The Exceptional Sales Leader Podcast Darren Mitchell

For many in sales, there is a desire to transition into sales leadership and for many, it is about the prestige, the title and the perceived influence that comes with leadership. Unfortunately many are thrust into leadership roles based on their current levels of high performance, and do not know how to make a successful transition. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from my first General Manager, who said on day 1 of my sales leadership career 'Welcome to the bottom rung of the ladder'.

I enjoyed some awesome conversations with clients this week, in particular in relation to standards of excellence. A key element of becoming an exceptional sales leader is to identify what it is that you would like to be known for, and create a set of leadership values and standards of behaviour that enable you to pursue that objective. One client in particular has seen the power of that play out this week, and it has elevated his leadership like he never believed was possible.

As sales leaders, we are the barometers of our team and our team is a mirror in that they are simply a reflection of us. It is therefore vital that we are projecting an optimistic approach, that we take on and project a growth mindset, and that we exude self confidence. Understand, this is not the fake it till you make it approach, it is a groundedness that enables us to be confident and project that.

If there is one thing that frustrates me more than anything else - it is sales leaders and teams making excuses for where they are at:







Sales target is too highLeads not ‘hot’ enoughCustomers constantly ask for discounts or ‘freebies’Internal resourcing is inadequate or not engagedSenior leaders don’t understand...







The list goes on and on. In sales and in business, we can either make excuses, or we can make progress. We can’t do both.

In working with leaders, I find that many of them can't help but get involved in tasks and projects, sometimes doing things for their team, rather than allowing their team to get it done themselves. This happened to a client this week, and I asked the question - are you helping or are you hindering. Many times when we get in and do it for them, we are hindering and in the process, we are creating a co-dependency environment. This is not conducive to good leadership.

Becoming a world class communicator takes many elements, including being able to articulate a message in an influential way. As sales leaders, there are 2 key areas that we can focus our attention on at a deeper level to really enhance our communication capabilities. And whilst this is not rocket science, getting better at these 2 can certainly help us become world class communicators.