In the early days of my Sales Leadership I had so many outcomes I wanted to achieve:
- To have the most successful sales team in the history of the company
- For every Sales Person in my team to be a top performer
- To win awards and recognition for my leadership
- For everyone to be happy and fulfilled
It wasn’t long till I started to feel disappointed, frustrated and confused.
What was going on?
Why couldn’t I make this work?
I had been a very successful sales person and things were not going my way.
What did I do?
I was so unhappy but being a proactive little soul, I went off in search of wisdom…and what I found led me down the path of sales mindset.
Now this in itself was a huge thing for me. The shift in my approach made a massive difference to results.
Instead of focusing on the actions people needed to take, I focused instead on developing the mindset that wanted to take the right actions.
That didn’t mean they all did the same actions…it meant they all took the right actions for them. The actions that created the results we all wanted.
It wasn’t till much later in my career that I made another discovery…one that’s even more profound than the first.
A realisation
I realised that I had been doing something unconsciously that had been the magic sauce.
By focusing on giving everything I had to being a great leader rather than the results that come from that was the magical ingredient that created success.
This really is your true path to great sales leadership. The path that fulfils and sustains you to keep striving to be more for your team.
That doesn’t mean that the results don’t follow…far from it. The results occur faster and more generously because you are growing faster and more generously.
Funny that!!!
Ever since that discovery I have been filled with a joy and fulfilment that only occurs when the people around you are happy, growing and succeeding.
So rather than focusing on the success of your team, focus instead on your leadership and developing a sales growth mindset culture that enables every person in your team to bend and flex to whatever the world throws at them.
That’s what Sales Leadership is truly about
It’s about coaching rather than telling. It’s about caring for them rather than caring about the numbers. It’s about mindset rather than behaviours because a great mindset will always perform great behaviours!
Remember…telling your sales people what to do teaches them what to think.
Coaching and developing their mindset teaches them how to think and adapt in the moment. To take the right actions depending on the specifics of the situation.
The choice is yours.
Until next time,
Leigh 😊
PS Get in touch if you want to chat about creating a Sales Growth Mindset Culture in your team!
Thanks to Arnaud Mesureur for the great image 😊
