De-Bossification
In many industries — particularly “white collar” ones — the era of “bosses” is in decline. There is a rise in the need for leaders, guides, coaches, mentors, role-models, creators and builders, but less of a clamoring for bosses, managers, controllers, monitors, evaluators and paper pushers. This shift has been driven by changing demographics, the spread of technology, the rise of unbundled and distributed work, new behavior expectations and a re-definition of what “work” is — including the rise of fractionalized
Your Guide to Creating a Sales Leadership Framework
How confident are you that your sales team can meet your KPIs this quarter? If you’re like the 70% majority of sales managers, there’s some doubt in your mind. Meeting key objectives and sales targets seems more unattainable by the day, but it doesn’t have to be. To meet objectives consistently, keep your salesforce satisfied and striving, and give senior leadership reports that have them singing your praises, you need one crucial thing: A sales leadership framework.
One Trait That Top-Performing Sales Managers Share
To achieve top sales performance, you don’t need a sales team dominated by business degrees from Harvard or resumes full of eye-popping company logos. Those attributes are all well and good, but they’re not requirements for top performance. Instead, look to your sales managers. Are they prepared to provide the leadership and coaching their sales teams need to maximize selling potential?
How to Build a High-Performing Team: Ten Vital Conversations
Invest One Hour a Month to Help Your Team Perform Even Better Every truly high-performing team has one thing in common: They spend time in candid conversation talking about what’s working and consistently look for ways to improve. They look at the work they’re doing and ask “how can we” do this EVEN BETTER? And they enjoy and celebrate their success.
The Surprising Link Between Creativity and Risk
The squeaky wheels in your organization may also be important sources of innovation. Some of the links between creativity and risk are pretty self-evident. Creativity is all about trying something new, exploring the unknown, and accepting uncertainty and the possibility of failure. In the corporate setting, we understand intuitively that creativity fuels strategy, innovation, and growth. In a world where machines are taking over predictable, tedious tasks,
Group Dynamics: The Leader’s Toolkit
One of the most significant themes in my practice is the leader whose team of direct reports are experiencing difficulties working together. Most of my clients are CEOs, and they face this challenge with their company’s senior leadership team, but it’s a dilemma that can occur at every level of an organization. And while the leader isn’t solely responsible for their team’s culture, they typically have the greatest ability to influence it–for better and for worse.
How to Improve Sales Performance
Selling is a craft. It’s a performance. It’s also a bit of a mystery. Why is it that two salespeople who work for the same manager have different results? Both salespeople sell the same thing, to similar clients, at the same price. If one salesperson complains about an underhanded competitor, another salesperson has little trouble dispatching that same competitor. Let’s agree to call this “the variability of individual results.”
3 Big Moments That Can Define Your Leadership Career
We work for decades, yet for most of us, there are a handful of moments in time that define the course of our leadership career. Unfortunately, these moments — opportunities or crises — don’t come with a caption suggesting, “Hey, pay attention and embrace this mess because it’s going to turn out to be important to you.” For individuals who choose to lead, it pays to see the signposts. Here are three significant moments in the career of everyone who leads that merit your complete engagement.
What Does a Sales Manager Do?
There are two ways to describe what a sales manager does. One is to look at the outcomes they are responsible for creating. Another is to look at the individual tasks that deliver those outcomes. There are several things that make it difficult for sales managers to reach their goals, and much of their work aims to overcome these challenges.
How Often Should I Have One-on-Ones?
You’ve got questions. We’ve got answers. Hi, I’m Kevin Eikenberry, answering the questions that new leaders ask us. Actually, it’s our goal to help all leaders be more successful, productive, and confident, and today to help you be more of those things. We’re going to talk about the one-on-ones you have with your team members. Are you ready? Let’s get started. I’ve been asked this question many times, and it’s a good question.
How to Lead a New Team to Success
Miles had just been promoted to his first position at the director level after two short years of working for a large manufacturer in a complicated, heavily regulated industry. What surprised him most about the culture of the company is how project oriented the firm had become during his tenure as a manager. Common practice was to assign a project team to study the details to the nth degree. Miles felt the phenomenon of analysis-paralysis was slowing down decision making, and he was not alone in this opinion.
Is Your Customer Communication Actually Effective? Here’s How to Avoid the Limitations of Common Tactics
There are a handful of popular and effective ways to stay in contact with customers, but it’s important to understand the limitations and how to utilize technology to your advantage. Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Most people running a business are well aware that customer communication is critical to success, but that’s only partially correct: It’s only successful when executed in a way that not only engages customers but builds meaningful relationships
How to Establish the Future-Ready Workforce
The ability to imagine the future is something only the human species possesses, and it can be leveraged to help us feel more confident about our actions and be prepared for tomorrow. For centuries crystal balls have been objects connected with clairvoyance, fortune-telling and predicting the future. Looking into the crystal ball, or the process of “seeing” into it, is known as scrying –
6 Weeks to Impact 2023
This is the glorious time of year when most leaders are engulfed in budgets, planning, meetings, and deadlines. With less than six weeks until 2023, let’s dive into a few things to check off or add to your list. Always Start by Looking Back Data is your friend so take the time to review your performance metrics, leading indicators, pipeline performance, and how accurate your revenue projections were/are.
The Importance of Community at Work
A sense of community is key for employees. It gives them a feeling of belonging while helping build culture and learning. This article discusses how companies can be sensitive and promote community. In her book Retirement and Its Discontents, Michelle Pannor Silver’s research reveals that for millions of people work is much more than output or income they generate. It is a source of meaning and social identity. It is where they feel intellectually stimulated and can express their creative selves. It is where they feel a sense of community and connection.