One of the biggest barriers I come across in sales is the lack of self-belief.
It doesn’t matter how much good stuff the person has achieved on the outside because if they feel negatively about themselves on the inside they will end up sabotaging themselves simply to prove themselves right.
Being a Sales Leader doesn’t make you exempt…you are just as liable to have negative thoughts about yourself as your sales team.
In my experience…this is an epidemic!
Will these negative thoughts get in your way? Absolutely!
Are your sales team thinking these negative thoughts? Absolutely!
Is there anything you can do to change them? Absolutely!
So what do you do?
Your job as a Sales Leader is to notice where your sales people are not performing. To explore the reasons with them and identify any negative thoughts that could be the trigger to poor performance.
Then it’s up to you to help them overcome these negative thoughts and reframe them by highlighting where they do a more positive behaviour…maybe in another context. Building their self-image and confidence through coaching pays big dividends.
This is obviously much easier to do if you’re able to do this for yourself first.
Here’s some areas for you to explore…
- What leadership activities do you avoid or dread doing?
- What negative feelings do you notice on the inside when you’re about to do these activities?
- What negative things do you say quietly to yourself about you when faced with doing these activities?
- How long have you thought these things?
You don’t have to share your responses with anybody, so make them as real as they actually are. Being in denial really isn’t helpful.
Give this exercise quality time…especially if you’ve never focused on this stuff before because it will reward you with some powerful insights.
Then you have a choice. Do you stick with it…or do you try something else?
Until next time,
Leigh 🙂
