I’m watching college football today and can’t escape all the pre-game hype around the 5th ranked Georgia Bulldogs and the 6th ranked South Carolina Gamecocks.
What makes this grid-iron war so unique to me is that the Gamecocks have been perennial losers in the SEC. That is until Steve Spurrier took over in 2004. Since Spurrier took over the program, the Gamecocks have gone 60 -35. That is a 64% winning percentage. South Carolina’s winning percentage BEFORE Spurrier, 49.2%.
Steve Spurrier has a proven track record of building wildly successful college football programs. He turned around lowly Duke in just 3 years. Duke has never been the same with only a few winning seasons since he left for Florida.
Spurrier success in Florida is widely known. He won one national title and 6 SEC Conference Championships. This is at a program that had never outright won an SEC Championship in 56 years previous to his tenure.
Why is it that there are some people who go into a losing program and turn it around, then upon their exit the program returns to mediocrity? It’s because leadership matters.
There are people in all fields who have the ability to get the most out of people, resources, opportunities and more. They have tested approaches and philosophies they rely on. They know how to identify, leverage and motivate talent. Success isn’t by happenstance when it comes to true leaders. True leaders are successful by design.
What does your sales leadership look like. Is your sales team one of the best in your industry? Does your sales team continually meet or exceed quota year over year? Is your sales organization seen as the leader in your industry?
If your sales team isn’t where you want it to be, it’s time to look at leadership. When a sales team is underperforming, it’s not the sales people, it’s sales leadership. Like coaches in sports, sales leaders hire the players, set the rules, design the practices/processes, manage the challenges and set the vision. If it’s not working out the way you want, take a look at the sales leadership.
Do you have a “Steve Spurrier” running your sales organization? Why not?
