Pressure is Privilege - Part Two

Pressure is Privilege has a second part: "It only comes to those who earn it": The second part of the quote reinforces the idea that pressure isn't arbitrary; it's a consequence of our actions and choices. It suggests that we should actively seek out challenges and responsibilities.

"Earning" pressure, implies that we work hard, take risks, and push ourselves beyond our comfort zones to reach a point where we are entrusted with significant tasks or goals.

In this two-part article, I want to share my insights as a B2B Revenue leader on how you can drive performance by being better at strategy & execution, adopting the right sales enablement, and most importantly - how coaching and mentoring teams will impact high-performance situations. As I operate in tech (software), this is where I will focus on.

In the first part of this article, I focused on the dimensions of "Strategy & Execution", and choice of sales enablement as first elements of driving sales performance

In Part Two, I focus on what I feel is most important: "The Professional". Both you as a sales leader, and your teams. How the human aspect is both the most delicate and the most interesting.

What you can learn in this article?

1. How to detect your drive as people manager?
2. Leadership style inspiration
3. Leading in challenging environments
4. The power of incremental wins
5. Meeting cadences
6. Prevent burn-outs

The Professional

Why it is not the time anymore of "coffee is for closers only"

Over 30 years ago, Glengarry Glen Ross starred Alec Baldwin’s seven-minute toxic "pep talk". Commonly known as the “Always Be Closing” scene, it is the film’s most quoted sequence: "You think I’m fucking with you? I am not fucking with you." The "sales manager" Blake (played by Alec Baldwin) rages on: "The bad news is... you've got, all of you've got just one week to regain your jobs starting with tonight. Starting with tonight's sit. Oh? Have I got your attention now? Good. 'Cause we're adding a little something to this month's sales contest.

As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Anyone wanna see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired. Get the picture?

You laughing now? You got leads. Mitch and Murray paid good money to get their names to sell them. You can't close the leads you're given, then you can't close shit! You ARE shit! Hit the bricks, pal, and beat it 'cause you are going OUT!"

Luckily, these scenes aren't reflected in real life anymore, but the mechanisms behind them still exist in some cases - more as an exception than a rule. Sales and sales leadership have changed, and so changes the impact or influence a leader needs to have on his/her team.

What is you Leadership style?

I'm not going to pull open the can full of leadership styles and advice (it's not even a can, but a warehouse full of cans) but grant you a look into my style, which works for me, as inspiration for you. It's not about 'right' or 'wrong' as not every style fits every soul, and all advice is not absolute in truth.

How do I work with & on with people in my team?

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate." I believe working on the personal goals of my team members first is key. Making the unconscious conscious. Second is working on the impact of their role and third is the place in the professional world or organisation last. It is an inside-out approach in which I believe in firmly. It might seem strange, but if working together and developing a talent leads to the talent pursuing a future (a happy, fulfilling one) outside of the current organization, that would greatly be satisfying for me.

Personal story

You Can't Get What You Want Till You Know What You Want - a beautiful song by Joe Jackson says it all. Why do you want to be a leader? I started, very early in my career, as a young manager "dropped" in a team of 40 people after a merger of two companies with a very different culture. I have led smaller teams of up to 10 people in regional settings (most of the case I worked in a regional responsibility) up to leading a global sales team counting up to 150 FTEs. Without exception in highly transformational, challenging environments.

Find your "ikigai"

"Ikigai (生き甲斐) (pronounced [ikiɡai]) compounds two Japanese words: iki meaning "life" and gai meaning "result". Hence, Ikigai is a Japanese concept that means "a reason for being". The word refers to having a meaningful direction or purpose in life." - Ikigai for leadership

I use the concept in my personal and professional life, to contemplate my ambitions and space in the "universe" and to help find other people their place. In the sales leadership podcast with Yannick Van Aken I touched upon this as well - you can find it here (in Dutch).

I believe that balancing the four dimensions (what you are good at, what you love to do, what the world needs, and what you need for the market) brings out the best leader in me. I get energy and when it is balanced, work not only gives me energy but also creates a supporting environment for my team.

Elements that drive me?

First and foremost, it's all about all the original, basic storylines, combined into one "journey", where I can be a guide, a companion, a leader, mentor and find myself next, in the team I am responsible for.

1. Overcoming the Monster. The protagonist must defeat an antagonist (usually an individual, force, or entity) that threatens them and the wider world.
2. Rags to Riches. The protagonist achieves something they lack, loses what they’ve gained, and then gets it back again.
3. The Quest. The protagonist must set out in pursuit of a treasure, place, or other goal, overcoming challenges along the way.
4. Voyage and Return. The protagonist travels to a strange new place, experiences hardships and makes discoveries, and then returns home with the lessons they have learned.
5. Comedy. The protagonist experiences a series of lighthearted or confusing events before the story resolves into a happy ending.
6. Tragedy. The protagonist has a central trait or flaw or makes a mistake, which results in catastrophe.
7. Rebirth. The protagonist undergoes a transformation, and often ends up a better person as a result.

So it's about people and accomplishment. I adore transforming sales teams into high-energy monsters who attain an unimaginable goal. And in te meantime, help people on their path of personal growth.

Note: look at the elements of basic storytelling above and discover how well they fit sales, a buyers' journey, you communicating with your buyer.        

Second: People & The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

This book was an eye-opener for me. As an intro, this is what 亚马逊 tells about the author: "John C. Maxwell is an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, coach, and author who has sold over 19 million books. Dr. Maxwell is the founder of EQUIP and the John Maxwell Company, organizations that have trained more than 5 million leaders worldwide. You can find him at JohnMaxwell.com".

What the 21 principles of leadership taught me, is the following:

Leadership is not about you, it's about your team, and people. It's about how YOU can improve yourself to have your team respect, trust, and follow you.

• Leadership is a multi-dimensional play. To lead well, you must strive to be a complete leader. In the book's words, you need to master the 21 Laws.
• You need to be aware that you cannot master all 21 Laws as well. So, the goal is to strive to perfect yourself and build a strong team that completes you as a leader.
• Everybody can learn to be a leader, and applying them in real life gives you a foundation of leadership.

Note: In my leadership philosophy, I expect my team to behave like leaders. Accountability, ownership, lift your lid, team play.        

My favorite one: "The law of empowerment: only secure leaders give power to others" To lead well means to help people reach their potential – build them up, and give them resources, authority, responsibility, and autonomy to achieve. You need to be "secure".

You can find a summary here.

Leading: mentoring, coaching, managing. And directing.

There are 4 elements that you can use when working together with teams to attain maximum and error-free performance and to have them gain the greater skills, capabilities, and experience needed.

As a people manager, you have a toolset of "managing", "coaching", "mentoring" and "directing". Those concepts are often used interchangeably and misunderstood.

What is my view on this "toolbox", and how to use it as a sales leader?

• Mentoring is a mutually beneficial relationship to (help) develop a specific skill rather than achieving a task; it generally lasts a year or longer.
• Coaching is a more personal, often more short-term relationship that exists to achieve professional development.
• Managing is used to achieve operational results; it is indefinite and is defined by an organizational structure.
• Directing is the least favorable option, but is sometimes needed. "to order someone, especially officially:" (Cambridge Dictionary)

How do you put this into practice when facing challenging targets, and in your interactions with your team?

It all starts with a vision. For me, it's important to share, build on, and craft together a vision of another reality. Most often, in the transformational changes I lead sales teams into, there is a place of comfort (often named "reactive" by the organizations' leadership) towards a level of being highly active, and competitive. This is almost always matched with ambitions in discovering new markets, launching a new product, and opening a new region. High effort, a long time to result. Not what these "reactive" teams are used to.

My buddy Luc Vanheule describes it well in his article "Crafting the Blueprint for Success in Sales Leadership: A Practical Approach for forward": "How can I, as a guiding force in sales, empower my team to excel beyond expectations, thereby amplifying our collective success?" with this paragraph: "Visionary Leadership in #sales is about crafting a winning aspiration that galvanizes not only your team but also your customers and partners towards building a shared future.

Visionary leadership transcends mere revenue targets, crafting a compelling vision that unites teams, customers, and partners in pursuit of a shared future. This approach elevates success from a numerical objective to a collective mission, inspiring every stakeholder to contribute passionately."

Having worked with Luc in exactly the circumstances of high transformational change, I can only advise you to read his article which I summarize below.

1. Set Clear Expectations: The Blueprint for Team Alignment: forge a clear, actionable path for success and enables the use of leading indicators to proactively gauge progress.
2. Foster Growth: The Role of a Coach: Your role as a leader transforms into that of a coach, tasked with nurturing your team's abilities and encouraging them to venture beyond their comfort zones.
3. Measure Small Steps to Monumental Success: Embrace the philosophy of incremental improvement; small changes can lead to significant impacts, elevating both your team's performance and your organization's success.

Small equals BIG

“Step by step walk the thousand-mile road. Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior. Today is victory over yourself of yesterday; tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.” ― Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings

Aiming to compound small improvements creates less strain on your team, but makes them focus on small steps ahead plus brings wins to celebrate when reaching a higher goal.

The power of incremental improvements is very dear to me, and the addition of incremental 9-meter jumps (which seems controversial but it is not) creates the environment of improving incremental wins which compound over time. I've talked about this in the sales leadership podcast with Dylan Mendes - which you can find here. (Always happy to explain the concept and discover how you as well can benefit from this philosophy.)

"Incremental wins" teaches your team to think about self-improvement, be aware of the "surroundings", and celebrate and install an operational system for continuous improvement.

Importance of Sales Meeting Cadence

According to BetterMeetings, 78% of people surveyed feel that their meeting schedule is either always or sometimes out of control. If you hold them too often, team members will see them as an inefficient burden on their time, get bored, and stop engaging.

Employees spend an average of 18 hours per week in meetings and report that 30% of them could be more productive. People who feel they are wasting valuable time in meetings they don’t need to attend often become frustrated.

About 84% feel their work productivity would improve if they only participated in essential meetings.

My personal flavor:

1. 1:1s weekly in the preferred way of the team member (informal, formal, online or live) to discuss wellbeing, career progress, skills, or whatever should support them. Sales case coaching or reviews are being dealt with in separate, well-prepped meetings
2. Weekly pipeline meetings covering sales progress +50% weighted opportunities to monitor closing in the same month or period + Pipeline growth
3. Bi-weekly cross-department meetings (if impactful on your target) - e.g. operations, delivery, customer care
4. Monthly sales meetings with telex sales progress per sales FTE, organization updates, progress on marketing and demand generation initiatives - and progress on the quarterly
5. Quarterly Review & Preview meetings - 1st week of quarter: review of achievement and preview +3 quarters rolling with reversed pipeline review and actionable plans.

IMPORTANT! You can delegate ownership of the meetings, you can delegate meeting prep and or the hosting and setup of the meeting. Where you can, delegate and have your team learn how to structure a meeting. Where needed, be the one who owns. Record actions and pay attention to execution. There is nothing worse than "not executing" to make morale drop or see belief in leadership evaporate.

Burn-Out

• 33% of employees say they are less focused at work as a result of burnout, while 31% report losing interest in work, and 21% report increased procrastination.
• Toxic workplace behaviors and traits (such as unapproachable leaders, micromanaging, and lack of transparency) are a big indicator of burnout in the workplace.
• According to a survey we conducted with CharlieHR, an alarming 82% of employees in the tech industry feel close to burnout.

More stats here

How to prevent burn-out?

Burn out is becoming a real issue in the world of high-performance professions such as sales and sales leadership. In 2021, 40% of employees cited burnout as the top reason for leaving. Britt Andreatta, PhD a Ph.D., author of “Wired to Resist” explains: “Burnout is actually a diagnosable state of exhaustion that comes from when we have been dealing with a long-term stressful situation.”

Burnout does NOT necessarily occur only when the individual impacted is at his/her lowest. Because of shame, fear, or a false sense of need to "stay strong", burnout may not be visible on the outside.

The reasons can be different:

• work overload
• lack of clarity in goals
• difference in values
• culture

If you detect (or self-diagnose) the following indicators in your team, please act:

• Lack of motivation and drive at work
• Low productivity
• Relatively poor performance
• Absent-mindedness
• Multiple leaves due to sickness, fatigue, headaches, etc.

What can you do?

Have an open conversation & self-reflect.

What can you or what can your organization do about it? Are you brutally honest about the culture of your organization - does it prevent or worsen the chance for burn-out?

Have an open conversation with your team member. Encourage them to take a few days off to recharge as well as reflect on the situation. No emails nor calls, a complete time off from work.

Understand - both organization and team member - that parting ways can be an option. A sales job in the type of high-stress, high-velocity, high-change organizations is not for everyone, but it might give them a kick in the right direction to get back on track.

Organization-wide

Create structure and guidance programs, encourage open conversations about burnout. Promote positivity and mental health awareness.