Episode 39: What CEOs Look For In Their Sales Leaders
Recording of the virtual meeting of the Sales Leadership Community hosted by the Atlanta Chapter.
The topic for the meeting was “What CEOs Look For In Their Sales Leaders”. At this event, CEOs share their perspectives about the critical role of the sales leader. The discussion covers their views on:
- Finding and hiring the right sales leader
- Working with the sales leader on the strategic direction of the sales organization
- Aligning on the operational expectations to support the execution of the sales strategy
The host for the meeting was the Atlanta Chapter of the Sales Leadership Community with support from Georgia State University and SOAR Performance Group.
Listen to or download the audio from the meeting:
Who are the executives on the panel?
- Eric Cevis from Verizon Partner Solutions (President, Verizon Partner Solutions)
- Kevin Lee from Kobiton (CEO)
- Jana Schmidt from Quisitive (President, Payment Solutions)
- Charlie Thackston from SOAR Performance Group (President)
- John Thackston from SOAR Performance Group (VP, Business Development)
Questions discussed include:
- One of the topics that our community is very interested in is the expectations that executive leaders have for sales/commercial leaders. What are the top 2-3 expectations do you have for a sales leader working in your organization?
- How do you see the role of the sales leader changing? What are the skills and attributes that you are looking for now that weren’t as important to you in the past?
- When you are looking for a new sales leader, what are some of the criteria that you use to determine fit and make a selection?
- What mistakes do you believe CEOs make in selecting and managing their sales leaders?
- What advice would you give to CEOs as it relates to hiring and developing sales leaders?
- What advice would you give sales leaders to better align with their executive leadership?