Leading sales dudes is one of the hardest responsibilities on the planet.
It beats out being POTUS hands down.
Security guard. Elephant bather. Mosquito hunter. You name the job being a leader of sales people is worse.
Nothing will drive you to insanity faster than being assigned a handful of half-tamed head hunters who cant sit still long enough to hear your 12-month rolling plan for hitting quota.
And if you think your opinion about the situation is rough, take a peek from the other side of the side,
Its down right icy.
Sales people are absolutely convinced that their manager is a vengeful, cant take a joke moron, who doesnt know how to sell product.
In fact, not only is their manager an idiot, he has a plot against their future success. He wants them to fail to not hit their stupid quota.
Its a complete nightmare.
And its your job. You have to lead standing right on the edge of insanity.
Heres a gentle lesson that might help you
If you try to manage, youll mangle
You cant manage your way to a better sales team.
Youll just tear apart relationships, destroy talented team members, and drive away thought-leadership.
The days of being a manager are through.
They are over.
It doesnt work.
You have to start coaching.
What does that even mean?
Here are a few ways to get started on that:
1. Admit your screw-ups.
2. Assume the best for your team.
3. Listen to resistance.
4. Expect bad behavior.
5. Take some blame.
6. Practice public kindness.
7. Apply private ass kicking.
8. Demand honesty.
9. Stop referencing yourself.
10. Forget the old days.
11. Take your teams side.
12. Ask for help.
13. Be proactive upstream.
14. Maintain candid relationships.
15. Push for momentum.
16. Celebrate breakthroughs.
17. Recruit based on desire.
18. Fire any bad attitudes.
19. Stop looking for experience.
20. Make metrics fair.
21. Teach strategy not tactics.
22. Have a strategy (in the first place).
23. Keep refining your strategy.
24. Spark leadership.
25. Denounce mediocre wins.
26. Use loss to drive future success.
27. Be accountable.
28. Be respectful. Pay Attention.
29. Answer your phone.
30. Communicate more.
31. Always be kind. Be f irm.
32. Build team careers.
33. Have a plan for failing.
34. Leave if you cant help.
35. Get therapy (seriously).
There are probably one hundred more things to consider. But this should get you started.
And as a side-note: You might never convince everyone in your team that youre not out to hurt them.
But thats not what you were hired to do in the first place anyway.