Episode 80

How Sales Leaders Can Conquer Their Fear with Wesleyne

Published on: 24th August, 2022

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Highlights

  • [00:33] - How the fear of rejection affects salespeople.
  • [02:58] - Why even the best sales leaders are afraid of failing.
  • [04:17] - Do you fear success? Time to put an end to that.
  • [07:30] - Identifying and overcoming your fear once and for all.
  • [10:47] - Succeeding in your sales career by promoting yourself.
  • [12:06] - Getting the support you need to move forward. 

In this episode of the Transformed Sales Podcast, I talk about fear and how it affects salespeople and sales leaders. Fear can destroy confidence, create doubt, and snatch the joy from life. It has many names, can be invisible, holds no prejudice, and has lots of allies that work in tandem to self-sabotage. The fear of selling and rejection among salespeople can occur in response to certain unforeseen situations developing, for instance, a high-profile client canceling. 

It can also occur in anticipation or expectation of future challenges, such as having to explain to the leadership that the biggest client is canceling, and the threat these, in turn, pose to the opportunity for a promotion or financial bonus. The fact is, fear affects both individual contributors and sales leaders in equal measure. But what if you identify it, call it out, and use it for positive gain? Stay tuned because that’s exactly what I’ll address in this value-packed 13-minute episode. I’ll mention the three different types of fear that affect salespeople and share how you can overcome them.

Quotes

“The worst thing you can do as a sales leader is follow the status quo” - Wesleyne Greer

“All types of fear hold you back as a sales leader” - Wesleyne Greer

“As a sales leader, when you operate with a fear mindset, that resonates down to your team” - Wesleyne Greer

Connect with Wesleyne Greer:

  • Wesleyne’s Website - https://transformedsales.com/
  • Wesleyne on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wesleynegreer/
  • Wesleyne on Facebook - https://web.facebook.com/wesleynegreer
  • Wesleyne on Twitter - https://twitter.com/wesleynegreer
  • Email Her at wesleyne@transformedsales.com
Transcript
Wesleyne Greer:

Hello, and welcome to the transform sales

Wesleyne Greer:

podcast today I have your guest Wesleyne. Yes, that's right. I

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am doing a solo episode for you why? Because this is going to be

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our ADF episode eight, zero. Can't believe how many episodes

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we've done a podcast is definitely a labor of love. So

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what are we going to be talking about today on the podcast, I'm

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going to be talking about fear, something that we don't often

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talk about something that isn't something that we as sales

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leaders, as business owners, or even salespeople like to really

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touch, because it's this weird thing that we often find

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ourselves running away from. So we'll be talking about three

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different types of fear. The first type of fear is one that

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we're probably pretty common to understanding, if you will, that

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is the fear of rejection. So as a salesperson, when we think

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about rejection, we're thinking about, really, okay, if I asked

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this person for this purchase order, what's gonna happen?

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They're gonna say, no, if I asked him for another meeting,

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if I asked them to meet their boss, whatever, I asked them,

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they're gonna say no. So what do we do? We just don't do? Because

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we're so scared of being rejected that our answer is I'm

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just not going to do it. How does that manifest? How does

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that develop into a leadership fear of failure? What happens

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is, as a leader, we typically have these really high

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performing people on our teams. And we see that they're doing

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probably 60 70% of their job, right. But there are other areas

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in their job, and maybe in their personality and the things that

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they're doing from day to day, that they just aren't doing the

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right way. And we're scared of them biting our head off, we're

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scared of them saying, You don't know anything, you haven't been

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doing this long enough. You're a leader now, and all of those

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negativities that come to us. So because we want to be sort of

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liked by our employees, we decide that we won't say

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anything. And then when it comes time to stand up for ourselves

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with our managers, we won't say anything, either, because we're

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scared of being rejected. Like they gave me this position. They

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said, Hey, John, Hey, Sally, hey, Wesleyne, I'm gonna promote

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you. And since I'm giving you this opportunity to become a

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sales leader, a vice president of sales, a chief sales officer,

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then I shouldn't have any problems, right? So I'm scared.

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So that is the first type of fear that we often often really

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have that's holding us back the fear of rejection. Now the fear

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of failure. This is a big one, too. Because as these strong

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sales leaders, sales people that we are, we are always scared of

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failing, we think that if we fail, then nobody will give us a

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second chance. We think that if we hit miss our quota, one

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quarter, one month, one year, then we have to run for the

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hills, and look for a new position. Because we are scared

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to fail as strong driving leaders and sales people we are

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used to winning. So when the thought of failing, pops into

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our brain, we get really mousy. And what do we do when we're

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scared of failing? We do the opposite of what we should do.

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We become more conservative, we don't try new things. And that

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hinders us as leaders, because the worst thing you can do as a

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leader is follow the status quo. Yes, I'm saying the worst thing

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you can do as a leader is follow the status quo. Nobody wants a

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leader that follows the status quo, because that's boring, and

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you'll never grow that way. So because you're so scared of

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failing, you don't even try. You don't even start you don't even

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move. Now. This last phenomenon in failure is the fear of

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success. But hold up Wessling, you just told me that I fear

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rejection, I fear failure and now I fear success. How can I be

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afraid of success? Hmm, that's a good one. Being afraid of

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success. It really goes into it brings both concepts of fear of

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rejection and the fear of failure together because the

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fact that you are scared of being successful is the reason

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why you won't raise your hand is the reason why you won't try

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something completely outside of the box. It's why instead of

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you're looking and you're saying hey, it's time for me to move In

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my career, I'm just going to stay in my same industry, I'm

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not going to look outside for any other industry, because what

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happens if you're not successful? What is the

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alternative? So many times we think about the growth that we

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have to have in our career, we're always trying to get to

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the next level and the next level and the next level, and we

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get knocked down one time. And then we're like, Well, maybe

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it's not meant for me to be a vice president of sales, maybe

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it's not meant for me to work in this manufacturing industry,

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maybe I should go back in I should work in the factory,

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right? So we take all of those things, and it prevents us from

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even being successful. So I want you to take a moment and think

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about which of these three phenomenons Do you really think

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you are struggling with the most? Is it the fear of

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rejection, so really focusing on what other people think of you

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their perception of what success looks like to them? That is what

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the fear of rejection is all about? It's so focused on other

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people's opinions of you that you don't even try? Is it the

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fear of failing? Because at one time in your career, or one time

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in your life, you have considered yourself failing at

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something? And so you're like, Well, if I fail again, I'm gonna

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get the same result. I don't want to fail again. So that fear

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of failure that is internal, that is something in the past

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that is causing you to bring that negativity into the future

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and causing you to not try again? Or is it the fear of

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success? Well, if I started making more money than all the

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people in my circle, they'll think that I'm bougie. Or

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they'll think that we can't hang out anymore. So I'm not even

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going to try to go for that promotion. I'm not even gonna

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try to do that. Because what happens if I am successful, all

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types of fear hold you back as a leader, as a leader, when we

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operate with that fear mindset, the mindset of scarcity, the

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mindset of I'm afraid, that resonates down to our team. So

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they see you as a leader, not raising your hand for the

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promotion, or not accepting the praise and accolades from doing

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something so well until your salespeople embody that. That is

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what happens when you hold on to this fear. So how do I begin

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releasing this fear? How do I go from holding on to one, two, or

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all three of these types of failure and really start moving

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through it, the first step is you must realize that you are

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holding on to this, you must realize that as a human being,

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it is okay to be afraid. If you see a snake slithering into your

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office, or you see a cockroach, and you're just innately scared

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of it. It is okay to be scared. Fear is a natural human emotion.

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However, it is not okay to let that fear cripple you, you must

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identify your fear. So some people are afraid of heights.

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They say I'm afraid of heights. And so what do they do, they

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just don't jump out of an airplane, or they don't go

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anywhere high. But that's not attacking your fear head on.

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Whatever you are afraid of, you must first identify it. So you

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say it into the world. You write it down, you do whatever. And

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this is for you. This is not for anyone else. But you. So you say

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this is what I'm afraid of. This is what my biggest fear in my

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career, and my personal life that is holding me back, write

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it down. Once you have identified that fear, you must

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now take a moment and say, Is this something that I can

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conquer on my own? Or do I need someone to help me tease this

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out that someone can be a spouse, that someone can be a

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coach that someone can be a therapist, but be honest with

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yourself? Because when we're in these modes of failure,

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especially as leaders, we're in our head. And when I say we're

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in our head, that's I'm just swirling around, and I'm telling

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myself that this is wrong. And this is right, and we're not

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talking to anyone else. We're not speaking to anyone, we're

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just rolling these thoughts around in our head. So write it

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down. Realize that you need support it is okay to say I need

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some help. And it can be professional or it can be

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someone in your family a loved one. That is absolutely okay.

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And then finally, after you've discussed this fear with someone

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you realize what it is you must now start taking small steps to

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attack this fear head on.

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What are you talking about? How do I attack fear head on? Isn't

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this just like an abstract Concept know, if you have a fear

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of success, let's say you are scared of being successful. So

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that means what you should do is you should go to your boss and

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say, Hey, boss, last week, the team and I did this great

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initiative, I just wanted to let you know, how we work together,

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how I came up with this idea, whatever it was the part that

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you played in it, and wanted to share that with you. That is one

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small step that you can take to really help you overcome that

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fear of success. Because being afraid of success means that you

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will not you will not self promote yourself. And remember,

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self promotion is not a bad thing. self promotion is good.

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We all have to promote ourselves, because nobody else

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will, if you don't raise your hand and say, Hey, this is my

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name, this is what I've done. I'm ready for the next step, or

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the next accolade. Or it could even be I just want to be

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recognized for a job well done, you must start raising your

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hand. That's how you start attacking the fear of success

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head on the fear of rejection, you just have to do it. Right?

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You just have to really think about all of the areas in your

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professional career that you fear rejection, is it I fear

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being rejected by a person on my team, so I'm not going to

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address a negative behavior with them. Then you have a

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conversation, you have a one on one with them. And you say, Hey,

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I've noticed that you're displaying some of these

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behaviors, you're doing a lot of wonderful things. However, this

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is something that I want us to work on together us a unit,

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right? And if they say I don't want to work on that with you,

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as the leader, you get to decide, is this somebody that I

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still want on my team? That's what you have to do? Proclaim

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it? What is the thing that is holding you back? What kind of

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fear is holding you back? Talk about it, get your support

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system, no one exists as an island, and then three, attack

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it head on. So that guys was my short, only 15 minutes. I know

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you're old, you still longer episodes when I'm interviewing

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people. But I really wanted to chat with you about the fear,

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fear that is holding us back in our leadership fear that is

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holding us back as salespeople as business owners and

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entrepreneurs to really unlock your growth to unlock the next

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level in your career in your business and anything that

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you're doing. You must overcome this fear in all the ways that

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is holding you back. Thank you so much for joining me today. I

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hope you enjoyed this episode. And if you like hearing Wesleyne

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by herself, just go off on a topic send me an email, shoot us

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a note podcast at transform sales.com We love to hear from

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you guys. So if you liked this format, I'll do more solo

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episodes. Until next time in all that you do transform your sales

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About the Podcast

Transformed Sales
Transforming Sales Managers to Lead Using Behavior-Based Skills Development
As a sales manager, you are judged by the performance of your team. And you're praised when they do well. But one thing that you've not been able to figure out is how to get everyone on your team consistently hitting quota every single month. Sales leadership is difficult.

The Transformed Sales podcast equips sales leaders with the skills to develop high-performance teams. We provide coaching strategies for improving sales team performance, mentoring developing sellers, and providing ongoing support for best practices. As a result sales leaders can guide, create, and nurture long-term relationships with their teams.

You will learn how to enhance your ability to engage in productive conversations with internal team members, resulting in a collaborative, dynamic environment where sellers feel supported.

Transformed Sales assists businesses in developing and building the culture necessary to build high-performing sales teams. In this leadership coaching program, coaching strategies are offered that can be used to improve the performance of sales teams. These strategies provide ongoing support and reinforcement of best practices