Everyone, including leaders, have both skills and strengths. Your job as a sales manager is to harness the collective power of your teams, so they operate at maximum effectiveness.
They say you shouldn’t judge a fish by how well it can climb a tree. If your goal as a leader is to create a high-performing team, you need to ensure that your employees use their strengths and feel valued by them. As a result, they’ll be more engaged and productive.
Talent is inherent, and skills are taught
There’s plenty of evidence that a team capable of harnessing its strengths is a successful team — but for that to be possible, they need exemplary leadership. This is the essence of strengths-based development: it’s the idea everyone has talents, and we gain strength by applying those talents correctly and developing the right skills and experiences for them.
Tools like the Clifton Strengths Finder help us identify our talents, but developing them (and turning them into strengths) requires time and practice.
Talent is natural, whereas skills are taught and developed gradually. Or, if you prefer to think of it this way, talent is what gives someone enough will and enjoyment to develop a skill in the first place.
The will of your team members is another critical component in how they perform and are motivated. A leader plays a crucial role in providing this motivation and giving their team the will to succeed.
Distinguish between skill and will
First, you need to separate skills and will. Figuring out the core problem of someone in your team will help them develop and move forward. Learn to plot each person in your team according to skill and will levels.
Those without skill or will are the most difficult to coach — they’re likely unable to take suggestions and develop. Others may have the skill but not the will, which might be because they’re in the wrong role and unhappy, signaling a lack of alignment. This is a zone you should pay particular attention to, and it’s frustrating to coach these people since you’ll likely see a lot of potential in them.
Any leader can find they have many people in their teams who have a fair amount of skill and will, meaning they need to raise the bar gradually. These people are fertile ground for extra coaching and development to fill in their gaps, which catapults them into the advanced stage. They can also help you to raise other people in the team.
What you can do
If you’ve inherited people into your team (perhaps because they come from acquired companies), it’s more important than ever to figure out where people stand regarding their skills, will, and talent. You can either ask them to perform a self-assessment or assess them yourself, then proceed to assess that as time goes on periodically.
Also, everyone should reflect on their role as a leader depending on where their team lies in the skill will matrix. What does that say about where you’re at and the current state of your team? How can you take action on that?
As well as creating development plans for those in your team, track yourself along the way and see if your efforts to advance people in your team are having the effect you want.
Learn How sales managers define a great team strategy?
What it means to you
A great leader can make the difference between a strong and a weak team, so if your team is low in skill or will (or both), it doesn’t mean you can’t turn that around. That’s why developing talent and having a strengths-based approach to leading are so important.
Be sure to treat everyone in your team as individuals — they’re all at different stages of development, and how you interact with them and lean into their strengths will be different.
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