How 5 Braveheart Decisions Build Resilience and Inspire Breakthrough Sales Growth

How 5 Braveheart Decisions Build Resilience and Inspire Breakthrough Sales Growth

When I reflect on what presidents, CEOs, and business owners are doing in these chaotic times, I’m reminded of the bravery of lions. This series is inspired by the braveheart leaders who, in their business challenges, have become increasingly successful on their business adventure and the implementation of winning sales growth strategies. Do you see yourself as a brave lion?

Just before Christmas, my husband, Gordon, joined our youngest daughter, Danae, in Tanzania where she is working at STEMM.org. The location of the mission is in a beautiful setting at the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, and close to a national park. Of course, they had to use this opportunity to go on a photo safari. And how fortunate they were to encounter a pride of lions! However, Gordon admits he was eternally grateful to be in a Land Rover at the time. He could roll the window up when the lions decided to use the vehicle as part of their fighting strategy!

Gordon and Danae were intrigued by the interesting facts their guide shared about lions. For example, why is a lion called the King of the Jungle, when they don’t actually live in jungles? The short answer is, they have earned this title, due to their bravery. They fear no other animal. They rule because of their sheer strength, grace, physical beauty, and massive raw power. And don’t forget about that roar that can be heard almost 5 miles away!

The constant barrage of pandemic news and waves of lockdowns caught many leaders off guard. They were already feeling the technological, cultural, and political disruption. To aggravate their challenges, many saw relentless messages of the fear-mongers on a daily basis. What was your experience in 2021?

It’s wearing, robbing resilience, and eroding the stamina of those on our leadership and sales teams.

Fear, if left unchecked, sabotages our growth in all areas of life. In Millennials Matter, I discuss the Five Capitals concept and the importance of building resilience – spiritually, relationally, physically, intellectually, and financially. Fear has a toxic influence on all these areas.  Once we recognize it personally, we can empower our leadership and sales teams to be grounded in reality, not fear. We want to build hope-filled resilience in our teams.

I believe the 5 Bold Leadership Decisions will dramatically impact the trajectory of our Millennial and Next-Gen leaders and sales teams. These brave decisions provide a framework to spark productive conversations and build resilience and capacity…

What brave strategies did you develop to deal with your unique challenges in a culture filled with chaos, disruption, and fear?

How Does the UN-Culture Destroy Business Growth?

In the introduction,  5 Bold Leadership Decisions to Get You on a Sales Growth Track, we discovered how the Sales UN-culture might be sabotaging your business growth and development strategies, preventing you from exceeding your goals.

So, what’s a Sales UN-culture?

It’s where the sales systems, processes, and staffing don’t support a pathway to sales success.

However, there’s hope. There is a way to lead your sales teams away from this stagnant culture that robs their potential and destroys their dreams.

How Might 5 Bold Decisions Get You a Strong Growth Culture?

If you’ve ever been on a photo safari in Africa, you’ll understand the thrill of seeing wild animals thrive. As a leader, your role is to build future leaders who will thrive, despite the daunting challenges they face.

In this series, we are developing these brave leaders by asking an important question…

The secret to the 5 bold leadership decisions is embedded in 1 power-packed question, “What might I do to make a positive impact?”

Here’s a short recap of the 5 Bold Decisions that will help you to leverage the power of this question. I invite you to read the entire series, and to get back to me with your additional insights.

Sales Growth Challenge #1: How to Deal with the UN-Culture Blocking your Team’s Sales Growth Path

One of the leaders who joined our CEO Roundtable shared his concerns.  “My salespeople are UN-focused and anxious. Every new bit of distressing news distracts them.”

Sales Growth Solution: In your role as a Vision-Caster, commit to asking WHAT vs. WHY. Asking “WHAT” questions spark a mindset that enables your UN-focused salespeople to see a better future. These questions ensure alignment between your grand vision and their goals and dreams.

Learn how asking WHAT questions casts a compelling vision for your salespeople, so they have a reason to excel – here.

Sales Growth Challenge #2: Stop Un-Creativity. Spark Innovation. Create Breakthrough Sales Strategy. 

Without strategy, UN-Creative salespeople get stuck. Darin was one of the leaders who reached out to me for help. He felt trapped in the Sales UN-culture. “I don’t see any motivation or energy to tackle real client issues. My salespeople are UN-creative!”

Sales Growth Solution: As a Strategy Formulator, Darin leveraged the power of asking MIGHT questions vs. SHOULD questions. Instead of complaining, he changed tactics. He started coaching the team to create the strategies that will help them achieve their Big Hairy Audacious Goals.  “Might” is the secret word that sparks UN-creative salespeople to develop innovative strategies to solve problems.

Discover what causes neuroscientists to say “might” is the secret sauce to business innovation – here.

Sales Growth Challenge #3: Stop UN-Accountability with 3 Breakthrough Sales Growth Keys

Ineffective coaching allows the UN-Accountable culture to thrive. Carol was at the end of her rope. She called me to complain about her UN-accountable salespeople. “I’m frustrated with their attitude. My salespeople blame the pandemic, the government, the marketing department, the competition…it’s an endless list! They even blame me! They’re not taking responsibility for their results.”

Sales Growth Solution: Carol discovered that ineffective coaching leads to Shrinking Thinking and a lack of ownership. She identified the blame-gamers and excuse-makers. Then, she started coaching, asking questions that included the word, “I.” This motivated her salespeople to create the results they wanted.

Read here to learn how Carol used her Business Development Plan to the Blame-Gamers into Top Performers.

Sales Growth Challenge #4: How Action-Packed Leadership Development Can Stop UN-Productivity

UN-productive salespeople result in lackluster sales results. During a business review session with Fred, he said, “Working remotely appears to be UN-productive! I’m concerned that my salespeople are too stressed to really focus and be productive in reaching their sales goals.”

Sales Growth Solution on How to Manage Millennials in the Workplace: Fred was intentional in identifying unproductive behavior in his team. But, he was also aware of the fact that they were experiencing high levels of anxiety and stress. Fred put on his Change Agent hat. He showed his salespeople how they could stretch their sales capacity. This enabled them to move from the planning phase to the action phase. However, they did it in a way that didn’t increase their stress and anxiety.

Find out about the positive results of Fred’s Stretch Strategy here.

Sales Growth Challenge #5: 4 Steps to Create a Trust Triangle that Drives Your Sales Growth Strategy

When Graham called, he was deeply concerned. “Everyone appears to be so UN-kind to each other. In my organization, I’m dealing with a lack of trust! My salespeople think I’m only focused on tackling the fires of today. I should be laying out a long-term leadership development strategy for the team. But it just feels like I have more important things to do. I don’t have time for the fluff!”

Sales Growth Solution: Graham started inspiring his teams “TO MAKE A POSITIVE IMPACT” in the lives of others. We developed 4 steps that he used to create a Trust Triangle! This new culture soon transformed the UN-kindness into a win-win-win scenario for him, his team, and the clients.

See how Graham leveraged the Trust Triangle to achieve results here.

How might these Decisions Maximize Results?

What might you do to make a positive impact in the lives of the Next-Gen leaders you coach?

As you continue dealing with unprecedented obstacles and uncertainty, you and your teams may also be victims of the toxic influence of the Fear Pandemic. Now it’s time to take your power back. It’s time to be as brave as a lion.

I trust that the 5 Bold Decisions Series will inspire and energize you to find new and innovative ways to build capacity and improve your business growth strategies for 2022. Use your leadership roles to bravely fight the Fear Pandemic by building hope-filled resilience in your teams. Then you will effectively navigate your way through any obstacle life throws your way on your business adventure safari..

Your leadership matters, NOW, more than ever.

To read all the articles in this series, 5 Bold Leadership Decisions to Get You on a Sales Growth Track, click on each word:

WHAT

MIGHT

I

DO

TO MAKE A POSITIVE IMPACT

SUMMARY

Sales Growth Lesson: Use your roles as vision-caster, strategy formulator, coach, and change agent to prepare your teams for sales success. 

Sales Growth Question: What bold decisions do you need to make to thrive in times of disruption, chaos, and fear?