Stop Selling and Start Leading

13Leadership is Everyone's Business

THROUGHOUT THIS BOOK, WE'VE SHARED observations and stories from sellers who've made extraordinary things happen. They sell a wide variety of products and services, and they represent all age groups and experience levels. They work for companies of all sizes. These are professionals, sellers who regularly call on buyers and diligently work to reach their quotas. They experience their fair share of sales successes and inevitable sales slumps. The people we've written about, however, are regular people, just like you. Like leaders, they've made behavioral choices which allowed them to accomplish extraordinary things.

The stories came directly from sellers who described their personal bests in selling. Every story ended with a victory for the seller and a success for the buyer, too. The outcomes are impressive, but we didn't tell these stories merely because of those sales results. Rather, we focused on how sellers made extraordinary things happen. We identified the behaviors and actions that led to the successful outcomes. Exemplary sellers are those who exhibit these behaviors more frequently and, subsequently, are more welcomed by buyers. Sellers who lead are leaders who sell.

Being a leader doesn't mean you have a position of formal authority, a certain title, or a specific spot on an organizational chart. Leadership isn't for a chosen few. Leadership is about relationships, credibility, passion, and conviction, and, ultimately, about what ...