The Pitch
In the world of sales management, there's a distinct difference between managing and challenging your team. While managing often involves control and micro-management, challenging your team can lead to greater empowerment and growth. Here's a comparison:
Managing:
- Control Based: Traditional management often relies on controlling strategies, which can stifle creativity and initiative.
- Owned by Manager: Decisions and directions are typically top-down, with little input from team members.
- One Way: Communication often flows from the manager to the team, without much opportunity for feedback or dialogue.
- Limiting: This approach can limit the potential of the team, as it doesn't encourage exploration or innovation.
- Punitive: Mistakes are often met with punitive measures, which can create a fear-based work environment.
- Micro: Micro-management can undermine trust and confidence within the team.
Challenging:
- Empowering: Encouraging team members to take on challenges empowers them to grow and develop their skills.
- Owned by Rep: Sales reps take ownership of their goals and strategies, fostering a sense of responsibility and commitment.
- Collaborative: This approach promotes teamwork and collaboration, leveraging diverse strengths and ideas.
- Freeing: It frees team members to experiment, innovate, and find the best paths to success.
- Supportive: Mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities, with support provided to overcome challenges.
- Expansive: Encouraging reps to push their boundaries leads to personal and professional growth.
So What?
By shifting from managing to challenging your team, you create an environment that is conducive to growth, innovation, and high performance. This approach not only helps your team members realize their full potential but also contributes to your development as a leader.
Next Steps
✅ Foster a culture of empowerment and collaboration in your team.
✅ Encourage reps to take ownership of their roles and goals.
✅ Promote open communication and feedback.
✅ Support your team in taking on challenges and learning from setbacks.
Closed Won!
Challenging your team rather than just managing them can lead to remarkable growth and achievements. What are your thoughts on this approach? Have you tried shifting from a management to a challenging style, and what impact has it had on your team?
