The Center for Sales Strategy Blog

In this episode, we’re taking a closer look at how executive coaching helps leaders evolve so their teams can truly thrive. 

And joining Matt is Donna Hall, SVP/General Manager at Robertson Lowstuter, whose piece in the 2025 Talent Magazine explores how executive coaching creates a ripple effect across teams and culture.

Whether you’re new to leadership or deep into your career, this conversation will help you rethink what great executive development looks like.

Donna shares such rich insights, like: 

• How, if you want to be the best leader you can be, it takes the recognition that everyone has areas for growth 
• Why the cornerstone of great leadership begins with authenticity 
• And, finally, how Michael Jordan didn’t have a coach because he was weak. He had a coach because he was committed to staying at the top of his game

Successful leaders coach.

Period.

It’s a skill that is absolutely necessary to succeed in sales and sales leadership. Sellers who don’t receive coaching and feedback get off track, pursuing the wrong leads, prioritizing the wrong activities, and focusing on the wrong goals.

In contrast, sellers who receive good coaching tend to stay on track, finding and connecting with strong prospects, focusing on potential, and realized key accounts, meeting and exceeding their goals.

And leaders who receive ongoing training on improving their interpersonal, business, and leadership skills have teams everyone wants to be a part of.

Not all leaders are natural coaches, but all leaders can learn how to coach.

Have you ever spilled coffee down your shirt just before leaving for work and decided it would be a bad day?

You expected it to be a bad day, so it probably was! A negative mindset can set the tone for the hours to come.

On the other hand, have you ever felt so good about a presentation you were making that you walked in with super-charged confidence and a little extra bounce in your step? Odds are, your confidence level led to a top-notch performance, and that led to a positive outcome.

Both of those situations are examples of self-fulfilling prophecies. Self-fulfilling prophecies don’t just apply to you; they also apply to managing others.

Sales leadership is not just about driving numbers and closing deals; it's fundamentally about people management.

The success of any sales team hinges on the ability of its leader to manage, motivate, and mentor their team effectively. Although many things contribute to your team’s overall success, there are five essential people management skills every sales leader must master to build a successful and motivated sales team.

Leaders are busy. There are always more things to do than hours in the day: planning, budgeting, coaching, tracking KPIs, creating sales calendars, and the list goes on.

And then all the fires ruin the most well-planned day. No matter how organized a leader is, somehow, every day has multiple issues that must be addressed immediately. Oh well, that’s the job, right? It doesn’t have to be.

You can change your leadership style by transforming yourself into a Proactive Leader and your team into Proactive employees.

As a B2B senior sales leader, you know the pressure of driving consistent growth. But what happens when your once-thriving sales organization stalls?

Stagnant sales pipelines and flat revenue can be a symptom of deeper issues. This is a roadmap that equips you with insights, action items, and a clear path to transform your team into a growth machine.

As a leader, your time is precious. You're pulled in a million different directions, trying to drive your organization forward while also striving for some semblance of work-life balance.

The national bestseller "The 4-Hour Workweek" by Tim Ferriss has captivated readers with its bold promise of escaping the daily 9-5 grind. While some of the book's ideas around minimal work may be controversial, it contains several productivity gems that every successful executive should embrace.

Think for a minute about the very best leader you ever had. Then, think about the worst.

Likely, you have definite feelings on both. How did you feel when you moved on from the job with that very best leader?

You probably had second thoughts and wondered if you could have made that position work for you despite changing circumstances.

What about that worst manager? You probably walked away without a backward glance, relieved to never see them again.

The book "Leaders Eat Last" by Simon Sinek offers profound insights into what it truly means to be a great leader. It challenges traditional notions of hierarchy, rank, and privilege and instead emphasizes the importance of building trust, safety, and purpose within a team.

Here are seven key lessons from the book.