Have you ever seen the most successful sales person fail at being successful as a sales manager?
According to the July 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review, often times when a super sales person is promoted to sales manager, one of the following happens:
- He/she avoids administrative responsibilities and becomes frustrated in the role
- Cannot give up strong leads because he/she is too competitive
- Manages by results only and lacks the patience to coach
Managers are coaches not players. They get satisfaction from achieving objectives through others. “Managers help people grow by walking around with a watering can in one hand and a bag of fertilizer in the other”. (HBR Blog Network) If this is true:
Is your hardest working customer service person the best person to lead the team? Should your fastest warehouse worker manage the group?
Hard work, skills and loyalty are sometimes rewarded by promoting the person to a leadership role. Because they ARE hardworking he/she will generally attempt to work harder—sometimes to the detriment of their health and family. The skill set required to motivate a team, develop or revise processes, participate in strategic planning, do administrative work, assure quality, manage a budget and increase productivity may be fundamentally different than the skills that helped an individual succeed in another job. Yet we often fail to appropriately equip new managers with the tools and skills to do the job.
Having a plan to increase skills, provide knowledge and design a blue print for individual development is key to developing strong leaders.
This topic will be the subject of our next HR program scheduled in Louisville, Lexington, and Jeffersonville. If you would like to attend this complimentary program, click here or contact author Linda Winlock, linda.winlock@mcmcpa.com or 502.882.4665.
Linda serves as a Principal in MCM’s HR Consulting practice, and has experience working with various-sized companies throughout a variety of industries. Linda’s experience in organizational development, training, executive coaching and hiring assistance spans over 25 years. Previously, Linda was the President and Owner of Personnel Profiling, Inc., an HR consulting company that offered a suite of employment assessments and services to help companies gain a competitive advantage by hiring, retaining and developing great talent. Linda’s formal education includes a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Louisville with a concentration in counseling psychology. Linda and Members of her team will be ongoing contributors to the Academy Blog.
Academy Guest Blogger
American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.
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- Time Magazine’s Cover Story—“How High is Your XQ?” - July 6, 2015
- 5 Proven Strategies to Reduce Turnover - May 29, 2015
- Become an Awesome Boss - April 24, 2015
