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The Five Star 5 – A Collaborative Leadership List
There is an incredible amount of content available on leadership, and I made sure to research none of it for this post!
I wanted to share five key points of what leadership means to me, but I also wanted your comments to compile a longer list. Don’t research, just share what you feel! I will post the full list on my blog next week.
- Motivate, inspire and most importantly have fun
- Give an enthusiastic thank you when things go well, and a supportive ear when things go wrong
- Be a positive example with your work ethic, and have a desire to succeed that others are proud to follow
- Understand that all your employees are unique people and need to be managed accordingly
- As often as possible smile, laugh and have a bounce in your step!
My Best Sales Manager
One Sales Manager in my career was a cut above the rest. As I think back to our first meeting close to 11 years ago, I realize that it took about 5 seconds for us to click. Sometimes it is there, and sometimes it is not in a business relationship. But I knew right away that I had made the right decision to move and start a new life in Edmonton.
Everything between him and the team worked. There was limited drama in the office, and the focus was always growing the business, and having fun along the way. He never made it feel like he was our boss, more of a team captain. He was a leader who supported us in every way. He was there for us when we succeeded, and when we failed. He assisted in our personal development, and often commented on how lucky he was to have a team like us to support. It was never “below him” to help us with whatever we needed assistance with. He was a manager, but he was more than willing to get “dirty with us in the trenches”.
He was the consummate mentor, and was always thinking about succession plans for those who were interested in moving up within the organization. He was an ear for everyone with respect to business or personal problems.
I had often thought about what would happen to the team if he ever decided to move on. I have to be honest; it worried me a bit, more than it should have. When he finally did move on, as expected, things were never the same again with our sales division.
I called him out of the blue when I was in his city a few months ago and we had a last-minute coffee. Before I knew it, more than an hour had passed. We picked up right where we left off from the last time we saw each other! I had to pinch myself to realize that we were not between sales calls working for the same company anymore. I will always credit him for being the most influential person who assisted in getting my sales career to the next level as quickly as it did.
- Who has been influential in getting you to where you are today?
- What awesome things have they done that really stand out in your mind?
Sell, Lead, Succeed! 