What Got You Here, Won’t Get You There

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That’s the problem.

Most sales leaders end up in their roles because they were top-performing reps. But they quickly realize that the skills that made them great at sales aren’t the ones that will make them great sales leaders. Never mind, the type their team would FIGHT to work with again.

The good news is, when it comes to knowing what it takes to be a great sales leader, I’m about to show you that you already know the answer!

In my sales leadership training practice, I ask russia telegram data people to tell me about the best sales leader they ever had and what made them so great.

[Take a moment now before reading on to think about what your list would include]

Having done this exercise hundreds of times, I consistently hear answers like they:

“believed in me, saw my potential, and invested in my success.”
“were transparent and helped me understand their decisions.”
“removed barriers and roadblocks for me and our team.”
“pushed, challenged, and motivated me to be my best.”
“listened to me, had my back, and guided my career.”
“recognized the effort I and others put into our jobs.”
“coached me and gave me ongoing feedback.”
“were empathetic, resourceful, and honest.”
“helped me through a tough time in my life.”
“didn’t micromanage and led by example.”
“held me and themselves accountable.”

Interestingly, what I hardly ever hear is, “They were the best because they taught me everything they know about sales”. (noodle on that for a second!)

When you examine this list of the most common “best sales leader” criteria, you notice that almost all of the points can be summarized by two main themes:

They Cared About Me: They made me feel safe and important to them.
They Helped Me Grow: I flourished personally and professionally under them.
As a follow-on question to this exercise, and to underscore the value of these behaviors, I often ask leaders how they showed up for the best leader they ever had. In other words, what type of employee were they?