Why is My Team Not as Hungry for Sales as I am?
(c) Jeff Bean 2007.

In a coaching session recently, my client, who has a successful real estate business, commented –

‘In my business meeting tomorrow, I really want to be a part of my team. I want them to see this in me rather than seeing me pull rank.’

My client is a shrewd operator who has had to show a couple of his agents the door in recent months due to their lack of passion and commitment! He has no remorse in doing this, but is now reflecting over team relationships and how to be a catalyst in creating a healthier and more passionate team environment.

Are your clients experiencing this too? The fact is more managers are realizing that perhaps the more traditional mode of leading teams in the workplace is not working! Leaders today – in fact anyone who doesn’t have their head in the sand - are dealing with more complexity in their relationships as well as dealing with profitability and streamlining of processes. As a result, the workplace is showing an increased incidence of stress and anxiety, a lack of motivation (particularly with the younger generation) and even a lack of purpose or direction. What’s worse, we are all taking it home with us. This is causing more leaders to begin asking questions. Some of these questions might sound something like:

Why is my team not as hungry for sales as I am?
Where can I find more sales people like me?
How do you get teams excited about KPI’s?

And even …

I have a business but why am I not satisfied?
Or even … I am still working 14 hour days… is this normal?

We all know that leading teams of people, whether small or large, is not easy. I have experienced it in the corporate world - explaining ‘just one more procedural change’ to staff members who, frankly, are wondering whether to bother focusing on this new strategy knowing a new one will probably come along within a short time frame. It becomes laughable if not down right frustrating and dare I say it…depressing!

I am convinced that the doom and gloom painted here can not only be addressed but must be addressed if we really care about our lives and our lifestyles. Like any good coach, let me explain by asking a question … ‘What will be the consequences for us keeping on doing what we are doing in leadership?’ There are many possible answers to this. My client answered the question in this way –

I won’t develop the right people; I won’t develop them properly and that will
affect why I am working so hard in this business in the first place…
to be able to work on the business so I can move to the beach!

I think that’s a fair answer. What my client is really saying when you read between the lines is, ‘I need to care about my staff AND be hugely profitable’.

Many organizations and businesses worldwide now have this as their internal mission statement and are curious about real profitability behind teamwork, ownership and relational decision-making. This emerging method of leadership that focuses on people is called ‘Servant Leadership’. The philosophy, which puts serving others as the primary goal of leadership, originated from Robert K. Greenleaf in the early 1970’s.

Serving others, it has been proven, is the key. In the serving, we are looking after the needs of others, first. In business this often means giving every day employees the opportunity to float between following and leading. The result of this balance is gaining enhanced lives as individuals. We build up others to lead (and serve) therefore equipping them to be servant leaders as they raise up more staff members who will lead. And yes, this is what my client was really after in the first place – staff who will lead inside the business so that he can work on the business and … well, we know the rest.

Interest in this concept is growing globally, as business owners, executives and individuals look for opportunities to make a paradigm shift to servant leadership. It involves our vision, mission statements, values, communication skills and our attitudes.

For many of us it involves a whole new mind set, but here are just three questions that will get us started …
1) How desperate am I to see my business grow?
2) For what purpose do I want my business to grow?
3) Do I know what my team is really thinking?

Jeff Bean is an accredited Life and Business Coach in Queensland, Australia. His experience is varied and includes radio announcing in the media industry as well as School Principal in both primary and secondary school settings. In 2006 he was also a contract Associate Lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). Contact Jeff on 0429 600 355 or (07) 4637 8784 for an information pack or email Jeff at jeffshelley@bigpond.com