Millennial Salespeople Need Strong, Trusted Leaders NOW (Esp. with Fear, Uncertainty + Market Instability)

Millennial Salespeople Need Strong, Trusted Leaders NOW (Esp. with Fear, Uncertainty + Market Instability)

Are your Millennial salespeople glued to social media 24/7?

If yes, they may feel like the world is falling apart. It is during times like these that they crave a sales leader who is calm, cool, and collected.

How can you be that trusted leader?

Just as you want a leader whose feet are firmly planted on the ground, and aren’t swayed by the emotional ups and downs of the hours, so do they. They need sales leaders who deal with honestly with reality AND who stays positive believing that we will get through this.

To add a spiritual perspective, they want a leader who will greet them with the word “Shalom!” – peace. A leader who IS Shalom.

Above all, they need a leader they can trust.

When conducting Millennial Leadership workshops and breakouts, I often use this Top 21 Trust Checklist that I developed from one of my “best-of-the-best” books. It’s an oldie, The Trusted Advisor, Maister, Green & Galford.  Yet, highly relevant for today’s sales leaders and salespeople who are committed to growing their sales capacity, influence, and executive presence.

I invite you to reflect on this Top 21 Trust Checklist. When you rank yourself on a scale of 0 to 10 (with 10 being the highest), how do you score?  Where are you strong? What areas do you need growth in your leadership presence?

Check out this Top 21 Trust Checklist. They:

1. Seem to understand us, effortlessly, and like us
2. Are consistent (we can depend on them)
3. Always help us see things from fresh perspectives
4. Don’t try to force things on us
5. Help us think things through (it’s our decision)
6. Don’t substitute their judgment for ours
7. Don’t panic or get overemotional (they stay calm)
8. Help us think and separate our logic from our emotion
9. Criticize and correct us gently, lovingly
10. Don’t pull their punches (we can rely on them to tell us the truth)
11. Are in it for the long haul (the relationship is more important than the current issue)
12. Give us reasoning (to help us think), not just their conclusions
13. Give us options, increase our understanding of those options, give us their recommendation, and let us choose
14. Challenge our assumptions (help us uncover the false assumptions we’ve been working under)
15. Make us feel comfortable and casual personally (but they take the issues seriously)
16. Act like a real person, not someone in a role
17. Are reliably on our side and always seem to have our interests at heart
18. Remember everything we ever said (without notes)
19. Are always honorable (they don’t gossip about others, and we trust their values)
20. Help us put our issues in context, often using metaphors, stories, and anecdotes (few problems are completely unique)
21. Have a sense of humor to diffuse (our) tension in tough situations
22. Are smart (sometimes in ways we’re not)

OK – the list is long!  And, the question is – Will you be the trusted leader in your Millennial’s life today?  Will you keep your feet firmly on the ground, and equip them to deal constructively with chaos and fear that has infiltrated our communities, seemingly overnight?

You are the leader who can inspire your Millennial salespeople to be resilient.  Together, we will get through this.

Shalom.

Leadership Lesson: During times of chaos and unpredictable outcomes, your Millennial salespeople need a leader they can trust.

Leadership Question: What are you doing to instill a sense of hopeful realism in your emerging leaders during chaotic times?