WHATS WRONG WITH THIS NATIONAL SALES HEAD ?

Recently I was coaching a national level manager,?a star sales man before becoming a star sales manager, and 2 years back he was promoted as National Sales Head?in last two years, he was able to turnaround the sales?with superlative growth numbers , and convert poor?performing markets into high performance zones.?

His success in last two years was attributed to?mega-sales focus and the business required a turnaround .Now in his third year , he was offered a new assignment, (looked like more of the same), within the company In a bigger business unit -?which was four times the size of?his current business unit and more people.

After two year of implementing what everyone regarded?as a successful turnaround strategy.?He was sure that this results had put him squarely?in the running for senior management role. But there was no new assignment in sight, and a poor performance ratings hinted that his bosses were expecting something else from him .

What was going on ?

Although he was still delivering results as before, his bosses now wanted to know more about?his capacity to lead at a higher level.?All the indicators left them doubtful…

Not only this, his bosses were displeased by the way he routinely ignored corporate initiatives and?failed to keep the marketing and support team?informed and involved? Earlier his superiors had shown patience?with his turnaround tactics, but now they are doubting his capability to adapt to the changing circumstances .

Challenges with him ? The new business unit was facing an uphill task, thanks to his tried and tested methods…

1.He continued to define the local strategy?more in terms of sales, neglecting the views of? and priorities of his peers & bosses 2.New Marketing initiatives have taken a back seat

The Outcome

• The leadership bench remained underdeveloped?.
• He started micromanaging his team &
• He routinely started intervening in the details of his team?“ Adding too much of value “

Thus he made himself so indispensable that there?was no one ready to succeed him…

WHAT WAS MY ANALYSIS ?

1. We enjoy what we do well, so we do more of it?and get still better at it …. He liked sales turnaround , the more expert he became at it and then enjoyed doing it again n again?
2. When we allocate?more time to what we do best ,?We devote less time to learning other things that?are also important.
3. Over time, it gets more costly to invest?in learning to do new things !

Hope you find this useful , do share your inputs / feedback on the same

Cheers

Arun