I have been working with a client this month who has a very experienced sales team. Their challenge is that they have delivered their sales target only 3 times in 12 months. That’s not a level of performance that any sales leader would accept, and in a traditional family run business, and thin margin industry, this clearly cannot continue. What has been so fascinating for me as a coach is exploring the skills and mindset of both the sales team and those who manage and lead this team. There is a question that my first boss used to ask me repeatedly when I started my career as a naïve pharmaceutical sales representative selling ethical medicine to doctors back in the early nineties…… are we lucky or are we good?
This question is built on a simple premise: good sales people are consistent with performance even when faced with challenging economic conditions and client setbacks. They are curious about their success, keen to learn, willing to ask for help and readily admit their mistakes. Sales professionals who are lucky are the ones where they have good months and bad; where one quarter they are on target and the next they are off target…… and the reasons why are always outside of their control. All too often we start to hear “yes, but…..” coming into their language and outlook on different situations.
Part of our challenge as leaders is getting the balance right between challenge and support so that our teams deliver consistent performance over time and this starts with scrutinising mindset. Henry Ford said “whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right”. Now, it’s not as simple as saying that we need to just think and we’ll be successful; but rather that this is our starting point. Hard work, taking risks, developing skills, reflection and learning are all critical to succeed of course… and mindset sits at the heart of it.
Leaders with Executive Presence know that their role is to inspire, stretch, support, challenge, motivate, enthuse and encourage their teams to achieve… and to do so in an environment rich with change, challenge and complexity. This means imbuing in others the belief based on the research of Julian Rotter in 1966 around the ‘locus of control’. Quite simply, more effective individuals operate from a mindset of belief that says we can influence more than we think, and “if it’s going to be; it’s down to me” thinking. Everything starts with mindset. We are wired to look for evidence that proves what we believe…. what we believe is what we seek and if we can’t find it; we create it ourselves.
So the next time, as a leader, you are reflecting on either your own performance or that of you team… take the time to ask yourself: “are we lucky or are we good?”
Until next time…..
