Many people promoted into Sales Leadership roles have been very successful sales people – they have been successful because they have done the ‘hard yards’, working in the trenches day in and day out, generating outstanding results for their customers, as well as for their organisation, and of course for themselves. As a result, they have received the accolades and experienced being in the limelight.
So often I see these great salespeople promoted into Sales Leadership positions, only to see their sales behaviour continue – they have been conditioned to ‘hunt’ and to close the deal, and often in this process they de-edify & de-position their people, and ultimately affect their brand and their company. Whilst their intention is to become a great sales leader, their behaviour all too often indicates that they are simply getting in the way.
Are you in this position? Are you leading your team or are you getting in the way? Here are some questions to ask of yourself to find out :
- When the deal is being formulated, are you taking the lead in strategy development or playing a contributor role? If you are leading the strategy, you may be de-positioning your people. Remember, the leader is there to guide and create an environment that can enable a strong strategy to be developed by the sales team. As the saying goes “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and he can be fed for a lifetime”. If you are leading the strategy you may be giving your team fish – teach them how to develop a strategy, then get out of the way.
- In customer interactions, are you taking the lead or are you edifying your sales people? If you are finding that your customers are coming directly to you for responses and actions, then you have de-positioned your people and have positioned yourself as the ‘go to person’. This is not sustainable – allow your people to take the lead, and get out of their way. They will come to you when they need your guidance.
- Are your internal stakeholders coming to you or are they going to your sales team? Again, if they are coming to you, you may be de-positioning your sales team, and only adding unnecessarily to your workload. Develop a strong team culture and team charter and empower your sales team to make decisions. They will involve you when they need your assistance.
- Are you having to ‘sign off’ on transactions or proposals before they are actioned, or have you empowered your team? Of course, empowering your team presupposes they are capable and trustworthy, but if you are having to check everything before it gets actioned, you may well be the blockage – get out of the way, and let your team make decisions.
- Are you putting yourself ahead of your people? Are you more focussed on yourself and how you look in front of your senior leadership team? If you are, you are in the way. Remember, sales leadership is actually not about you – it is about your people. Focus on your people, edify them in front of your senior leadership team and notice what happens.
- Is your employee engagement score going backwards or are you experiencing high employee turnover? If you are, chances are you are in the way, and haven’t created an environment within the team to facilitate a strong and empowering culture. Remember, people tend not to leave companies, they tend to leave their manager.
Having asked yourself the above questions, are you leading your team or are you getting in the way? If you realise that you are in the way, all is not lost, because you have the power to change it. When it is all said and done, leadership is about developing other leaders to the point where your role becomes redundant because you have developed other leaders to continue the work. Become a great leader, and get out of the way! You may be surprised at the opportunities that come your way.
To your ongoing leadership success.
Darren
Are you seeking to increase your influence? Click this link to download a FREE copy of my eBook “Lead With Influence – The 7 Strategic Keys to Unleash Your Sales Leadership Potential”.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post – I greatly appreciate it, and welcome comments and feedback. Please feel free to comment below, to follow me on LinkedIn, or to connect via Twitter or Facebook.
About : Darren is an Executive Coach, Leadership Consultant, Trainer, Facilitator, Speaker. A passionate and driven individual specialising in personal development, strategic planning, coaching for advocacy & enhanced performance, situational and servant based leadership, executive coaching of people leaders, emerging leaders and ‘high potential’ individual contributors within the Enterprise & Government market, personal change management, and strategic workshop facilitation & training.
