Grooming a Future Manager

For as long as I can remember, I knew I wanted to manage people.  Maybe it was the perceived trappings that came with the job:  more pay, stock options, respect.  But, personally, I knew I would be a better leader than an individual sales contributor.

It took 8 years as a sales rep before I was finally given the opportunity to lead my own team.  On the day I was promoted, I was “warned”, jokingly, by one of my best managers, Larry Wainscott, to be careful what I wished for.  He told me that I was leaving the best job at Hewlett Packard as a sales rep, and moving into one of the toughest roles, as a first line manager.

“Why would you leave a role where you can make ungodly sums of money, people basically left you alone if you performed and met your quota, and you have a good manager to provide air cover?  As a first level manager, you will have tons of pressure, less ability to make money, you’ll have daily scrutiny by executives, and you’ll have to be psychiatrist to everyone on your team.”

Larry went on to say, he knew I would be successful and told me to pick up the phone anytime I had questions or entered unchartered territory. Needless to say, I talked to Larry a lot that first year.

The first line sales manager role is more complicated, demanding and exhausting than a sales rep can imagine.  Put is this way; I started referring to Larry as Nostradamus because everything he warned me about came true.  As a sales rep, you feel independent, master of your territory, YOU are the face to the customer, YOU get the spotlight and YOU get to enjoy the thrill of winning.

As a manager, you have to learn to:

• Empower, trust and let go of your people
• Shield the team from minutia so they can focus on selling
• Tear down selling obstacles and streamline processes
• Take the beatings on their behalf when the team isn’t performing
• Share best practices and teach the team how to help themselves
• Learn to celebrate THROUGH the success of others
• Writing countless performance evaluations
• Listen to complaints and excuses from the team
• Be a confidant, lifeline, sounding board and guidance counselor
• Admit you don’t know everything but willing to help with anything
• Understand what motivates and drives each employee
• Set a clear vision for the team, and then distill to specifics based on the individual
• Invest time with less experienced reps

Not to mention having to deal with sub-par performance, taking corrective action, disciplining poor results, handling employee dissatisfaction, lack of work/life balance, frustration, etc.

I’ve had the great fortune of working for some terrific managers, who not only nurtured and molded me and my career, but just as importantly, took a lot of personal pride in helping me achieve my professional goals and personal satisfaction.  They invested the time to understand what my goals were, how I measured personal success, filled in my skill gaps, connected me with influential people and set me up for future success.

Incidentally, early on in the process, these managers weren’t afraid to also tell me why they thought I wasn’t ready for management.  And while it was painful to hear, in hindsight, all of their suggestions were valid.  During these discussions, these managers:

1. Gave me clear reasons why and where they believed I had areas of improvement
2. Gave highly critical and direct advise
3. Held me accountable for my areas of improvement and preparedness
4. Tempered my competitiveness with my peers and got me thinking more as a leader

The best managers were also able and willing to acknowledged their own shortcomings, brokered introductions and exposed me to other leaders (thereby increasing my professional network) who, may have had a unique perspective on the internal political landscape at HP.  There was no ego, there was no hierarchy.  My manager’s interest in my career development felt genuine, like someone, who had a lot of experience and knowledge, helping out an old friend.  They were just as invested in my success as I was myself, and for that I will always be grateful to Larry Wainscott and Scott Anderson.

Today, a selfless sales manager who will take the time to groom successors or invest in the development of their people is rare.  When hired or promoted, most sales reps get a territory or account list and a quota and off they go!  The intimacy we used to enjoy with sales managers has disappeared for any number of reasons:

1. The manager lives out of the area
2. There isn’t enough time nor interest in supporting the growth of the individual
3. It’s simply not in the manager’s skill set

I challenge the managers today to make it a priority to help your people excel, achieve and be satisfied.  The individual will be happier, the organization will benefit, and the manager creates a much better environment to work in.  The ROI can be a force multiplier in the team’s performance, you mold the next generation of leaders, build team loyalty and chemistry, and gain a tremendous amount of satisfaction seeing your people succeed.