It’s a thought many sales managers wrestle with – how to be the best kind of sales leader.
I don’t think any of us set out to be bad leaders but we can accidentally deliver bad leadership. It is also true that others set out to be “mega-inspirational” leaders, with lofty ambitions of creating “a new kind of team”, “a different vibe” (or being the next Simon Sinek) and still deliver bad leadership.
So here is a Humble Sale guide to being the best kind of sales leader. I should caveat that this is not a list of quick wins to get you there. It’s just some honest, real world advice that should set you on your way.
The Starting Point
You should aim to decide from the outset what kind of sales leader you want to be. This is personal to you, your authentic style and the personal brand you want to create. However, the starting point should be this:
Imagine looking at yourself as a Sales Leader through the eyes of a member of your team. Really put yourself in their shoes and consider how you want to be seen, heard and what emotional reaction you wish to stimulate. How do you want someone to feel working for you? Equally, think about the opposite too. This may be easier, most people have worked for individuals who have had a de-motivating effect on their performance and professional satisfaction. How did it make you feel?
Use these observations to help craft your starting point. You don’t have to get it right first time, styles evolve naturally, but it will help set your mind straight before you begin. It is also healthy for established leaders to check themselves against this exercise from time to time.
Remember You Set The Mood
I’ve put this cautionary note near the top of the list because of personal experience. The overall mood of your team is intrinsically linked to their performance. It sounds simple but a positive environment becomes a productive environment and conversely the opposite is true. During a particularly difficult period for me, I couldn’t fathom why, with no major changes occurring, the mood of my team was dropping and performance dwindling.
It took a very honest member of my team to point out to me that “when you’re upbeat we’re upbeat, when you’re operating under a cloud so are we.” I’m very grateful to them. It took their advice to point out that I was the cause and it was a useful lesson. Your team really will feed off you, not just your words but the moods you project. If you want a positive environment, be positive.
Know The Difference Between Coaching and Managing
There are lots of good perspectives available on this subject (a particularly good example can be found at this link on Forbes Why Coaching Matters: How Leaders Can Become Better Coaches And Build Stronger Teams).
In simple terms managing could be described as the overseeing of prescribed tasks and directing or instructing the team to complete them, to whatever deadline, quality or output standard required. It is prescriptive and functional by nature. Coaching is about helping each individual member of your team to discover the best of their professional selves, challenge and learn, ultimately to grow in whichever direction they wish to take their career. Getting the balance between moments of managing and moments of coaching is crucial.
Leadership does sometimes involve managing, it is a natural by-product, but this should be a small percentage of leadership time in comparison to coaching. Coaching doesn’t have to take place in a classroom either. Situational, in the moment coaching is often better. Focussing on being a coach rather than a manager will demand more of you, but it will empower your team, increase their buy-in to any common mission, earn their respect and deliver better results.
Encourage Autonomy
Hand in glove with a coaching culture is the encouragement of autonomy. Many managers complain of teams who are not self-sufficient or work-load bottle-necking around them, being involved in every sales cycle or project in the team. This is normally a sign that they are not coaching enough, investing time in developing the skills of their team, or allowing enough autonomy.
Trust your team. Work hard to remove barriers to their autonomy, give them as many decision-making freedoms as you can. Encourage them to challenge and bring new ideas and approaches to how the business culture works. Ask them how they would approach things rather than telling them what to do. Sure, steer if you need to, but the more time you put into creating a self-sufficient team the more your results will flourish.
Lead By Example
Simple one this. Live by the standards you expect of your team. Work ethic is a big element of this. There is nothing more de-motivating than working for someone who doesn’t appear to have the same energy and commitment levels. If you want the team to always be in the office until a certain time, ensure you are too. Should you expect the team to behave a certain way with customers or follow a certain process, follow it yourself. Be careful never to ask something of them that you don’t personally believe in or wouldn’t do yourself. People sense this, smell a rat and switch off fast.
Be Consistent
This is about consistency in your messaging and your decision-making. This is not about coaching (or managing) someone in the same way as another. Good sales leaders recognise that people have different motivators and inspirations, in fact you should coach people differently, especially when they need you most. This is about the underlying principles and justifications that you bring to your decisions.
People need to know where they stand with you and feel safe with your style. This will help them navigate their own decisions, learn from your example and plan their own activities. If your reactions to similar situations change with the wind you will be sowing the seeds of unrest and confusion.
If you do have to consciously change direction with regards to your thinking or approach, share this openly with the team. This will help them understand your rationale rather than struggle to keep up.
Be a Good Valve
Unless you are a business owner, you are likely to report to someone else even from your lofty position of Sales Leader. This someone else could be a board, a line manager of sorts, another organisation or shareholders group (let’s call them “others”).
Sometimes the leadership style of said “others” may differ wildly from your own. Worse, sometimes the guidance or strategy may be at odds with your team approach, even if the overall goal is the same. Dare I say it, they may only manage and not coach!
This can be hard, especially if what is flowing down from above is added pressure or poor advice. This is when you need to be an effective valve. Try and allow only the really important factual information to flow down, none of the pressure and all of the praise or glimmers of sound advice.
Exposing your team to clashes of culture or poor approaches from above won’t help them or the business performance in the long run. Conversely, when reporting upwards, be a great ambassador for your team. Share each success as a team success, highlight excellent individuals and keep yourself from the limelight. This will reflect well on your leadership without pointing it out! Stop the bad flowing down and allow the good to flow up!
Hopefully you’ve found this advice helpful. In future posts we’ll share some ideas on dialling up the inspiration, but for now, put yourself in the shoes of your team and take a step forward…
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Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash
