It’s commonplace to commiserate over bad bosses and share horror stories about leadership gone wrong, but what about when leadership is sublime? Why do we hesitate or struggle to share the good along with the bad? What about the mundane and the average yet effective – are they not stories worth telling too?

As someone that has led and helped scale sales organizations, I know one thing: it’s important to share your own story.

It helps provide context to the narrative of how you got to where you are today. It allows you to humanize yourself and bring your team’s guard down, and let them know that you took on this role in order to help them get better.

Throughout the last year this theme in leadership became much more prevalent. Poor leadership couldn’t hide because micromanagement and toxic environments reared their ugly heads once everyone had to work from home and out from under the noses of employers. (Crazy what realizations can come when you take kombucha on tap and free snacks away from people, huh? Culture and what surrounds it becomes more clear.)

And what became most clear when the pandemic hit and we had to re-evaluate our relationships with work?

Communication, authenticity, and genuine care.

In a Forbes article written by Tori Utley, she speaks about the importance of creating open dialogue with leadership. One key factor was touched upon that struck a chord with me:

“Your transparency will shape company culture.”

So simple, yet so underrated. As a leader, the culture starts and ends with you. It leads to powerful conversations, more trust, deeper connection amongst the group, and greater drive towards the company mission.

Once you allow for open dialogue and drop the ego, the people you have on your team will feel it and naturally lead you to success more than just caring about getting in and diving deep on metrics and numbers. All of those things matter, but the people behind them need to be seen, understood and feel your confidence in them to feel a drive towards success.

In my experience, demonstrating confidence as early as possible is one of the key factors to what makes a strong leader. Here are some other valuable components:

1. Follow through on what you say you’re going to do. BE CONSISTENT.
2. Shine the spotlight on people when they make a positive impact on others or with the company.
3. Help proactively; don’t expect anything in return.
4. Listening skills are key and there’s no better time to hone them than now. Actually giving team members your undivided attention and listening to them will go farther than anything else.
5. Check-in on your teammates if you feel they might be struggling. Seeing a lull on the team? Ask directly how you can help serve them better.
6. Completely disconnect yourself from negativity. Being the nucleus of the team — you can’t let it seep into your world. Maintaining positivity is contagious and will seep into the core of your team.

Your selflessness is in your self-interest, and: the more you exercise the above, the greater reward it will naturally bring you.

Once people start getting in that groove and trusting your relationship with them, you might even have people stepping in to see how they can serve you.

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If you’re considering making the leap to leadership, whether your decision is based on feeling like it’s the natural progression for you or something you actually feel like you’d be the right fit for, it might be the right time to gain some knowledge on exactly how to make it happen.

In our new book, “From Rep to Manager” Ryan Walker and I dive deep into all things leadership. We talk about the horror stories of bad managers, leaders and the missing link in it all: knowledge. There aren’t many books out there that are interesting reads on sales  leadership and how to decide if it’s the path for you so we created one.

We’ll be holding a Clubhouse room together this Wednesday, January 20th at 8pm EST to discuss Sales & Leadership. Come join us if you’re on Clubhouse and curious about what we have to say. You can find and follow us there @thescottleese and Ryan Walker, @ryanwalker.

What else would add to this list? If you need to commiserate over bad leadership stories, bring it on Wednesday.

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WHAT ELSE IS COMING UP?

Tonight we have Ray Rike as our special guest on Tequila Tuesday (7pm EST) to talk about SaaS metrics 101. Join Scotty’s Little Sales Club here.

Of course, Thursday Night Sales is on this week as always. The group continues to grow and we hope you join us for another good night together.

NEXT WEEK:

Beyond Quota 2021 — hone your selling skills, prepare as a sales leader and walk away with a “winning” mindset.

Tuesday, January 26th @ 9am EST.

RSVP here.

NEXT MONTH:

How to Launch a B2B SaaS Startup Virtual Summit 2021 — learn how to build your founding team and launch your first version of your first product.

Wednesday, February 3rd @ 6pm EST.

RSVP here.

Surf & Sales Bonfire Sessions — Building a Revenue Operations Rocket Ship.

Tuesday, February 16th @ 9am PST.

RSVP here.