March Madness - Coaching Amongst Chaos
Motivational mindset, embracing the process, coaching amongst chaos and how to succeed against adversity, as told by champions, coaches, experts and all-stars.
😳 What a crazy week.
My original plan all along was to use this week, the first week of March Madness to tie in my passion for Sports and how that relates to coaching a sales team. Its still madness -albeit without basketball. Covid -19 has thrown everyone for a loop. Instead of punting (yes -pun), I decided there’s no better time to look at how we as coaches can lead amongst the chaos. What have the great ones done? What mindset do they have to succeed? Hopefully there’s some nuggets in here that may inspire while the chaos and uncertainty of normalcy rages on…
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STRETCH SHARES
Allies to Motivation 💪
Super excited to feature a guest post by sports psychologist and mental performance coach Riley Jensen. Riley and I were on the same sales team back in the day when we each were selling radio advertising when SaaS was a glimmer of what it is today! He’d be the last to tell you this, but he’s been successful in nearly anything he’s done. From his days quarterbacking a D1 football team, to selling radio, medical devices and now founding his own mental performance and sports training company - Riley is a winner.
I called Riley to pick his brain on the mental side of sales and how it impacts our success specific for this newsletter and partnering with him to help bridge the gap between Xs and Os and mindset as a leader.
I wish we recorded our phone conversation because it would have been a heck of a podcast (We’ll definitely try and re-enact this for later) but I did ask him if he’d be willing to write a guest post on what we talked about and he sent me back gold!
Getting in the right mindset as professionals is key. Motivation is a mindset. Motivation is however fleeting. This is why he emphasizes Commitment Over Motivation because most days you aren’t running at 100%. But it's what you do on those days where motivation may be lacking - that turns into success and wins.
As you’re leading a team - this is a must read. Thanks Riley!
Kobe Bryant & Nick Saban on Embracing the Process 🐐
Bittersweet rewatching this but its an awesome video showing two of the greatest (hard for me to admit not being a Bama or Lakers fan) on how they go about their business as coaches, players and in life. The process. The Grind. What happens when you hit adversity? How do you continue to stay on top?
You can’t become a great player until you overcome adversity.
Everyone wants to be the beast, But not everyone wants to do what the beasts do.
Amazing insight on how these two champions look at mindset. #MambaMentality #RIPKobe
4 Things Great Sales Coaches Do Differently 🤔
Good, quick read on what we can do as coaches for our team. Full article HERE, but summarized below:
Provide Clear Direction
Good coaches know where the ship needs to sail and lead you there by regularly introducing a clear vision and goals. Everyone knows what they’re responsible for and why. And not just KPI's — but higher-order things like your company’s mission.
Create a Winning Game Plan
Good coaches take complex problems and come up with step-by-step solutions or "plays" that are scalable and repeatable. They don’t get lost in the weeds of individual deals or have to be on every call to help their reps close.
Put People in the Right Roles
Good coaches know what strengths people bring to the table and apply them in the right roles or help them change roles to bring out the best in their talent. They don’t hire and fire people without looking in the mirror first.
Develop & Inspire People
Good coaches take a tough, but personal interest in individuals. They inspire you to improve and work hard. They build diverse teams and know how to motivate each person uniquely.
STRETCH SNIPPETS
Why Coaching Matters
What impact is Covid-19 having on your sales performance? Click to see results 👇
and subsequently…
How do I provide value to my prospects in this chaos?
STRETCH VP POST 👇
Coaching Basic Blocking and Tackling as a Sales Leader in SaaS
A few weeks back, I had an insightful conversation with a seasoned VP of Sales at a well known, scaling tech company.
As background, this company has raised over $100M to date and is on an amazing trajectory most of us would love to be a part of. But as we talked – I was caught off guard that she was dealing with some of the same hurdles that I was as a VP of Sales, event after raising a cool $100M!!!
We spent a fair amount of time talking about what was happening, why this was happening and why it was so important to consistently coach against this challenge.
So I naturally left our meeting thinking that if this is a hurdle for me at a smaller company – and an obstacle for a leader running a much larger sales team – I’m assuming its a problem for others elsewhere. Full post HERE.
BONUS COACH QUOTES 💡
“Mediocre People Don’t Like High Achievers, and High Achievers Don’t Like Mediocre People” - Nick Saban Video HERE
“Average players want to be left alone. Good players want to be coached. Great players want to be told the truth.” – Doc Rivers
“Never Mistake Activity for Impact” - John Wooden POST HERE
“I think the most important thing about coaching is that you have to have a sense of confidence about what you’re doing. You have to be a salesman and you have to get your players, particularly your leaders, to believe in what you’re trying to accomplish on the basketball floor.” - Phil Jackson
“I’d say handling people is the most important thing you can do as a coach. I’ve found every time I’ve gotten into trouble with a player, it’s because I wasn’t talking to him enough.” Lou Holtz
“A common mistake among those who work in sport is spending a disproportional amount of time on “x’s and o’s” as compared to time spent learning about people.”
- Mike Krzyzewski
And finally…sports. 🏀🏈⚾️⚽️
Since we are all on lockdown here without much competition- I give you two great come from behind victories that will have you ready to compete!
Cornhole!!
Marbles!!
Go get ‘em Coach, thanks for reading!
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— Grant 👋
About stretch vp: confessions, learnings and insights from sales leaders in SaaS
Compiled and aggregated from a network of sales leaders in SaaS, Stretch VP showcases learnings, insights and experiences as well as best practices to overcome common hurdles, obstacles and setbacks in your quest for excellence as a sales leader in SaaS.
Are you a VP, Director, thought leader or content producer in the SaaS space? We’d love to have you contribute. Contact Me HERE.
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