As a sales manager, you may not consider yourself a sales leader. After all, strategic leadership issues fall within the purview of senior executives such as the Chief Revenue Officer. But ask your sales team to describe your leadership qualities and you may hear comments such as “She knows how to communicate what she wants,” “He makes the right decisions at the right time,” “She’s very persuasive,” or “He works twice as hard as anybody else on the team.”
The reality is that all sales managers are also sales leaders. You need to develop your leadership skills if you want to maximize the sales performance of your team. Perceptions of what makes a great leader may differ. However, it’s usually a combination of abilities or characteristics that make a sales manager a true sales leader.
Let’s define sales leadership further. When you consider the great leaders—whether political, social, or religious …