The Responsibility of Leadership

You don’t know what you don’t know, right? Sharon Hughes who runs Launch Your Creativity and is a certified Life Coach and certified in Critical Incident Stress Debriefing/Management talks about things leaders may not realize about themselves or leadership blindspots. She discusses the importance of outside feedback and other responsibilities of being a leader.

This Sales Expert Interview covers:

What are leadership blindspots?

• Leadership is a calling. Not everyone has the core skills necessary. What sets you apart and makes people want to follow you?
• What’s really the reason you want to be a leader? Do you actually just want to be seen and heard?
• Being good at tasks and good with people are two totally different things.

Am I cut out for leadership?

• Every aspiring leader needs to have a sounding board to see what they are missing. The Johari window is helpful in this conversation.
• Leadership has multiple meanings. Maybe you’re a leader in other areas of your life you don’t even realize.

Mistakes to avoid

• Sharon talks about “levels of blindness.”
• You might think you’re great but does everyone else? Don’t act on what one person tells you.
• Not all situations are black and white.

Expectations of millennials

• Millennials often ask the questions that lend to molding them into the leaders of tomorrow. This is a golden opportunity for leaders they should take full advantage of.

Adapting communication style

• You have to know your people so well that you can read their body language. This builds trust and commitment. Healthy boundaries are important.

The distributed workforce

• You may be leading people who you never see. You can still figure out ways to stay engaged with your team and make them feel valued.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Conditioning Your Mind for Success

Melanie is a revenue strategist and business optimizer who helps leaders with the mindset, actions, and strategies to propel them to the next level of success. In this interview, she explains how a mind that is conditioned for success is the most powerful machine on the planet. We always have the choice to shatter old experiences and create new ones.

This Sales Expert Interview covers:

What does “stop being a bottleneck” mean?

• Entrepreneurs and leaders sometimes struggle with getting out of their old thinking to create new results.
• What you’re doing that used to work is not working anymore or continuing to have the same issues can be signs you’re being a bottleneck.

Break out of being a bottleneck

• Be open to outside help and new ideas.
• Make bold moves. Do something so far outside of your comfort zone.
• Set a goal and once you start taking steps you will gain momentum.
• Don’t worry about not knowing how and don’t try to do everything alone.

Collecting excuses vs successes

• If we get stuck on the reasons why it won’t work, it never will.
• We have access to more resources than ever. You just have to reach out and find the right thing for you.

Inner dialogue

• We must be very conscious of what we are feeding our minds because our inner dialogue is the fuel to take an action or hold ourselves back. Nobody can control our thoughts but us.
• No good comes out of comparing yourself to others in a negative way. Try to learn from others.

The imposter syndrome

• This is one of the biggest reasons people don’t go for something big. If you just do it, you’ll realize nobody knows it all.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Surrounding Yourself with Superstars

Finding top talent is a problem for a lot of companies for multiple reasons. Frank Pacetta, internationally renowned motivational speaker, author, and sales executive, believes organizations and their cultures can and should be like a great sports team or family. In this interview, he discusses how to recruit the best people and set them up for success.

This Sales Expert Interview covers:

Two issues with recruiting top talent

• You can’t use a cookie cutter approach to finding top talent.
• It’s about relentlessly searching for talent. Think about the far-reaching positive effects.

Reactive hiring

• It’s so easy to slack off on constantly looking for new people. Maybe the company didn’t do so great last quarter. Think big picture.
• You have to work hard to keep the best talent too.

Securing top talent

• There are multiple ways to discover top talent. Frank lists a few.
• Who is going to come in and be a positive impact on the culture you’ve built?

How to integrate the superstar

• This is going to take a tough discussion. It’s important to set clear expectations.

Hitting the ground running

• Frank talks about how to ensure the superstar hits the ground running and there isn’t a window for people to second guess your decision.
• Ask the recruit what their team members would say about them in 6 months.

Being a role model

• You don’t want your newest superstar hire to be successful just in their own work. You want them to bring about positive change throughout your whole team.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Looking to The Future

Wouldn’t you rather put yourself out of business than have a competitor do it for you? Joe Calloway, author, and business coach says the biggest obstacle to your future success is your present success. In this interview, he talks about how the constant upheaval in the marketplace means we should always be looking for our next best thing and finding our next success.

This Sales Expert Interview covers:

Taking steps to your next success

• Joe works with people that are already successful but they are looking for more.
• Some people are builders and some are maintainers. It’s a different skill set.

Cutting through the noise

• Joe helps people with ideas determine if 3 things hold true before moving forward.
• Following your passion doesn’t always mean you will make money. Make sure there is a market for your idea.
• Some people need to write down the next steps to move concept to action.

Obstacles

• We tend to overthink because we want perfection before launching an idea or product. Perfection is a get out of jail free card. It’s just not possible.
• Once an idea hits the market, your direction may change and that’s okay.

Self-awareness

• We get bogged down in doing what we’re good at. Joe helps people identify what else people are good at and start working on that set of skills.
• Joe gives a personal example of an area he discovered he was also good at.

Doubt and change

• If we’ve been successful once can we do it again? You’ll never know if you don’t try.
• How do you sustain your present success but also pursue something else that could push you forward even more?

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Finding the Right Candidates

Mark Gundlach, co-founder of Build Staffing Group, discusses why recruiting for sales can seem more difficult on the surface and what companies should be looking for when recruiting salespeople. He stresses the importance of knowing exactly what you are looking for as well as your core values.

This Sales Expert Interview covers:

How to attract top salespeople

• Algorithms aren’t always the best course of action when hiring. Mark’s company goes into a bit more detail.
• Let’s face it. Money talks. If you have a compensation package that resonates, that certainly helps. You can offer equity if you’re a startup.
• The salesperson has to buy into what they are selling. If they don’t believe in the product or service it’s a losing battle.

Turnover

• It’s extremely common for people today to switch jobs after 1-2 years. So you should really be constantly recruiting.
• Companies need to get more comfortable with this idea and figure out how to make it work for them.
• Turnover isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It prevents people who have been there for a long time from getting too comfortable.

Generational changes

• Salespeople should put their numbers in their resume. Recruiters and hiring managers want to see a track record of success.
• A college degree shows that the salesperson has completed something from start to finish.
• More and more companies are asking salespeople what they are passionate about.
• Remote working is becoming more and more prevalent, but Mark says some of their clients still won’t consider candidates who live too far away.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Take the Power Back

Klyn Elsbury, Amazon bestselling author, motivational speaker, and trainer, was born with cystic fibrosis and told she wouldn’t live past the age of 14. At the age of 25 she was advised to make life-ending arrangements. Klyn decided she wanted to thrive and not just live so she went on a quest to fulfill her potential. Now she speaks to companies and helps businesspeople and entrepreneurs reach their full potential. In this interview Klyn talks about the nine patterns she discovered after interviewing many famous entrepreneurs as well as breakthroughs she has had with some of her clients.

This Sales Expert Interview covers:

Klyn’s journey and how she applied it to helping others

• Before writing her book, Klyn interviewed famous entrepreneurs and found 9 patterns. She talks about these patterns and how her struggles were similar to anyone else’s.

Helping people focus

• Klyn sees the problem people have today is not a lack of focus but a lack of prioritization.
• Don’t let a seeming mile long to do list bog you down or be an excuse for inaction. It can be helpful to break tasks down into sections.
• Prioritize the things that actually drive revenue.

The negative perception of sales

• Society and even salespeople themselves can sometimes have a very negative opinion of sales. If a salesperson doesn’t see it as a noble cause, they are probably going to struggle.
• Salespeople don’t invest enough in themselves. Stop pretending you aren’t a salesperson!

Teaching people how to be a shark

• Sometimes it takes tough love to snap people back to reality when facing adversity.
• If emotions aren’t serving you, it’s time to break that pattern.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Building a Strong Culture

Garry Ridge is the CEO and a board member at WD-40, a company that is recognized not only for its name but for having a remarkable culture. In this interview, Garry talks about how when you are a leader it’s not about you. It’s about the people you lead.

This Sales Expert Interview covers:

What does true leadership mean

• Garry talks about what true leadership means to him and how this permeates the culture at WD-40.

Purpose in the workplace

• We may not be doing a particularly exciting job, but there are a few key things to remember when working for a company.

Tangible examples of culture

• Gary talks about the mission at WD-40 and how it manifests in their organization.
• There is a balance between being tough-minded and tender-hearted for leaders.
• It’s important to start talking about culture and values as early as the interview process.

Coaching

• There are no manager titles at WD-40. They are instead referred to as coaches. A lot of time is spent training people on how to be leaders.
• Training and development is the most powerful tool to improve the greatest asset of an organization, its people.
• Training doesn’t have to be a time sink. There are other ways to embed it in the day-to-day.

Helping people focus

• Garry says they use five strategic drivers to help people make choices on how they will allocate their time.
• It’s important for leaders to explain up front what expectations are and give continuous feedback.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Mindset Management

People can be so extremely hard on themselves. A large majority of our self-talk is negative. Dr. Steve Taubman is an author and former chiropractor who overcame anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem and has been using mindfulness and other techniques to help people with their own mindset management issues. Dr. Steve shares some great insight into our negative thinking and gives one solid piece of advice for getting yourself on the right track.

This Sales Expert Interview covers:

What is mindset management?

• Most people believe we are victims of our circumstances, but not many believe that you can maintain wisdom, clarity, and excellence even when things are bringing you down.

How to reverse our negative mindset

• A great place to start is to make the decision to be happy. Dr. Steve shares other suggestions.
• You might think the ability to multitask is a good thing, but it could be working against you.

Lack of focus

• Our lives have become so busy that a lack of focus is more comfortable than focusing on one thing at a time. There is power in focus.

Discomfort comes with progress

• Comfort is the enemy of success. All of the best and most rewarding results happen when we push through the discomfort.
• Dr. Steve is a former hypnotist. He talks about how he helps people quiet their internal chatter and be present.

Don’t add fuel to the fire

• We add insult to injury by observing things we do and then reject them. Learn to observe those emotions from a place of non-judgemental awareness.
• You have a choice of how you use your imagination.

Fear of success

• It’s terrifying to think about jumping into a new way of being. Seek support from your closest friends and family.

Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.