hat does it mean to be a sales manager today? One thing is for sure; this is not for the weak of the heart! How do you lead differently by engaging the ecosystem around you? You have to “bend space and time” to support sales conversations. Tactically driven people focus only on their success and isolated team. But, to be successful, they need to think differently and engage in a broader sense. Leading today is more about strategy than tactics.
Executives seek leaders who want to elevate their role and impact to work across silos and drive outcomes with others. There is a big difference between focusing on "me" and "we." Today's sales managers focus on "we." And that's what this program is about.
You have to lead to get through uncertain times. It's a leadership challenge. Not an employee challenge.
Leading in times of uncertainty
We live in a fast-paced, ever-changing world, and our company is an even more extreme manifestation. We’re focusing these sessions on how to be a manager in a high-growth environment. Remember: in turbulence, the greatest danger isn’t the turbulence itself — it’s acting with yesterday’s logic.
To demonstrate this, think about the evolution of the industry. We're not living in a world of hyper-connection. We’re at a kind of turning point: will we try to pretend we’re still living in the previous era or embrace the changes?
Recent current events have shown us that we’re navigating a global, digital world with no roadmap and where we must think systematically.
A term that encapsulates the modern-day well is VUCA: volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.
As a leader, it’s up to you to drive performance in your team and how the team impacts the organization.
What you can do
Past managers felt they had to anticipate where they were going, but this is no longer possible. So instead, your challenge is to get everyone into a learning and growth mindset to stay agile and open amid chaos. Technical skills, in particular, are constantly changing, so we all need to learn along the way.
Many people see change as the enemy and something to fear, but managers should manage change through frequent, transparent communication rather than minimize change.
Since people fear the consequences of change and not change itself, you must show them that staying the same is more painful than shifting.
Still, that doesn’t mean you must deny that navigating all this change is challenging. You might burn out at some point, but it’s okay to use others for support and acknowledge that you’re struggling.
Also, your effectiveness as a leader doesn’t always have the answer — it’s knowing what point you’re at right now and pondering the most relevant questions. As a sales manager, you will also need to build team strategies.
What it means: Look to the future
Your job as a manager is to build a strategy and a plan. What is different today? Everyone needs to evolve in real time, yourself included.
It’s more important than ever that everyone in the team understands their role in the change and the value created by implementing the business strategy. So how do team members fit into the more comprehensive view of the company’s vision?
