How many do you have?

(Sessions from the Playbook course listed for fun and profit)

1. Listening

Are you all mouth and no trousers? If you talk more than you listen, you’re missing key insights from your team. They know the market, do you?

• How to Listen – At your next 1-to-1, don’t interrupt. Let them speak, ask “and what else” then summarise what they said before you respond. Did they feel heard?

2. Empathy

Empathy first. Show you understand before you get to be understood. Sales is tough. Constant rejection, relentless targets. Your people need to know you get it.

• Handling Impostor Syndrome / Practical Stress Management – Ask your team members: What’s the most challenging part of your role right now? Then help them address that stress directly.

3. Healing

Can you help your team bounce back from failure? Losses happen, but how you help your team recover matters. Ignoring it doesn’t work. Servant leaders help people heal.

• After a failed deal, debrief in a way that builds morale. Ask: What did we learn, and how can we do better next time? Frame it as a learning moment, not a failure.

4. Awareness

Awareness is knowing you, as well as them knowing them. If you don’t understand your own strengths and weaknesses, you’re leading in the dark.

• Managing from Your Strengths – Take a strengths assessment, then share your results with your team. Ask them to do the same and compare. How can you better support each other’s strengths?

5. Persuasion

Can you influence without force, or are you just waving your ego about? Commanding people only gets you so far. The best leaders persuade and inspire buy-in.

• Persuasive Communication – In your next team meeting, ask instead of tell. Pose this question: What do you think is the best approach to closing this deal? Let the team come up with the solution.

6. Conceptualisation

Do you only care about this quarter, or are you planning for the long game? If you’re focused only on the next deal, you’re managing, not leading.

• Mindset of a Practical Leader – Create a 1-year vision for your team and share it. Where do you want your team to be in 12 months? Ask them how they see themselves contributing to that future.

7. Foresight

Are you reacting to stuff happening to you or do you know the difference between a risk and an issue? Decent leaders anticipate challenges, head them off at the pass or at the least, prepare their team for them.

• Hiring with Data / Set Expectations that Drive Performance – Use data to track performance trends. Ask yourself: Are there early warning signs of burnout or underperformance? Take steps now before it becomes a problem.

8. Stewardship

Do you look after your team – or just chase targets? Your job is to serve your team, not just monitor a bloody spreadsheet.

• Practical Delegation – Tight, Loose, Tight – Delegate responsibility for a key project to a team member. Let them lead it, but check in at set intervals. Ask: How can I support you to make this project a success?

9. Commitment to growth

Do you try to develop your team, or just work them? If you want to do better yourself (and you should) you need to be helping the folk in your team to grow. The two are connected.

• Give Feedback that Develops People / Practical Coaching – In your next 1-to-1, ask your team: What’s one skill you’d like to improve this quarter? Set some systems in motion to help them build on their strengths and then track progress together.

10. Building community

Is your team a “community” of or just a pack of lone wolves glued together “because”? Collaboration beats competition every time. Your team should feel connected to each other – usually via a joint mission.

• Leading Self / Leading Others – Try and organise a team meeting with one rule: No sales talk. Let folk bond over shared experiences and challenges outside of work. Create a space where they can connect on a human level. Play a game. Do a thing. Be a builder.

How did you score?

If you’re missing a few of these, fret not. Leadership is a journey.

Recognising where you need help is the first step toward improvement.

Which leads to trait 11 Always Be Learning…………

11. ABL – Always be learning

If you want to develop these traits and lead your team to real success, the Practical Leadership Academy can help. Get in touch today to start your journey…

• Action: Manage from your strengths– Identify one area that you or your team member is really good in and work to make it even better. Better to build strengths than focus on weaknesses.

Lovingly adapted / stolen from from Larry Spears’ 10 Characteristics of a Servant Leader, which was originally based on the work of Robert Greenleaf. < Check them both out.

Help your sales managers get ready to lead their teams

When you’re ready to equip your sales managers with the leadership skills they need to really lift team performance -not just close deals we’re here to help with the Practical Leadership Playbook course.

2 x 30 minutes a week over 9 weeks – live, expert-led virtual sessions + group coaching to tackle real-world management challenges.

This program is designed to help your managers become confident, effective leaders who inspire, coach, and develop their teams -moving beyond just managing KPIs.

Start making an impact right away:

Download your free guide: ‘5 Steps to Transform Your 1-to-1s’

Learn practical strategies you can share to help your managers turn routine 1-to-1s into high-impact conversations that unlock your sales team’s potential. (Hint: track them in a shared doc, set 15 mins for prep + 30 mins for the meeting, and follow a structured agenda. And keep the forecast meetings separate!)

If you’re ready to help your managers lead better, reach out to explore how the Playbook course can work for your team.