The New Sales Manager The sales manager’s job is to lead. People often rise to the rank of a sales manager from a successful career in sales. But the skills required to sell are very different from the skills required to be a leader and manage a sales force. A few of the differences are:…
Elusive Greatness When this nowclassic manual first appeared in 2001, it rapidly became one of the most popular business publications of all time. Prolific business author and consultant Jim Collins, a foremost analyst of how to build and sustain a business, also wrote How the Mighty Fail and Managing the Small to MidSized Company, and…
A Matter of Habit A habit is an activity that a person deliberately decides to perform once and continues doing without focus, often frequently. Think about the complicated procedures you automatically employ to drive your car. Habits develop because the human brain is wired to seek ways to conserve energy. Researchers who study the science…
Selling: The Eras Within the past 50 to 60 years, selling has passed through three eras: The script era – During the 1950s, the salesperson worked on techniques to manipulate the customer into doing what the salesperson wanted to be done. Sales training focused on making the case, parrying the objections and going for the…
The Growth MindsetSome people are more intelligent, more thoughtful or more adventuresome than others. For years, experts attributed such differences to each individual’s combination of environment, physiology and genetic makeup. But other factors help determine individual characteristics, including traits that stem from having a “fixed” or “growth” mindset. Those who view their personality or intelligence…
Loudcloud, Opsware and “the Struggle” “There are no shortcuts to knowledge, especially knowledge gained from personal experience.” Every startup encounters the Struggle. Your product turns out to have costly flaws. Your cash runs low, and your venture capitalist tells you fundraising seems unlikely. A loyal customer leaves you. A valuable employee walks away. There’s no…
Generation Traits and Gaps Millennials form the “most educated and technologically savvy generation ever.” Their parents sheltered them and gave their lives structure. The US workforce now includes 31 million Millennials, and that number will increase steadily in the next five years. When people of the same age experience highimpact events, they develop a similar…
The Inspiration Today’s financial services industry has little in common with the financial services industry of years past. Everything has changed, from the way financial products and services are distributed to how they are marketed and sold. Traditional selling techniques, which were oriented toward product benefits, are mostly obsolete. The only way to succeed in…
The Basic Equipment Needed to Become a CEO You might compare climbing the corporate ladder to climbing a mountain. You need certain qualities, which are like equipment, to make it to the top. You also have to be ready to pass through “tricky and scary situations,” just as you would if you were going higher…
Recent years have seen a surge of research into the biology of personality and emotion. These studies indicate that some of human intelligence and personality is determined by genetics. But this raises two questions: What can you change about yourself? And, why do some intelligent people founder in life, while less intelligent people prosper? The…
