Occasionally, we get a call from a company who is about ready to hire a new leader.
They want us to run a Hogan Personality test on them to make sure they’re the right person for the job. And frequently, we must break the news to them that the person they were interviewing was not the perfect fit for the job.
In this video, Bill Caskey addresses a real-life situation where the client was about to send the offer letter.
Several months ago, I was sitting with Sam who had just been named a VP of Sales at a company who was struggling. Sam had an engineering background and had had no leadership skills at all which is why they were seeking our help.
Sam’s boss, the CEO, felt like Sam’s energy and enthusiasm for sales and his competence at the subject matter end of the business would be a perfect match for him leading a sales team.
Here is a 5-minute video giving you some insightful ideas on how to inspire or reinvigorate your sales team. This takes a slightly deeper look at what causes people to bring their best game to the field everyday.
Sales managers have to be part time psychologists if they are to create behavioral change that brings results. So this is a way to begin. Bill Caskey is an author, speaker and trainer in Indianapolis.
Mentioned in the video:
Texas Ranger outfielder Josh Hamilton recently made sports headlines when he relapsed from his drug and alcohol treatment program. Although celebrity relapse is not new, I thought the way he handled it was.
In an era when politicians and celebrities find it impossible to accept responsibility – instead, blaming others for all bad things that happen, Josh got up in front of the microphone the next day and said, “I messed up. I hurt people. I let down people who lean on me.”
You can argue all day about Josh’s baseball talent. He has been injured a lot and had some very average years. But in this case, he came through victorious.
Alcohol and drug recovery is a one-day-at-a-time game. I have a little experience in that game. Sometimes, when you feel vulnerable and weak, you have to put your game face on and be vigilant about relapse. Apparently, Josh wasn’t.
But rather than be quick to judge him for why it occurred. I am quick to judge how he handled it.
We sales people and business leaders can take a page from the Hamilton playbook when it comes to accepting responsibility, taking the blame and doing it in a ‘stand-up, head-on’ way. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if some of our politicians had the courage to stand up and say, “I screwed up by voting for that bill. I messed up. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m sorry I hurt people inadvertently.”
Wouldn’t that be refreshing–especially if it came from the heart?
Or wouldn’t it be nice if a company leader had the bravery to stand up in front of the executive team and admit an error in judgement? Or, if a sales person who wasn’t achieving at the level he/she desired, to stand up and admit that it’s, “all on me” instead of blaming the pricing, the website, the customer demands, the weather?
Or, if a sales manager would go into the President’s office and accept responsibility for weak sales performance instead of blaming his sales team? Or, if a customer service person would admit that they screwed up the shipping instructions?
As we go about our day in our business lives, check out when we take accountability and when we shirk it. It probably would surprise us. The great paradox is that we think it’s a strategy of strength to never admit errors. But it’s quite the opposite.
We received a link recently from an Advanced Selling Podcast Listener to an article in Forbes called 10 Reasons Large Companies Fail to Keep Their Best Talent.
In this video, Bill Caskey reviews the Forbes list then comes up with one of our own on HOW TO GROW YOUR TEAM’S TALENT. Read more