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Management and leadership are two sides of the same coin, and both are necessary for a business to succeed. Learning the difference between management and leadership is important for developing effective management skills.
Great leadership is about inspiring enthusiasm and drive, while great management is about building highly efficient teams that produce impressive results. Managers are experts at getting things done and meeting targets and deadlines; leaders know how to evolve people and organizations and help them meet their potential. Each is a unique discipline that helps teams meet their short- and long-term goals, while also fostering commitment to a shared vision and outside the box thinking.
Management skills are concerned with assigning tasks, committing to deadlines, and creating systems, while leadership is focused on defining a purpose and uniting individuals behind big ideas. Managers ensure teams meet their deadlines and deliver what’s expected of them, while leaders focus on the future and how teams might prepare for challenges on the horizon. Management is about limiting risk, while leadership encourages bold action. Leadership is primarily about engagement, while management has more to do with execution. Management focuses on performance, while leadership focuses on development. Managers develop processes and create smooth operations, while leaders build relationships, encourage communication, and build trust. The most successful businesses are built with an ideal balance of management skills and leadership skills.
Scenario 1: Suzy Business Owner has promised a new client 2,000 flyers by the end of the month, but she recently lost two employees, and she knows it’s going to be a stretch. She creates a workflow document that helps remaining team members understand when they must complete their portion of the project, and she meets with each team member one-on-one to train them on the new system. By following the workflow correctly, the team is able to meet their deadline.
Is this an example of management or leadership?
Answer: Management
Suzy is faced with a short-term business challenge, and by managing her overstretched team correctly, she’s able to help them successfully achieve their goal.
On the other hand…
Suzy should be careful. Her team is being pushed beyond its limits. To continue her team’s successful streak, Suzy must also lead. She has to remind team members that accepting these kinds of challenges can help them transform the organization, leading to a more successful future for everyone involved.
Scenario 2:
Jim Entrepreneur is hoping to push his company to become the leader in its industry within the next five years. He knows it’s possible if everyone gets on board. He calls a team meeting where he presents his long-term vision and asks team members to imagine what it will feel like to someday be the best of the best. He hands out paper and crayons and asks everyone to draw a picture of one thing the company can start doing differently to help towards its goals. The team eagerly participates and many turn in more than one idea.
Is this an example of management or leadership?
Answer: Leadership
While Jim’s meeting may not produce any tangible results immediately, it serves to unite the team and get everyone excited about the company’s potential. His brainstorm encourages creativity, and it reminds each team member that his or her ideas matter. The meeting also helps inspire people to focus on the big picture rather than just short-term results.
On the other hand…
Jim has a talent for getting his team fired up, but this effect could fade if his team members start to notice that he’s all talk and no action. Jim will need to use his management skills to prove that he can translate ideas into tangible business systems.
Scenario 3:
Eric the Executive grows concerned when the company does not hit its goals for the quarter. He schedules one-on-one meetings with each member of his team to investigate the problem. One team member, who has struggled to meet his deadlines, says he’s been having trouble with the company’s current software, and he has been leaving work 10 minutes early every day to take a training class on another software he was hoping to pitch as a replacement. Eric tells the team member he’s sorry to hear the current software is challenging, but he asks the employee to consider dropping the class to allow him the extra time needed to finish his daily tasks. The employee agrees to focus on his work.
Is this an example of management or leadership?
Answer: Management
Eric is doing a great job using his management skills to monitor the bottom line and ensure his company is meeting its quarterly goals. He understands that every team member must be contributing 100 percent of what is expected of them if the company hopes to produce the results it has promised.
On the other hand…
While Eric has solved the problem in the short term, he may be missing longer term opportunities to help the company operate more efficiently. If he had found a way to help the team member stay in the class, Eric would have provided the employee with a chance to develop himself while also exploring a new software solution which might improve company operations far into the future.
Scenario 4:
Brenda the Boss has discovered that her team’s projects have consistently come in over budget, and the executive team has suggested that if Brenda can’t curb spending, they may have to reduce her department’s budget for next quarter. Brenda can think of a few ways she could reduce spending, but instead of implementing those ideas automatically, she decides to throw the problem to her team, asking them to brainstorm some solutions to cut costs.
Is this an example of management or leadership?
Answer: Leadership
By empowering her team to find solutions, Brenda encourages them to think outside the box and demonstrates confidence in their abilities to problem solve. She also shows that her priority is not implementing her ideas, but rather, finding the solutions that are best for the team.
On the other hand…
Brenda will still need to make sure the solutions her team comes up with will deliver as promised. If they cannot reach their cost cutting goals, the whole team will suffer under a slashed budget, so Brenda may have to nix more creative ideas if they don’t seem likely to reach the goal.
Every business needs both great management and bold leadership in order to achieve its goals. Vision without action is ineffectual, and efficiency without a purpose is a recipe for maintaining the status quo. Managers help businesses function like well-oiled machines, while leaders help organizations evolve and take giant leaps forward. Innovative companies can count on their managers to work out the kinks, lower costs, and increase volume, while well-managed companies benefit from the creativity, passion, and unity leaders inspire. Whether it’s achieved by one executive or a team of one hundred, the most successful companies will be those who recognize the difference between management and leadership see the two as complementary and inseparable parts of any thriving business.
Corporate culture comprises some of the hardest to define aspects of your business: vision, values, philosophies, leadership, language, norms, beliefs, habits, and more. Because defining corporate culture is so challenging, though, many business owners overlook it altogether. Corporate culture exists, however, whether a company’s leadership actively takes a part in creating it or not. Business leaders who do not help shape their organization’s corporate culture run the risk of letting their businesses lose control of such an important facet.
Creating a vibrant, easy-to-understand corporate culture can help organizations attract and keep top talent. It is critical to employee engagement and retention, and it can have an impact their happiness and satisfaction in the workplace. Creating a thriving corporate culture can also affect performance by instilling values relating to work ethic or by the way it shapes management styles. Culture can also influence the way your company is viewed by its competitors and industry.
It’s All About Authenticity: Defining corporate culture is valuable, but the definition must fit your unique company and its values. Don’t base your idea of culture on what competitors are doing, and don’t try to force your company culture to fit within a narrow definition based solely on what you’d like the company to be. Instead, take an honest assessment of your existing corporate culture, and define specific adjustments you’d like to make over time.
Corporate culture is something that permeates every aspect of a business, and changing it means changing employees’ feelings about the business, their understanding of what is expected of them, and a shared sense of the things that matter most to the business. Simply slapping a new label on your corporate culture won’t do much to change those deeply ingrained ideas. Shifting the perception of what your business stands for will take plenty of time, planning, cooperation, communication, and demonstrating that the company’s spoken values are much more than mere words.
Clarify Purpose: Start simply by defining your organization’s purpose. Then, ensure all employees and stakeholders understand that purpose, have bought into it, and are united toward fulfilling it. A clear definition of your corporate culture is pertinent to how effective it is.
Make Culture Part of Your Communications: Build a shared cultural vocabulary by reinforcing company purpose, vision, and values in all weekly and daily communications. Creating corporate culture means keeping it in mind when you set goals, announce achievements, plan events, and celebrate successes. Take advantage of company meetings as opportunities to reiterate core philosophies and unite the team. Weave culture into the visual design and layout of your workspace, as well. Prove your company’s stated values are more than just lip-service. For example, make sure your “green” business offers employees access to plenty of recycling bins, and avoid filling your business that touts “creativity and outside-the-box thinking,” with small cubicles, which literally box employees in.
Lead by Example: Call on your executive team to help define corporate culture. Other members of the organization will look to what the executive team does, not just to what they say, to determine their cultural reality. Setting the right example is critical when it comes to culture, so hold meetings to ensure your highest-ranking leaders are on board and fully committed to doing their parts.
Hire with Culture in Mind: Maintaining a specific corporate culture requires hiring not just quality people, but the right people. Communicate your corporate culture clearly during the interview process, just as you would other company goals, and make sure it fits with prospective employees’ own values and work style.
Grow Your Culture as You Grow Your Organization: When companies grow, culture becomes vulnerable because new employees bring with them new ideas, ingrained values, and past experiences. Set clear guidelines and provide reminders of cultural priorities to help maintain control of company culture during growth periods.
Get Everyone on Board: Make team members accountable for living up to the company’s standards and representing its values. Accepting shared responsibility for creating company culture gives employees a sense of ownership and purpose. Set clear expectations for employee behavior, and encourage managers to label and confront actions that violate company values. Make culture part of performance reviews, and address culture when measuring company progress as well.
Shape the Culture Around Your People, Not the Other Way Around: As company priorities and processes naturally evolve over time, the way you define your corporate culture may no longer fit. If your company’s value statements focus on the importance of in-person, face-to-face meetings, but 80% of your new employees now telecommute, it may be time to rethink whether those values still make sense. Don't try to force your people conform to a cultural definition that is no longer relevant. Instead, adjust your concept of corporate culture to fit your people and what’s important to them.
Corporate cultures are born with companies. They have lives of their own that go on whether business leaders intervene to help shape them or not. Defining and guiding corporate culture is about much more than words. It requires that companies and their leadership commit to a set of values and agree to a clear set of actions to weave those values throughout all of the core business functions. A thriving corporate culture is like a company’s soul: it is present in the way it does business, what it says about itself, who it hires, who it promotes, what it delivers to clients, and so much more. Business owners who understand the importance of corporate culture, can build happier, more engaged, better performing, and united work forces driven by people who understand their shared purpose.
The crowd falls silent as you walk out to the podium, and with hundreds of eyes fixed on you, you try to speak, only to realize you can’t remember a single word of your speech! This is the nightmare scenario so many of us play in our heads in the hours before we know we’ll need to speak in front of a crowd. The fear of public speaking, glossophobia, is one of the most common phobias, and many people avoid public speaking in order to escape their anxiety. But dodging the microphone or avoiding speaking in front of others can have career consequences that are worse than that temporary feeling of dread.
Public speaking is a great opportunity to demonstrate leadership, draw positive attention to yourself, and share your point of view. Avoiding public speaking invitations, simply because you’re afraid, is doing yourself a disservice that could stifle your career growth. You can overcome your fear of public speaking by approaching it with the right attitude and by calling on a few helpful tips and tricks.
1) Focus on Them, Not You: Public speaking anxiety often centers around feelings of insecurity about how you look and sound. By focusing on what the audience is getting out of your speech, you can take your mind off those worries about being judged. Remember that you’re speaking in front of a crowd to communicate something important. Are they absorbing your message? Are they connected? The more energy you put into conveying your main point, the less you’ll have available for self-criticism.
2) Speak from the Heart: Public speaking can feel awkward because we may think we have to pretend to be someone else – someone smarter – more knowledgeable. Instead of playing a role, just be sincere. Use examples you know well, relate to, and about which you feel strongly. The audience will pick up on your passion for the subject. When you speak in front of a crowd about your own perspective, you’re more likely to remember your speech, remain calm, and be convincing and compelling.
3) Breathe: It may seem obvious, but breathing properly is a proven technique for overcoming anxiety. Being deliberate about your breathing during a public speaking engagement can have multiple benefits. It reminds you to stay in the moment and get out of your head, and it slows you down, which prevents rushing through your speech and allows you to build confidence as you go. Breathing deeply also helps you control the sound of your voice, and it has a calming effect that prevents nerves from creeping up on you.
4) Practice, Practice, Practice: The better rehearsed you are, the more confident you’ll feel on stage, helping mitigate any fear of public speaking. Focus on your delivery more than specific words, and practice reading your presentation aloud. If possible, perform your speech in front of an audience, even if it’s just a friend or loved one. If you plan to use cue cards or a PowerPoint, practice with those as well, and make sure you’ve designed your cheat sheets in ways that are simple and easy to read. Cue cards with huge blocks of text can be confusing. Instead, use clean bullet points, and make sure the cards are numbered so you don’t mix up the order of your presentation. Record yourself via audio or video recorder and review your presentation as though you were an audience member. You’d be surprised how much changing your perspective can help you improve your public speaking performance.
5) Take Pauses: When you’re nervous, it’s tempting to rush through your presentation, but taking occasional pauses can help to calm your nerves and improve your delivery. Pauses create a break in your speech, which gives the audience a chance to react and absorb your message. Pauses help to add emphasis and can force you to get back into the moment rather than obsessing about the next line you have to recite.
6) Embrace Your Nerves: Don’t judge yourself for being nervous. Your anxiousness about public speaking is a sign that you care about doing well and you’re invested. Studies have shown that trying to stop yourself from being nervous is a losing battle. Instead, transform your nerves into another feeling: excitement. Use your nerves as a way of bringing energy to your presentation as you speak in front of a crowd.
7) Start with a Story: When it comes to public speaking, what people will remember most is how you start and how you finish. Begin with a story, joke, or memory to draw the audience into your presentation right away. This also helps you put their focus on your message rather than your performance as a speaker.
8) Don’t Memorize Every Word: It’s tempting to rehearse to the point that you know every single word, pause, and inflection by heart. This could backfire big-time if you happen to miss a word, completely throwing you off for the rest of your presentation. Instead, memorize the beats, the main points you need to make, and instead of focusing on the exact delivery, put energy into staying in the moment and connecting with your audience.
Public speaking doesn’t have to be painful. In fact, it shouldn’t be. Taking center stage to speak to a crowd is an exciting opportunity to share your voice and demonstrate your ability to motivate and inspire. While your instincts might tell you to get through it as fast as you can and to try not to think about what you’re doing, that approach will almost guarantee a poor performance. As daunting as it may seem, try to enjoy the moment. Remind yourself of the potential benefits of doing a good job, and remember that the people in the audience aren’t there because they want to see you fail. They are there to learn something and to hear what you have to say. Prepare yourself well and your ability to capture the crowd may surprise you.
You’ve never dreamt of owning your own business, but that doesn’t mean you don’t fantasize about getting ahead and earning that big corner office. There’s a reason those impassioned entrepreneurs seem to be so good at turning their big dreams into realities: they have an entrepreneurial mindset. They’re confident and driven, and they thrive on the challenges that sometimes keep others from even trying. Embracing and maintaining an entrepreneurial mindset can help you do your job better, allowing you to reach your goals faster, whatever they may be. So, no matter where your career is today, think like someone who rules the world, and someday, you just might.
1. Take Action: Entrepreneurs don’t just talk about the things they want; they go after them. Instead of waiting for fortune to turn your way, find ways to influence what you can in order to encourage the results you want. Being a go getter can help you rise through the ranks faster, and it proves that you’re someone who can be trusted to get a job done.
2. Be Resourceful: Don’t let a limited budget stand in your way. Entrepreneurs find ways to make due and produce incredible results with what they have, and they’re clever about negotiating favors and freebees. Developing skills like these are crucial no matter the job, and finding ways to save the boss money is a great way to earn positive attention from those with the power to help you get ahead.
3. Recognize Opportunities: When entrepreneurs see an opening, they pounce on it. This way of thinking will help you choose the projects that can catapult your career by teaming you up with the right influencers or by demonstrating your ability to take the lead. Paying attention to the opportunities around you could also help you identify the perfect moment to ask for a promotion or a raise.
4. Be Fearless: Don’t let potential obstacles or rejection stop you, and don’t let a “no” scare you off. Entrepreneurs take risks and put themselves out there, which gives them an edge when it comes to sales, pitching ideas, and asking for better tools or more resources. Learning to stand your ground at the negotiating table is a skill that is critical to almost any business transaction.
5. Get Comfortable with Change: Fear of change is something that plagues many professionals, and it can prevent them from taking on new responsibilities, trying for a promotion, or applying for a new job. But don’t let fear of the unknown stop you. Instead, think like an entrepreneur, and decide to thrive on change. Accept being out of your comfort zone as a natural part of growth. Being at ease with uncertainty will empower you to say yes when others say no, helping you find the shortest possible route to success.
6. Love a Challenge: Entrepreneurs think adversity is exciting. Instead of choosing the easy road, point at the highest peak in sight and say, “l’ll conquer that one!” Priding yourself on winning in the face of extreme obstacles can be a major advantage whether you’re an intern, a new business owner, or a department head.
7. Know How to Delegate: Stay focused on the important things, and don’t be afraid to relinquish control to allow others to help lighten your load. Entrepreneurs learn that they must share responsibility and accept help when it’s available. Embracing collaboration can assist you in meeting deadlines and preventing burnout to keep you at the top of your game.
8. Be a Lifelong Learner: Entrepreneurs constantly strive to be better, smarter, and more efficient. Learn to maintain a student mentality, and your hunger for information will help you shine at work by keeping you up-to-date on industry knowledge, critical technical skills, and relevant news you can apply to help your employer outwit the competition.
9. Think Big: Entrepreneurs set challenging goals and are constantly striving to improve themselves. Even if you never hope to run your own company, aiming high is a great way to discover how much you can achieve. Thinking about the future can be an excellent way to stay motivated. Push yourself to think about where you might like your career to be in a year, five years, and beyond, and you just might surprise yourself.
10. Trust Your Instincts: Don’t spend a lot of time doubting yourself. Leading entrepreneurs know that negative thinking gets them nowhere. Trust your decisions, and be confident you will figure it out along the way. A great, entrepreneurial attitude will be your secret weapon against self-doubt, and it will help to remind you that you deserve the opportunity to succeed even when others casts doubts on your potential.
Thinking like an entrepreneur keeps you focused on your goals no matter where you are in your career path. It lends purpose to all the hard work you do, allowing you to set aside fear and ego to get the job done. It can help you remember that it will all pay off in the end. Adopt an entrepreneurial mindset, and the only person who will determine how successful you can be is you.
Building great teams starts with great leadership. As a manager, your job is about more than just delivering results. Your team members depend on you to help them keep their eyes on the prize. They look to you for support, encouragement, and most of all, for the motivation to deliver more than what is expected of them. Your passion for the work will inspire theirs, and by helping your team stay energized, positive, and driven toward your shared goals, you can position yourself and your team members for unprecedented success.
1. Listen Up: It’s easy to make assumptions about what employees want and who they are, but to truly motivate your employees, you’ll have to start listening. Spend one-on-one time with each team member to learn more about their goals, dreams, and challenges. Take a pause before responding with your own ideas to ensure you’ve fully absorbed what they’ve told you.
2. Ask Questions: Ask team members questions to help figure out what motivates them and what is holding them back. Instead of telling them why they should care, help them discover for themselves what drives them.
3. Create a Positive Work Environment: It’s simple. Happy employees are motivated employees, and unhappy employees find it challenging to stay engaged. Examine the culture at your office, and ask yourself if you were a team member, would you feel supported and excited to come to work? If the answer is no, start brainstorming ways you might be able to change things. If you get stuck, enlist the help of your employees. The simple act of including them in the process may motivate employees to work even harder.
4. Take a Personalized Approach: One size does not fit all when it comes to motivation. Relate to your employees on an individual level and adjust your leadership approaches according to what works best for each of them.
5. Set High Expectations: It’s hard to feel motivated when your supervisor does not seem to believe in you and expects you to fail. Instead of focusing on what the employee is doing wrong, reassure your team member that you know he or she can blow it out of the water.
6. Earn their Trust: Employees need to believe you when you say you have their interests at heart. Managers who expect employees to work hard just because it makes them look good, quickly foster resentment that can infect and demotivate the whole team. Make it clear that you want them to succeed, not for your benefit, but for theirs.
7. Offer to Help: Setting clear expectations is great, but employees also like to know that their managers have their backs. Let employees know you’re there to support them in any way they need.
8. Focus on Growth: Studies have shown that money alone, is not an effective incentive to drive performance. While it may seem counterintuitive, employees are far more motivated by autonomy, mastery, and purpose. To get your employees charged up, talk about their hopes and dreams for the future, recognize their improvements, and rally around your purpose as an organization.
9. Check in Often: Motivation is not something you can set and forget. Let employees know you’re paying attention. Acknowledge progress, praise accomplishments, and help team members look for potential solutions to their challenges.
10. Be a Good Example: Wanting your team to perform is a no brainer, but are you leading by example? You can’t expect your employees to feel motivated if you’re not fully invested too. Give employees something to aspire to by maintaining a positive attitude and by constantly looking for ways to go above and beyond.
Remember that high-performing, motivated teams start with great leaders. Most employees want to do well. They just need good managers who can help them keep their eye on the things that matter. Following these simple steps can help fuel your team members’ drive to succeed.
About The Coaching Habit: say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier
Coaching is an important skill for leaders, but often, managers are too busy or overworked to coach their direct reports well. However, author Michael Bungay Stanier argues that coaching can be done in increments of 10 minutes or fewer.
Drawing on years of experience on training managers through his consulting company, Box of Crayons, Bungay Stanier argues that coaching can be a regular, informal part of every day by asking seven essential questions:
Why Cydcor Recommends This Book
In 242 easy-to-read pages packed with anecdotes and explanations of the seven essential questions, Bungay Steiner offers a fresh and innovative take on the classic how-to manual. He combines insider information with research based in behavior and neuroscience to provide a new way to coach mentees. The book contains question-and-answer sections that will help readers identify old habits and start new behaviors.
The seven essential questions are also a great tool for sales professionals. They’ll help them get past the five basic objections to a product: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust. By using the seven questions to uncover what is actually important to a customer, it’s much easier to get to a “yes.”
Our Favorite Part
Each of the seven essential questions has its own chapter. The graphic design, including bulleted lists, pullout quotations, and other visual aids, helps readers to understand the highlights of each question. The book even has spaces and lines for readers to write about their thoughts and the actions they can take to develop the habits Bungay Stanier recommends. At the end of each of the seven chapters is a “Masterclass” section that helps to solidify the points the author made, allowing readers to strengthen their new habits.
Check out this book and tell us what you think. Share with us on Twitter and follow us @Cydcor.
We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.
Sales can be an extremely rewarding and lucrative profession. In order to reach that stage in your career, think about the things the best sales professionals do and emulate them in your daily work. Here are some things they do every day to be masters of their careers.
They create goals and persist until they reach them
When the best sales professionals set a goal, they commit 100 percent to achieving that goal. Then, they don’t stop until they do what they set out to do. Obstacles are normal, so they expect them and work hard to push through until they achieve success.
They do the hard stuff first
It’s easy to do the least effort-intensive tasks first, thinking that will leave you plenty of time to focus on the harder tasks later. But instead, you might find yourself without enough hours in the day to accomplish a difficult task that really needs to be done. Instead, the best sales professionals do the hardest, highest-priority task first and reward themselves for accomplishing that by doing smaller and less intense tasks afterwards.
They only check their email a few times a day
It’s easy to get used to responding to every beep or vibration from your phone, but the most successful sales professionals keep their phones in their pocket and focus on making sales. They set aside some time during lunch, or at the beginning and end of the day, to go through their emails and respond to those that need their attention.
They study their craft
You might think of sales as a profession that doesn’t require a lot of education to do well. The truth is that the best sales professionals continually learn. They do this by talking with teammates to learn about successful sales techniques, or by reading books to learn the art of persuasive speaking and making effective sales pitches.
They learn from their mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes, but the best sales professionals learn from them. It’s natural to want to hide your errors to prevent being judged by others or even to drown in negative self-talk after making a mistake. Instead, take some time to think about the mistake and see what you can do better in the future.
They take care of themselves
The best sales professionals establish a healthy morning routine. They get enough exercise and sleep, make time to spend with their family and friends, and don’t skip meals. They also “unplug” at night so they can wake up refreshed and ready to hit the streets.
They don’t use to-do lists
This may be surprising and even counterintuitive. However, according to Entrepreneur magazine, only 41 percent of items on to-do lists ever get done. Why? Again, it comes down to the fact that people tend to do the easy tasks before the difficult ones. The best sales professionals schedule their “to-dos” on their calendar because it holds them accountable to complete tasks at a specific time.
What do you do every day to be an excellent sales professional? Share your tips in the comments or tweet @Cydcor with your stories.
We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services located in Agoura Hills, CA. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.
In this age of technology, we’re constantly surrounded by information about what we should do and when we should do it. There are so many conflicting opinions and things to consider about every decision we could make that it’s easy to get sucked into “analysis paralysis” and never make a decision at all. But sometimes, trusting your gut may be the way to go.
So how can you develop your decisiveness and get better results? Here are some tips from the experts.
Use your emotional intelligence. When presented with a high-stakes decision that needs to be made quickly, it’s easy to respond with emotions such as fear, overwhelm and anger. These emotions can cloud your ability to make a good decision, so make a point of reining in your emotions to allow yourself to do more clear-headed thinking. Instead of denying the emotion, which will only make it stronger, acknowledge the emotion and allow it to move through you until you reach a state of calm.
Manage uncertainty. Don’t waste time with dozens of choices, because that will lead to the infamous “analysis paralysis” mentioned earlier. Instead, use your intuition to narrow the number of choices down to two or three, and then study those in more depth. By trusting your intuition, you’ll be more satisfied with your decision in the long run.
Listen to your team members. Their thoughts can help you consider the consequences of various choices. It also makes them part of the process so they too will be more satisfied with your decision.
Act quickly. Business moves fast, so your decisions need to be made quickly, too. ”When decisions need to be made, effective managers gather the facts, analyze the situation, consider alternatives, and decide on the best course of action—and they do it quickly!” say Denny Strigl and Frank Swiatek, authors of Managers, Can You Hear Me Now?: Hard-Hitting Lessons on How to Get Real Results. “They don’t procrastinate, and they certainly don’t stand around wringing their hands.”
Don’t be afraid to be wrong. Much indecisiveness is caused by the fear of making a mistake. However, the ability to make important decisions quickly is the key to achieving success. “Business is a contact sport, and you can’t be afraid to make a mistake,” says John Wittaker, marketing director of information management solutions at Dell Software. “You can always course correct if you need to, but you can’t make up for failing to take action when action is needed.”
It can be difficult to make tough decisions whenever they arise, but it’s worth it in the end. Decisiveness is a needed trait for every aspiring leader, and by doing so, you set an example for your team to follow.
How has decisiveness helped you achieve better results? Please share your thoughts in the comments or tweet @Cydcor with your stories.
We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services located in Agoura Hills, CA. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.
If you know what an elevator pitch is, you probably think of it as something only businesspeople use. In reality, it can be applied to many different fields. An elevator pitch is everything you need to say to impress your potential customer in 30 seconds or fewer—about the amount of time it would take to travel a few floors in an elevator. It’s also the perfect opportunity to showcase your uniqueness. The elevator pitch is a crucial tool for sales representatives, so here are a few tips on how to craft a perfect one.
Step 1: Brainstorm about what you want to say. Take a blank piece of paper and write down the most important things you want to tell your customer about your service, product, or company. Focus on interesting or memorable facts that make you stand out from the crowd.
Step 2: Edit ruthlessly. Eliminate jargon, repetition, and unnecessary information. As you edit, remember that an elevator pitch consists of three main parts: The benefit, the differentiator, and the ask. Make sure your pitch tells the customer what impact your product will have, what makes it different from the competition, and how you’ll proceed if the customer is interested.
Step 3: Write your pitch on a piece of paper. Spend extra time thinking about how to phrase the differentiator or value proposition in order to get your customer interested. What makes your product unique or places it above similar products offered by your competition? If you can back this up with a simple number—for example, “95 percent of customers say they’d buy the product again”—that strengthens your proposition.
Step 4: Practice your pitch. That means saying it over and over again until you don’t have to refer to your piece of paper. You don’t have to say the exact words you wrote down, but you do have to convey the important ideas. Rehearsing will allow you to speak off-the-cuff and will keep you from getting flustered if you flub your pitch or your customer reacts in an unexpected way.
Step 5: Record yourself. Make sure your voice sounds natural, that you’re not speaking too quietly or in a monotone, and that you’re not talking too fast. You want your pitch to sound like regular conversation, not a script.
Step 6: Get feedback. Ask your teammates or a trusted friend or loved one to listen to your elevator pitch. Make sure they know you’re looking for constructive critique on everything from the wording of the pitch to your body language.
Step 7: Hit the streets! Now that you have your pitch down, it’s time to take your pitch and turn it into action. You may need to tailor it for specific audiences. Not everyone is going to respond in the same way to your value proposition, so you may need to have a couple of others in the back of your mind.
An elevator pitch is a dynamic thing, so be sure to let it evolve as you grow in your career.
What tips do you have for mastering the art of the elevator pitch? Please share them in the comments. For additional blogs from Cydcor, be sure to check out https://www.cydcor.com/media.
We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services located in Agoura Hills, CA. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.
Sales is a unique profession that requires passion, extroversion and charisma. Leading a high-performing sales team and helping your direct reports get the best out of their own skills takes a little something extra. The good news is that as a sales team manager, you have that extra something inside you. Here are some tips on how you can take your own passion for your product or service and pass it along to your team members.
Set them up for success
Authenticity matters when it comes to sales. Few people come in with a fully developed talent for sales, so it’s important to meet your team members where they are and ask them what would be most helpful to them so they can achieve success. For some it will be a need for more product knowledge; for some it may be coaching or a “walk-along” with a high-performing team member.
Give them context
Your team will get better results if they have more information than simply a list of names or addresses. Help them understand the product they’re selling and how it compares to other similar products. Then assist them in finding reasons to be passionate about that product. This will drive good conversation, and thus increase conversions.
Provide them with training opportunities
It’s critical that you not only understand your team members’ unique needs but that you provide ongoing training to help them meet their goals and build confidence. Leading by example means that you also take training courses to enhance your knowledge of the latest news and best practices. That will help you to be a better mentor and a better sales professional in your own right.
Have high expectations of them
Your team will rise to the expectations you set, so set them high! On the other hand, don’t set them so high that your direct reports think they’re impossible to achieve. In order for those expectations to be met, you need to help your team feel supported and positively reinforced. Clearly articulate your goals and expectations and hold your representatives accountable for achieving them. Also, check out these motivating sales quotes that deliver motivation!
Let them specialize
Don’t treat everyone on your team the same. Some people understand certain business sectors better than others. Allow your specialists to take the lead in the area of their expertise. They may be able to help your other team members as well. The more your team understands about the product or service they’re selling, the better they’ll be at selling it.
What other tips do you have for leading a high-performing sales team? Share with Cydcor on Twitter @Cydcor.
We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services located in Agoura Hills, CA. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.
Learn more about Cydcor, based in Agoura Hills, CA, by visiting our profile on CrunchBase.
About The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller
In today’s fast-paced world, people often try to improve every aspect of their lives at once, but usually aren’t as successful as they’d like to be. Author Gary Keller proposes a simple and powerful concept in this book: focusing on what matters most in our personal and work lives first. Most people want fewer distractions, fewer things on their plate, and fewer things to stress them out. The ONE Thing proposes a new way of looking at things we want, and provides an action plan to achieve them.
Why Cydcor Recommends This Book
This is an excellent read for anyone who enjoys multi-tasking but still feels like they aren’t attaining their goals as fast as they would like to. Focusing on multiple things at one time doesn’t necessarily mean more productivity. To achieve effectiveness, we need to narrow our focus and take things one at a time. The ONE Thing suggests pausing before starting a new project and asking yourself what can be prioritized. This will ultimately make things easier and help you avoid focusing on things that are unnecessary distractions.
Our Favorite Part
Early in the book, Keller outlines six popular beliefs that most people think are the “right way,” but that might be hindering their success: everything matters equally, multitasking is good, success requires a disciplined life, willpower is always on will-call, a balanced life is required, and big is bad. Each belief is thoroughly addressed and shown to be not be as helpful as people think. To achieve success, according to the author, it’s about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right. Finding true success requires less discipline than you think.
Have you found success by focusing on one thing at a time? Be sure to follow Cydcor on LinkedIn for even more tips on finding success.
We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.