When considering how to best cultivate sales leadership talent, you should look first at yourself and the leadership style you exemplify. When you lead your team, do you tend to be more:

1. Charismatic – Leads through personality and charm that builds dedication
2. Visionary – Leads through views of the future translated into specific goals that create a shared sense of purpose
3. Tactical – Leads by consistently laying out expectations and delivering on commitments

Often times, leaders stick with one style because they perceive that it is getting results or because it is how they were lead earlier in their careers. However, a highly functional sales team requires all three styles in their portfolio to be called upon when appropriate.

Most have one of these styles that they gravitate to most frequently since it is a strength they possess. To get your team to grow in all of these areas, it is important to find opportunities to venture outside of your own comfort zone. In doing this, you can better demonstrate different leadership styles which will help your team understand that employing various styles of leadership is necessary to accomplish certain objectives.

Starting with yourself

1. Take some time and decide which style is your greatest strength (your comfort zone)
2. Identify opportunities where you can proactively go outside your comfort zone
3. Execute on that opportunity and effectively lead by example

Leading by example is powerful and important in developing leadership talent. Our future leaders are the followers now, so seize the opportunity to set them on the path to success as leaders by showing them the way every day.