The Ultimate Guide to Great Sales Leadership

After meeting 3,000 Sales Leaders in the past 25 years, I am opinionated.

I have an “assertive and dogmatic” view of what constitutes great sales leadership that I am “firmly or?[perhaps] unduly”?adhering to.?

Part of this stems not only from the experience as a sales leader and running a Sales Leadership business, but also from selling into sales and marketing organizations for many years. Setting up a meeting with the VP of Sales and Marketing, walking through their offices to a conference room, engaging with team members, their use of technology, among other things, gave me a solid impression of the culture the leader had created. Sometimes I could picture myself working there; sometimes, I could not leave fast enough.

Whether I learned something from it and became a better leader myself is for others to judge.

I believe that everyone strives for greatness! Whether as an athlete, a student, or a sales leader, we all want to be great. It does not mean to be "the best." The absolute title of "the best" or “GOAT” is often a ridiculous goal.

Because greatness is a quality that comes from within us; it is the result of learning and practice; it expresses skill, achievement, and it is often recognized by those around us

So, what makes a great sales leader? What are those skills or traits that others recognize as “great?” Here is my list of the top 9 traits:

1.???? Empathy – Start with listening and then respond with honest compassion and understanding.

2.???? Integrity – To me, integrity is a sum of traits: honesty, sincerity, truthfulness, transparency, ethics, and strong moral values.

3.???? Passion – Passion is contagious. Your excitement will ignite the passion of the team. And in sales, being passionate about the product or service you sell is key to success.

4.???? Humility – Appreciate those around you, be grateful for your role, be gracious towards others, be open to feedback, and understand that you are not perfect.

5.???? Accountability – Take responsibility for the results, and in the process, take a little more than your share of the blame and a little less in praise. Accept the blame for the team result, and do not play the blame game downstream.

6.???? Inspiration – Provide those around you with an unconscious burst of creativity. It is not your brilliant idea that advances the team, but rather your ability to inspire others.

7.???? Decisiveness – I have found that my days as a leader were filled with quite literally hundreds of decisions. A few major ones (Hiring, Product Innovation, M&A, …), and many, many small and micro-decisions. What they all have in common is the fact that not making a decision is holding up everything and everyone around me. And sometimes the decision is not a popular one.

8.???? Reliability – Do not be erratic. Those around you, especially those that rely on you, count on your consistency and dependability.

9.???? Positivity – Positivity is contagious. Even negative Nancy will eventually become infected by your positivity.

Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it??

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Merriam-Webster – opinionated