Leading Growth

Foreword

THE KEYSTONE, AN architectural concept related to the building of an arch, is the stone in the middle that bears the entire weight of the structure. Without the keystone, the arch would collapse.

Over a 20-year career leading sales organizations of various sizes, I have come to recognize the frontline sales leader as the sales organization's “keystone.” Any program, initiative, even the very sales culture itself, will succeed based on the strength of the sales leadership team. With an ineffective frontline sales leadership team, however, the sales structure is at risk of collapse.

This belief does not minimize the importance of our individual sellers who are putting forth an untold amount of energy and effort each day to support prospects and customers to improve their results. Rather, elite sellers demand elite leaders. Elite leaders are talent magnets who attract, develop, coach, and retain the great sellers who are the difference-makers of an organization.

While the role of a sales leader can be called the most critical function in a sales organization, it is also among the most difficult to master. The primary reason for this is that an effective sales leader requires mastery of both selling and sales leadership. Sales and sales leadership are in the same family, yet the roles and skills required to do them well are quite different.

If a sales leader understands leadership without understanding how their salespeople must operate, they will have challenges improving ...