As John Maxwell says, ‘Leadership is influence, and influence is leadership’. And specifically as sales leaders, we must continue to positively influence our team, to drive exceptional standards, so as to drive sustainable, predictable and replicable results. This influence presupposes that our team trusts us. Does your team trust you? And if the answer is an unequivocal ‘yes’, the follow up question is ‘how do you know?’

Many leaders fall into the trap of leading their team from a positional perspective, rather than earning the right to lead their team and in the process, build trust. We must always remember our people are constantly asking the following questions –

• Does my leader care about me as a person? Genuinely care.
  
• Can my leader help me?
  
• Can my leader be trusted?
  

Exceptional leaders understand that their actions are constantly providing answers to those questions, and hence they are intentional with creating an environment where they can be trusted.