The best sales leaders know who they are and declare it.
I believe one of the most important traits you can have as a leader who drives profit is an appreciation for vulnerability. Vulnerability just means letting your people know exactly the kind of coach you want to be for them. Imagine how much certainty you can give your sales teams by letting them know what’s coming next.
In Ph.D. researcher Brene Brown’s book, Daring Greatly, she says this: “Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.”
In her research, Brown found that we have a cultural perception of vulnerability as a weakness, not a strength. What she found in the corporate world was the opposite – a leader’s capacity for long-term growth was predicated on how vulnerable and real they could be both with themselves and with their team.
That’s why it’s so important to create a manifesto so you can declare the kind of leader you want to be for your team. A manifesto is a public declaration of your intentions, your opinions, your objectives, and your motives as a coach. And your manifesto has two parts: It declares who you are as a coach, and it sets an example for your team and facilitates buy-in with team members
By presenting your leadership manifesto in public, you add personal accountability and create reverence with your people. Vulnerability isn’t a dirty word. Your people will trust you more if you’re completely transparent with your vision and goals as a leader. And the more you invest, the better it will be.
Imagine driving a car, and your passenger is taking care of the directions. But here’s the problem – they never tell you how much farther you need to go or when to turn until the second before it happens. You’d go crazy, right? You need the certainty of knowing when turns are coming when to change lanes, and how much further you have to go to reach your destination.
That’s what a manifesto does for your people. By declaring who you are, your team will always be prepared for the next turn in the road.
The point of vulnerability with your coaching manifesto isn’t to pour out whatever emotions you’re going through at the time. It’s to be real, honest, and open with your people about what they can expect from you as a leader. Again, we have this societal stigma about vulnerability, but it’s not about just dumping everything that’s on your mind on your people. You can either be open and transparent with your people, or you can limit your team’s growth. I know which path I’m taking every single time.
To learn more about creating your sales leadership manifesto, and FPG’s Leadership Sales Coaching program, visit FPG.com
Jason Forrest
Jason Forrest has disrupted the sales training industry by creating the first training program that changes behavior. This is done through 1) teaching tactical real-world processes; 2) the language of persuasion, 3) removing the mental leashes that hold people back, and 4) through a program-based training approach.
This philosophy is what led his Warrior Selling® and Leadership Sales Coaching programs to be ranked in the top 2 of the World’s Top Sales Development Programs, by Global Gurus. His provocative style of speaking his truth ranks him number 5 on the Global Sales Guru list.
Jason is a Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, the science of influence and behavioral change. He is also a Practitioner in Accelerated Evolution, the psychology of removing fear in high performers.
