Synopsis -
In this episode, Dr. Misner discusses the origins of his book “Givers Gain” and describes Chapter Two in detail, including:

How the First BNI Chapter Was Founded

The First Meeting Agenda Was Typed on An IBM Selectric

Many of The 12 People Who Were At The First Meeting Are Still BNI Members

BNI Was Originally Called “The Network”

The Concept of “Contact Spheres”

Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 014 -

Frank Felker:
Hello everybody and welcome back to the official BNI podcast brought to you by networkingnow.com, the networking downloadables. I’m Frank Felker in Washington DC joined on the phone today by Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner, calling in from Vancouver, British Columbia. How are you today, Ivan?

Ivan Misner:
If I were doing any better, Frank, it would be illegal.

Frank:
I don’t know how much better that would have to be or what that would entail so I will just leave that alone. You know, I was wondering-. All those years ago in 1985 – 22 years ago – could you imagine that BNI would come to be the size and scope that it is today?

Ivan:
I would like to tell you that I had this vision of an international organization with almost 5000 chapters in three dozen countries around the world, but the truth is I was looking for some referrals for my consulting practice and to help some friends and business associates of mine. That’s really how the organization got rolling. I think it’s a great medium for what I wanted to talk about today which is chapter two of the book, Givers Gain.

For the listeners and BNI members who are listening to this podcast, Givers Gain, the BNI story is given to every BNI member for free at the member success program training. It is called different things in different countries but generally it is orientation training, and new member training. Every member who attends that training gets a free copy of this book.

If you didn’t get a copy and you’ve been a member for a few years, that may be why. We started handing this out about two or three years ago in the United States and in some countries just this year. Go back to an MSP training and you’ll get a copy of the book.

I would like to talk about chapter two today if we can, Frank, which is really how the first chapter got started. Chapter one we talked about in a previous podcast and chapter two is about how the first group kicked off. It kicked off because I was a management consultant. My doctorate award is in organizational behavior.

I was working with companies in hiring training and evaluating employees and personal policy procedures- that kind of thing. I had a big client who was due to renew their contract and all of the sudden, I found myself with a very large contract not being renewed and a significant source of income lost. I was looking for ways to generate more business fairly quickly. I got most of my business through speaking engagements on the rubber chicken circuit and referrals.

The thing is I wanted to create something that was a little more structured in the process. And I had to do something very quickly. I sat down and tried to put together something that I felt was organized, structured, and had accountability (because that is important) but yet had some flexibility and focused on developing friendships.

That is how we put the first group together. We literally sat down together at an IBM electric typewriter and typed up the agenda if you can believe that. Frank, you’re probably too young to remember the IBM electric typewriter.

Frank:
No, I remember that. I remember them very well. They had that little ball in the middle.

Ivan:
Back then I typed Columbus style. Do you know what that is?

Frank:
No, I don’t.

Ivan:
It is to seek out and discover. I typed up this agenda and photocopied the agenda and that was the only material that we had. To date, a lot of members don’t know this, but we actually have a 900 page set volume of manuals for BNI directors. Of course, leadership teams get dozens of pages. Then, it was a one page agenda.

I really created a group that was built around the idea of mutual benefit. The concept that our first duty would really be to help other people in the group and by doing that, they helped us. That was what led to the phrase “givers gain” being used in BNI and of course is what we named the book. What I love about this philosophy of givers gain is that it is really been inculcated throughout the organization. It is understood and recognized in really good chapters throughout the world.

We got together and we started testing out ideas on how to run effective meetings. I have to tell you that the program that exists today is substantially different than what it was maybe fifteen or certainly twenty years ago. We learned through trial and error.

Some of the first people that were in the first meeting – there were about twelve of us – are still in BNI today. Carolyn Denny, a CPA has been a member now for over 22 years. She has transferred chapters as she has moved her practice. Lee Shipman, an insurance agent, is still involved on the board of advisors today. Mike Ryan, a financial planner, is still involved in the same chapter. Can you imagine, Frank, attending a meeting for 22 years at the same chapter?

Frank:
That is amazing. That is truly amazing.

Ivan:
It really is. They have become very good friends and outstanding members and participants of the organization. They have been involved in BNI for over twenty years.

There’s something in the book that a lot of people don’t know. When the organization started, our name was not BNI. It was The Network. We learned early on in the process that The Network is not very trademarkable. We attempted to get a trademark and could not do that. When we first started – this is in the book – The Network was an Aim Consulting affiliate. The logo for the network was actually my consulting company because it was connected to my consulting company.

That was stripped off pretty soon and we tried to get a trademark and we could not get a trademark on The Network. That led to the name BNI which was more trademarkable. We kicked off the first chapter in January of 1985 in Arcadia, California and the organization that you see today is an outgrowth from the organization.

I think the one thing that has carried over from day one has been the importance of system, the importance of structure, accountability and friendship. One other thing that was in the very first group that is still today is the whole idea of working contact spheres. I think to a large extent that BNI started from a big contact sphere, mine. I had people who have helped me in my consulting business who I referred to in symbiotic relationships.

The whole organization is really an outgrowth of the concept of business professions that have that symbiotic relationship. I think it’s one of the easiest ways to grow chapters today and to grow them around the concept of contact spheres.

Frank:
When you say contact spheres, do you mean the same ideas as power teams or certain occupations that have natural affiliations?

Ivan:
You know, I think that would make a great podcast down the road- to talk about the difference between power teams and contact spheres because they are really concentric circles of each other. The contact sphere is a group of business professionals that have a symbiotic relationship. The power team is the professions that you actually have the connection with. So the potential strategic alliance partners and then actual strategic alliance partners might be a way of describing it. I think we should probably hit that as a separate podcast because it’s important want to talk about.

Anyway, what I didn’t realize in starting BNI was that this would grow like crazy and the next time I talk about chapter three, I will give a little bit of a history of how it just grew so rapidly almost like Jack’s magic beanstalk. I was really about to shoot skyward and at that point had no idea.

Just this week, I think it’s a great chapter to talk about because we actually crossed the 100,000 member mark in the organization. So a big applause to members all around the world. Our current chapter count as of today is about 4830 chapters in over three dozen countries. And for the first time we have over 100,000 members.

I have to tell you, 22 years ago, I did not have any idea how big this organization would get. I think it took a couple of years before I had any sense for what was possible. I like to talk about this here on the podcast because sometimes members only see the tip of the iceberg. They only see what’s going on within their chapter. But this is really an organization that is truly global.

Frank:
You are certainly to be congratulated for the success that the organization has had and it is obvious that it just means that you really caught lightning in a bottle and came up with an idea whose time had come, and the structure and the accountability and everything else that you’ve spoken about that makes BNI different from other networking organizations ob have contributed to the growth and success.

Ivan:
You know, one thing that is not in the book here that we can touch on if you don’t mind – I think this is really important. You say that I caught lightning in a bottle, but the truth is, I kind of fell upon it and grabbed it. I didn’t really see it coming.

I know it sounds crazy, but back then I thought I was the only person that had this problem with referrals. I kind of thought that everybody else had this figured out. They knew how to generate referrals. I created a referral system that fit my personality of having accountability and developing friendships, so I kind of created it in my own image in effect and what I thought would make a good networking group. It was based on trial and error.

What I discovered is that very few people have this whole thing about referral development understood because we don’t teach it in college and because it’s not taught and trained by companies. I think the idea resonates was so many people because they really need to build their business through referrals and nobody else has really captured it in the way that we have.

I think that’s a real testament to all the members listening to this program and being willing to follow the system. When you think about it, we have almost 5000 meetings every week all over the world. It’s really powerful.

Frank:
Amazing. Well, that’s it for this week’s podcast. For Dr. Ivan Misner, I am Frank Felker saying we will see you next week on the official BNI podcast.