What Does a Sales Manager Look Like?

The reason this is so important to me is because as management goes so does the culture of the company. The management team sets the standard for what’s acceptable, what’s tolerated and what’s not. As we explore the role of managers and look at the definition, it’s important to understand the impact that management makes and creates in their organizations.

If you are a manager, take the time to reflect on these questions embedded within this article and take a real-time self-evaluation to see what your motives are in your current position.

Why Are You A Manager?

Is the reason rooted and tied to the same core values of the company?

Here are some key areas to focus on as a manager:

1. You Care About People – You need to care deeply about your people while not worrying or really even caring about what they think about you. Managing by trying to be liked is the path to ruin.
   
2. You Want to See People Grow and Succeed – Imagine you spend a full day in back-to-back one-on-ones, meeting with the individuals of your team. Does that sound awful or awesome?

If you really don’t want others to succeed and you thrive on seeing others struggle, barely get by, or fail, then being a manager is not for you.

What is a Manager?

Is your definition rooted and tied to the same core values of the company and the leadership of the company?

Here is My Definition – A manager is… a leader who cares for, protects, serves and leads his team so they can be as productive as possible and maximize results at all times while protecting the owner and company’s investment.

Dictionary Definition:

1. a person responsible for controlling or administering all or part of a company or similar organization.
2. a person who conducts business.
3. a person who directs a team.
4. someone who is in charge of a business, department, etc.
5. someone who directs the training and performance of a team.
6. someone who directs the professional career of another.
7. a person whose work or profession is management.

What is Management?

My Definition – Management is… a series of processes put in place to provide value through our services and products to our customer base, while protecting the investment of the owner and company.

Dictionary Definition:

1. the act or art of managing: the conducting or supervising of something (such as a business).
2. the act or process of deciding how to use something
3. the people who look after and make decisions about their company

What is a manager supposed to look like in your company? What is management supposed to look like in your company?

Are your company’s managers reflecting your company’s values?

If not, identify the areas that need focus and relay the expectations to your management team.

So back to the main question. What does a manager look like in 2019?

1. The modern-day manager is a coach.
   A coach is a person who is responsible for managing and training a person or a team. A coach is also an expert who trains someone on a skill. A coach builds up. A coach corrects what’s wrong and then shows what’s right. A coach takes corrective actions to improve the player and the team as a whole. A coach will help bring out the best of the player. A coach will get the player to perform at a higher level and push beyond where they thought they were already maxed out at. A coach motivates. A coach encourages. A coach challenges. A coach guides. A coach teaches. A coach is more interested in your ultimate end results and cares more about you reaching them than they do about how you feel about them in the process.
2. The modern-day manager is one who leads the way in training.
   As a leader to their team, managers need to stay trained in their craft. Trained employees produce greater results than an untrained employee. The same is true with managers. They must be skilled in their ability to perform at the highest levels in their skillsets. They should be training themselves to stay sharp, to master their crafts and to be able to be full of wisdom and knowledge so they can pour out into their teams! They train themselves and they train their teams. You can’t give someone something you don’t have so it’s vital to continue to invest training into yourself.
3. The modern-day manager helps the team be able to maximize their strengths.
   This simply means the managers remove stumbling blocks, barriers and anything that may get in the way of helping the team members achieve their goals most efficiently and effectively getting the most of their time and resources. The manager also creates an environment to not UNmotivate team members. Top performers are self-driven and usually have some sort of discipline in place to perform above their peers. I’ve seen many managers get in the way by trying to prove they are better than the top performer and interrupt the motivation and diminish the results. Stay out of the way while leading the way. Create a clear path for growth and increase for your team.
   

We as managers allow the culture in our departments and organizations.

The modern-day manager creates a healthy culture amongst their organizations.

What is culture?
The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization.

Culture is not easily changed. However, it can be changed.

Notice that culture is a set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices!
The easiest way to change the culture of something and somewhere is to change the laws that govern the people within that environment.

When you change the laws or rules where people are, rules and laws keep people’s actions in check to be in line with them whether you like them, agree with them or disagree and hate them!

So how do you change the law and rules of your department and organization?
You write them according to your goals and according to the desired results you want to have.

To create a positive culture the rules and laws of your organization or department need to produce the outcomes that create a positive culture.

For example:

In this Organization we will:

• Be Kind To One Another
• Speak Encouraging Words
• Avoid Sarcasm & Name Calling
• No Bullying, Intimidating & Manipulating

We also then, need to exemplify the rules and law of the culture we want to have.

In the process of creating this culture, the greatest impact will be made through the genuine development of relationships between the management and the teams. Why? Simply because when you develop a relationship with them you begin to care for them. When you care for them you begin to bond with them and when you bond with them you also will do what you can to help them succeed. This creates trust amongst all involved and when a genuine trust occurs there is power in trusting and believing in a person. As a matter of fact, all things become possible to those who believe and greatness becomes a reality and not just a wish!

If you establish rules but never create a relationship then rules without relationships lead to rebellion. People do and don’t things because they have to or because they want to. When they do them because they want to and not just because they have to, you’re on your way to a healthy culture.

A manager once told me that I am expected to create a unity and team atmosphere within my department. He then went on and said that however, there will never be a unity and team atmosphere between the sales floor and the Internet and BDC departments.

WHAT?

Did I really just hear that?

He was saying that he expected our department to operate as a different culture than what he was allowing to be the culture in the other departments of the store. This is not good. This is a cannibalistic culture. He, the owner, and other management allowed for the devouring of one another between departments and individuals. This environment created animosity and issues instead of dealing with it from the top and changing it.

People will say it’s the money when it’s really not the major contributing factor for why they leave.

Another Gallup study found that 50 percent of employees left their job “to get away from their manager to improve their overall life at some point in their career.”

As managers, it’s important to realize that we have a role in influencing people in our company to either ultimately stay and thrive in our company or we can cause people to leave and never want to come back to our company because of how we treat them and make them feel!

As a manager, we have a responsibility to our company and the members of our company to do everything possible to maximize the results within our team and direct influence from our team.

The problem I see with many managers is that they are managers by title but have lost the influence and impact that once burned within them to help, lead and serve their teams!

Let me know what your thoughts are.