Driving Sales Beyond

Leadership Management - From Napoleon To Welch

As I watched President Obama share his vision on Tuesday night during his press conference, I thought of his leadership, which then led me to think about leadership management within wholesale distributors and all sales organizations during these tough times.  

Some observations I recently received from one of my LinkedIn profile discussions, suggested that as leaders today we must:

• Lead by example and lead with action. Leadership is not about being perfect or doing everything right, it is about doing the right things that help empower others to do what they need to do.
• Understand the imperative nature of hiring good people (regardless of the economy) and, even more importantly to let them do what you hired them for. In tough times like these, it is very easy to "micro-manage".
• Keep the vision alive and make sure that people are still able to see it. Focusing on tasks, blurs that vision, and decreases morale for those on the front lines. In a highly transactional environment for example, some find the focus on tasks to be very depressing. We must bring long-term vision into the scenario, along with goals and then let our people go out and figure it out.
• Remember that people look to their manager for that vote of confidence, encouragement, enthusiasm, or just the gentle righting of the ship. Positive people possess that magnetism which can nudge individuals forward.
• Be direct in what you want out of your people and then let them figure out how to get it done. It doesn't work with everyone, and in every situation but if you have those go-getters on your team, then let them go. Set them on a path for success by simply getting out of their way.

Here are five great quotes on leadership management. Which do you think provides the best insight to sales leadership for these economic times? Tell us why you pick the one you do. 



1. "The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it." Theodore Roosevelt 


2. “A leader's job is to look into the future and see the organization, not as it is, but as it should be."  Jack Welch 
3. "A leader is a dealer in hope." Napoleon Bonaparte 


4. "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things." Peter Drucker 


5. "Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results." George S. Patton

Please Share Your Thoughts
Which of these quotes do you think provides the best insight to leadership management for wholesale distributors and all sales organizations for these economic times? Tell us why you pick the one you do.