed, man. And one thing I learned, see, god always gives you the destination but he never gives you the journey. Takes you to get there. You have to figure out the process and I’m just so excited, man. We have an incredible leadership. Our uplines just want to take rain, cal costello, roy, NAN lipson. I mean, I’m Chris H. All these different guys. Keith, we appreciate you, danielle and all the leadership team wakeside. We’re just going to go over real quick. See, it’s possible to start bad and finish well. It’s possible to start bad and finish well. See, the beginning doesn’t mean the end and that’s something so important. One thing we have to learn, you have to create a vision that is big enough for everyone in your team to fall into.
Right. We have 100 all go out of the team is 100 by 30 codes. That is our goal and we’re going to go out there and explore. We’re so proud of the army team RVP promotion. There’s no plan B. All goes to promote a bunch of regional vice president. No one is bigger than a team. That’s just the way we see that’s one. Learn from our coach. No one is bigger from team. And we have to create an environment that everyone is important, even as guy that’s doing zero by zero is important, because that’s the guy that’s going to turn around, become an RVP, SVP, NSD, and build your business. Make everybody feel special all the time, right? And I think about one thing we’ve learned for us to become better coach. There’s a difference between Instructing and coaching. Instructing is telling people what to do versus coaching.
How do I get the best out of my players? By showing him step by step how to get that done, right? And we always use the concept of correction, protection, and direction. Our job is to help you, correct you, protect you, and give you direction. And always give the team all the credit. Become a kingmaker and queenmaker. We can’t wait for army team to go out there and rise to the top. We can’t wait for Lizzie and Sammy go put on $100,000 reign, become vice president. We can’t wait for Joe and Eddie Morales, put on a second dimension, exploding his team right now. We can’t wait for Tim unhelp, go put on dime, become SVPs. We can’t wait. So many leaders we have. Tiny Manzer. Man, these guys are special couple, special team, man. I’m telling you. I want to meet Tasha and Kenny Swindell.
Mark stops. I don’t miss that. Tarnell Clark. All these guys are gonna kill it, man. We’re so fired up by what’s happened. Inspect what you expect. Do drills and become an eternal optimist. Never give up on people. See, we tell our team, there’s nothing you can do to make me stop believing in you. And I know you guys are trying really hard, but there’s nothing you can do to make me stop believing in you. Right? See, let me share something. There are races in life that are very hard to finish, but they’re necessary to finish. And I think about the story about you guys. Might want to check it out. There’s a YouTube by this guy named Derek Raymond at the Barcelona Olympics, 1992 Olympics. And when he came out, think about the price people have to do to get to the Olympics, right? And he’s out there running, right?
And halfway through the race, he blows his hamstring, and he’s, like, limping. He’s going on the floor. He’s limping, and he’s trying it’s tears coming out of his eyes, and the people are trying to stop. No worry. Sit down. No, he’s like, I got to finish. And on the side, there’s an older man that comes down from the stands, and the older man goes and people try to stop. You can’t come in a race like, no, that’s my son. Leave me alone. And he grabs his son and puts him on the shoulder, tears coming down his eyes. And he’s like, we’re going to get this done. We’re going to finish the race. And he’s hopping. He’s thinking about all his dreams are gone. But guess what happens? Everyone stands up and claps for them. And I think about that 1992 Olympics. No one remembers who won the bronze medal in that race.
No one remembers who won the silver medal in that race. No one even remembers who won the gold medal in that race. But everybody remembers Derek Raymond for one reason only. He finished the race even though he was in pain. It’s easy to come to the school making 1020, 30,000, $50,000 a month, 100,000 a month. But you guys that came here by, you know, how you’re going to make it, I just want you to know, and you’ve struggled to get here, that we have a father that’s sees our struggle and our father’s gonna pick you up on your shoulders when you can’t make it. You may have to get on your knees and pray, but he’s gonna get you to that race. There’s people in your lives that need you to finish that race. Finish the race. Excited, coach, thank you so much. Empire, Bill.
We love our army. Empire. You guys mean so much to us. Let’s go do something big.
