overcame them all. What carried him through the tough times was his clarity of purpose, his vision of what Amazon.com could be. “I knew that, if I failed, I wouldn’t regret that,” he’s quoted as saying. “But I knew the one thing I might regret was not trying.” The lesson: With vivid clarity, know what you are trying to accomplish. The more real you can make your vision, the easier it is to share it with others and convince them to come along. This is especially true if you are asking your clients to take a leap of faith toward an unknown solution you know will pay off for them. Paint a detailed, accurate vision, and they won’t be able to resist. If you’re interested in moving up to a higher position in your organization, another sales consultant, Elaine Groff, recommends “developing a perspec- tive that is larger than just sales.” She says taking a wider-angle view when you create your own vision will demonstrate your willingness to think beyond the quota, toward the good of the company as a whole.


LEADERS FIND EFFECTIVE


STRATEGIES Vision is great, but, if you cannot find a way to connect to it from the current reality, it’s useless.


One leader who was able to bring the imaginary to the realm of real- ity is football legend Bill Walsh. The legendary coach led his teams to amazing NFC division champion- ships, NFC titles, and NFL titles, and earned a spot in the NFL Football Hall of Fame. One of his many strengths was as an offensive coach, constantly reading the field and creating strate- gies that would maximize his players’ skills and exploit the weaknesses of their opponents. The lesson: Strategy is something


that’s refined every day – one battle at a time. Just as Walsh had to look anew at each season’s team and each week’s opponent, salespeople need to evaluate each customer and each competitor on an individual basis and


create a plan to address each unique situation. What worked yesterday or last month may not work tomorrow.


LEADERS ARE RESOLUTE If there’s a leader who knew the value of envisioning a future of growth dur- ing a time of enormous crisis, it was Abraham Lincoln.


In the midst of a war that threatened the very survival of the nation, he signed the Homestead Act, making millions of acres of government-held land in the West available for pur- chase at very low cost. The Morrill Land-Grant Agricultural College Act provided government grants for agricultural colleges in each state. The Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864 granted federal support for the construction of the United States’ First Transcontinental Railroad, and the National Banking Act provided a strong financial network in the country and established a national currency. Another exemplary model of leader- ship under duress is, of course, Winston Churchill, who rallied Britons to with- stand the bombing of England and the London Blitz during World War II. The lesson: There are times that call for operating from your core beliefs – allowing them to provide guidance in times where confusion threatens to reign. It’s times like these when those with the soul of a leader come to the forefront. “You can’t manage change; you can only lead change,” says Groff.


LEADERS ARE GREAT


COMMUNICATORS The key to communicating is con- necting with the audience. Former President Ronald Reagan was so well known for his ability to reach the American people that he earned the nickname, “The Great Communica- tor.” He didn’t use fancy language or rhetoric to win people over; in fact, it was the very simplicity of his style, coupled with his humor, that made him so popular. Another great communicator, Franklin Roosevelt,


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connected with people through the eloquence of simple rhetoric. Adds Mullins, “A senior leader’s job


isn’t to have all the ideas or even most of them. Their job is to communicate corporate goals to employees and mo- tivate them to achieve those goals.” The lesson: When you have some- thing to say, say it in the simplest way possible. Save the fancy verbal footwork and piles of data for the engineering team, and stick to word pictures and vivid descriptions. Finally, remember Reagan’s advice: “Facts are stupid things.”


LEADERS LISTEN


Sharing information is one skill, but collecting information is equally valu- able. And the queen of listening may very well be Meg Whitman, former CEO of online auction site eBay and currently president and chief executive officer of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise.


Whitman, who took the helm of eBay in 1998, is known for her humil- ity and passion for listening to both customers and employees. It’s through this dedication that Whitman grew eBay to more than 5,000 employees and led its acquisition of PayPal and its expansion around the globe. “When you’re trained in an MBA


program or in most businesses, you use the words, ‘drive,’ ‘push,’ and ‘go after,’ and it’s not that way here. Here, you have to use the community of users to chart the course of the company. You can’t direct them to do much of anything,” Whitman told CBS MarketWatch. The lesson: As a “trusted advi-


sor,” it’s natural to want to share your expertise with your customers. But too much talking and not enough listening is a sure formula for alienat- ing your clients. Take a tip from Whitman and com- mit to listening to what your cus- tomers are saying. Ask them what’s important, what they worry about, and what would make their life easier – even if it’s outside your typical scope.


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