Manager or Leader

In my experience working in sales there seems to be a trend that both hurts the sales of the company and devalues the management position over sales. In most sales departments I have worked in when a position of manager came open it was not the most qualified that was given the position but rather to best salesperson. Promoting the best sales rep to the position of manager, when they are not the most qualified for the position, creates a couple of problems. First off the sales team takes an immediate hit to its productivity because they have just lost their top producer who lead the team in sales and challenged the rest of the team to reach for their level. The second problem with promoting the top sales rep to manager is that when they are not trained or experienced in leading they do damage to the respect and credibility of the position.

In relation to this trend I do believe a manager may not be a leader. Whether it be in sales or in an other organizational structure when someone is given a position of management as a means to appease them and not because of qualifications the whole team suffers. Within the context of sales a salesperson works everyday to achieve their goal knowing that if they do they have contributed their part to the overall success of the team. When this same person is put into a position of management and does not have the leadership abilities and training for the position they may struggle. They may not have the leadership abilities to understand why others cannot perform at the level they were or know how to motivate a team. This may cause those on the sales team to struggle with motivation to do the job and not fully get behind the manager because he seems to be in it for their own gain.

I have worked under some very good managers who had seen others before them manage in such a way that they were able to learn from their example. The culture of the organization was such that they wanted to see everyone succeed. The management of the organization was not threatened by others success. I had one manager I worked for tell me, "the measure of my success is teaching those who work for me to be better at my job than I am." I have carried this philosophy with me ever since. A corporate culture where the leadership is secure enough and encouraged to teach others creates an environment where not only can you have top sales reps succeeding but you can develop managers who are equipped and ready to lead.