Often as Sales Leaders it can be easy to assume that our sales people have the necessary skills, attributes, mindset and experience in order to be successful and deliver outstanding results over and over again. It is something that I know I have taken for granted many many times, to my detriment, the detriment of the sales person, and to the detriment of the team. I assumed that because I had developed a higher level of conscious competence, moving towards unconscious competence in relation to selling and relationship building, that my team would possess the same level of competence. Not so.
Perhaps I was naive to think that selling was as simple as following a sales methodology and repeating over and over again. Well it is simple, however, what I needed to consider more closely was the types of people I had in my team and what made them tick. What I discovered was that some people were quite happy picking up the phone and cold calling to develop business, knowing that sales was simply a numbers game, and yet others looked at the phone as if it weighed 2 tonne and could not bring themselves to pick it up – those people would rather send an email appointment request and meet a potential customer in person. And the big lesson for me was that if I was to expect my team to do something that I either had not done or was not prepared to do, then my credibility would be questioned, and ultimately my leadership would come into question.
I learned very quickly that often a leader must be the first person to take the leap into the unknown, despite what I may be feeling. It is the leaders responsibility to set the pace and do whatever it takes to inspire the team.
So whether you are new to leadership or have been in a leadership role for a while, here are some tips to help you face that moment of truth where you must take the leap into the unknown before your team does :
- Check in on your mindset and attitude – as Zig Ziglar said ‘your attitude determines your altitude’, so check in to ensure that your attitude is positive and focussed on setting a great example. Remember that your attitude can shape your mindset, which shapes your behaviour and ultimately leads to results. So if you have a positive attitude and mindset, the probability of you taking affirmative action goes up, which in turn creates an opportunity to achieve a good result.
- Remove yourself from the outcome – now I know that in sales and success, the #1 principle is know your outcome, and this is fine. However, what I am suggesting here is that in making the leap, do not attach yourself to the outcome so that it becomes win or lose. It may sound like a cliche, but focus on the process and the lesson you want your team to learn, rather than focussing on ‘perfect result’.
- Embrace ‘failure’ – by you jumping into the unknown and not getting the result you were intending to get, you are demonstrating to your team that it is okay to make the jump and come up short. The key point here though is to back it up with another jump, utilising the outcome of the first jump as feedback to re-position before launching again. Understand that there is no such thing as failure, there is only feedback. The only time failure comes into play is if you stop.
- By taking the leap into the unknown, you are teaching your team invaluable lessons for their career and laying down a foundation for success. You are teaching them resilience and tenacity, which are 2 key attributes required by successful sales people to generate sustainable results. And in the process, you are teaching your team about character, and what it takes to be a leader who others will follow.
- You are also developing level of independence within the team as well, encouraging them to take some initiative. What you do not want to develop within the team is a level of co-dependency where your team is reliant on you to lead them and you are reliant on the team to be led. Showing them to take the initiative also promotes independence of thought and helps create an environment where they will be more likely to take their own leap at the moment of truth.
Whilst I enjoyed the transition from sales person to Sales Leader, with the benefit of hindsight, it was more difficult that I had originally anticipated. However, a wise mentor once shared with me his perspective when he said ‘It will not necessarily be easy, but one thing is for sure, it will be worth it. And the more you can put yourself in a position to make the first move and take the leap into the unknown, the more your leadership will grow’. Take the leap!
To your continued leadership success.
Darren
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Darren is a Sales Leadership and Sales Performance Coach, Facilitator & Speaker. He is an experienced and committed coach with a background of sales leadership success in large organisations. He applies a genuine focus to coaching and developing high performing sales leaders who are looking to unleash the potential of themselves and their teams.
