Beth Sunshine, on August 11, 2016
Our sales departments are filled with Sales Managers, Directors of Sales, VPs of Sales, and even Chief Sales Officers who are charged with generating sales and growing business. What we don’t typically find in a sales operation is a “Talent Manager” or “Talent Coach" — even though the best sales leaders out there know that the best way to drive sales is to hire exceptionally talented salespeople.
Beth Sunshine, on April 27, 2016
We’ve been talking about the Millennial generation for years now. Discussing their behaviors, styles, and attitudes, we have debated how this group will likely affect our business moving forward and how we can best develop them to succeed.
This understanding is vital since they will soon fill half of our entire labor force, and Pew Research reports that 58% of them expect to leave their jobs in three years or less. That kind of turnover can be a killer to a sales organization, so we need to figure them out and connect with them in a meaningful way.
But how? It may not be as hard as you thought!
Beth Sunshine, on March 28, 2016
We have all fallen victim to the impulse buy. That gadget in the checkout line or “gotta have” in the window. Thankfully, most of those spontaneous decisions didn’t have a pronounced impact on our long-term success or happiness.
I’m sure you would agree that hiring a new manager doesn't fall into the same spontaneous purchase category as buying a Wonder Wallet or a Snuggie, but I have seen even the best managers out there succumb to the quick and easy option that is right at their fingertips. When a key management position comes open, the stopwatch starts. It takes massive willpower to not make a quick move, but instead apply the critical thought that is necessary to make a good decision.
Beth Sunshine, on March 21, 2016
If you want to make a significant impact on performance, you need to be in the field where your people are engaging with prospects and clients and where the business happens. This means getting out in the field with your people on calls, joining them on shared-screen client calls (using GoToMeeting, joinme.com, etc.), and looking for other opportunities to be close to the action.
Beth Sunshine, on March 14, 2016
For years we heard that the Millennials joining the workforce were chasing adventure. They wanted to work for cool start-ups, collaborate with other Millennials, and change the world!
Surprisingly, a new Inforsys and Future Foundation study of 16-25 year olds shows that this may not be the whole story. It appears that a large portion of this group of fresh faces is craving security and stability rather than spontaneous adventure in their jobs.
Knowing this, you might wonder, "If they want stability in their work, why do we have a retention problem with Millennials in our workforce? Why aren’t these younger workers settling in for the long-haul?" Good questions! A 2015 Gallup Poll found that Millennials are the least-engaged cohort in the workplace, with only 28.9% saying that they are engaged at work.
Beth Sunshine, on January 21, 2016
Most of us spend a lot of time trying to figure out what we are supposed to be doing with our lives. We wonder whether we are on the right path and if we are using our strengths as we should.
Although some discover their passion and their purpose at a young age, for most, this is part of a life-long journey. Regardless of your age or experience, it may be easier than you think to spot the tell-tale signs of talent and figure out what your strengths are! Then, once you have pin-pointed your strengths, it’s just a matter of seeking additional opportunities to use them.
Many years ago I had the opportunity to hear Marcus Buckingham speak. He explained the difference between a strength and a weakness in a way so simple that a small child could understand—yet it was powerful enough to change how grown adults think. Don’t quote me here, but essentially what he said was that when you do something that uses a strength, you feel strong. Even after hours of practice, although you may be tired, you are left feeling energized and eager. When you do something that is a weakness for you, you feel weak. At the end, you feel depleted, disengaged, and you are ready to stop.
Beth Sunshine, on November 23, 2015
Yesterday I opened my mouth and my mom’s voice came out!
Excited to visit our twin daughters in college and spoil them a bit, my husband and I spent last weekend in a tornado of tailgates, football games, happy hours, sushi dinners, and fall shopping. At the same time, our girls were also juggling advisory meetings and spring registration. It’s that time of year.
After a discussion at brunch about course requirements and degree expectations, I noticed a pattern in their responses. “I’ll just wait and see what I need.” “We probably don’t need to worry about that yet.” “No need to spend time on something if we don’t need to.”
One minute I was listening and nodding and the next thing I knew, I opened my mouth and my mom’s lecture on the importance of planning ahead came out. I even channeled my dad for a minute there, pulling out the old adage, “measure twice, cut once.” I watched their eyes glaze over.
I get it. We’ve all been there. But it’s easier to see clearly from the outside looking in.
Beth Sunshine, on October 1, 2015
I learned a lot from my grandparents over the years, but the most useful gem they left me with is the secret of the Gift Closet. Everyone should have one. Let me tell you about mine. Picture a deep closet in the master bedroom hallway designed to hold towels, linens, and probably a vacuum cleaner—but instead, it is stocked with the following:
Beth Sunshine, on September 1, 2015
You already know that turning talent into performance requires a true understanding of talent. Spotting talent, hiring talent, developing talent, and coaching talent. . . it’s mission critical.
Here’s a little something you may not have thought about before, though: every innate talent at an extreme level of intensity, can have its downside. One of my clients recently observed, “Talent can be used for good or evil!”
Beth Sunshine, on August 25, 2015
John Wooden, one of the most revered coaches in the history of basketball, summed up one of the most powerful takeaways in strength management in one simple sentence: "Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." That gem of an observation extends far beyond the court and deep into each of our lives.
As the head coach at UCLA, Wooden won 10 NCAA national championships in 12 years, including an unprecedented seven in a row. No other coach or school has won the NCAA tournament more than two consecutive years in a row so I’m sure we can all agree that the guy knew talent! He knew how to spot it, recruit it, and he certainly knew how to coach it.
John Wooden understood that we all have strengths and we all have weaknesses. And for every one of us, our weaknesses greatly outnumber our strengths. Whether we are talking about sports superstars, famous musicians, groundbreaking scientists, successful entrepreneurs, or people in your sales department, our weaknesses comprise the mountain that looms large over the tiny molehill of our strengths.
