The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things. – Ronald Reagan
When Ronald Reagan was asked to name the last American leader he had faith in, he responded with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, followed by this now famous quote. He admired the way FDR took his cause to the people of this country through his fireside chats. For many Americans, it was the first time they actually heard the sound of a President’s voice. That voice projected self-assurance, it communicated policies in a way people could understand and it built trust among the American people. This resulted in a unified country, empowered to dig out from the Great Depression.
Having the ability to rally people to do great things is a tall order to fill. Every business leader knows that. Finding and developing those who are born to lead is even harder. Typically, we promote the person that’s successful in their current role, and then we throw them into the leadership development funnel. You know the one, that multibillion-dollar industry that we hope will transform our chosen ones into an FDR or Ronald Reagan. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
The truth is, not everyone will develop into a leader, and that’s okay. 80+% of sales leaders fail because they don’t have the competencies to succeed. They can be uber successful at selling, but not at leading their team to do great things. There is a certain skill set to being a leader and it can’t always be gleaned by reading a best seller or taking a course. In fact, for most of us who do go on to lead, it is more of a personal journey.
I’m actually on that journey right now. As an organization, we’re in a state of growth and this means my role is shifting. At first, it felt like that shift was happening overnight and it was a little unsettling. Then I saw the Ronald Reagan quote and it became my North Star that would guide me towards what this new role could look like.
My job is to help the team grow as consultants so that they can go on to do great things. In this leadership role, I share our strategic vision and move us all towards the same goals. I have to transition from individual contributor to a leader that seeks out individual strengths. In essence, my new clients are actually working right here at SalesCORE! That doesn’t mean I’ve given up on working with our clients, it just means that my active role is guiding SalesCORE towards the future.
Every business goes through change, and this disruption can be external or internal. We help companies, and leaders, strengthen sales processes and people. We help them go on to do great things.
– Pam