Last Thursday I supported The Lennox Academy and Allego as they hosted an event at Mondello Park for 20 sales leaders in tech organisations.
Racing Cars – The Craic!
We kicked the day off by splitting into two groups.
Group 1 went to the track for speed. Group 2 went to the car park for skills. I was in Group 2.
We watched a professional driver skilfully navigate a souped-up Toyota Starlet in between cones, requiring 3 X 180 degree handbrake turns before speeding to the finish line and coming to an abrupt stop in a confined area.
We each had three attempts, hitting a cone incurred a penalty.
No one wanted to go after the pro. She had made it look so easy. It kind of felt like David Moyes taking over after Alex Ferguson’s reign at Man Utd.
The nervous excitement was evident. Egos dissolved, trash talk subsided. Tough sales leader personas dissolved. Vulnerable and apprehensive humans emerged!
What a great way to kick off a ‘client day’, such a good leveller.
I went last, quietly soaking up each person’s account of their experience. I wasn’t overly confident but I felt unusually present in a kind of mindful way. I was utterly engaged in the task at hand.
As the groups swapped over, my presence and confidence grew. We had a few test runs in a powerful little Mazda rally car before being let loose in the Porsche Caymans. Our instructors made it clear which side of the track to hug at different times, when we should brake, how hard to turn and so forth. They helped make the experience thrilling and enjoyable. We got better and better each lap.
Lunchtime High:
Adrenaline was sky-high as we finished up. The energy in the room was soaring over lunch, and conversation was flowing.
Peer Insights and Shared Learning
After lunch, we split into three roundtables. I facilitated discussions around;
- Refocusing on Outbound: Boosting AE skills and culture for better prospecting
- Team Behaviours: Supporting Your Growth Ambitions
- CFO Sales Strategies: Effective approaches for success
After the adrenaline high of the driving, the carb-loaded lunch, the caffeine-boosting and cookie-supported recovery, it was important to manage the energy in the room well.
We had a mix of table discussion, self-reflection, room-wide sharing accompanied by fresh air breaks on the balcony to keep fresh.
I learned LOADS! And as you’d expect, when a group of like-minded people with shared interests and different experiences across similar (but different) roles and orgs come together they took a lot from it too.
On the subject of Team Behaviours supporting growth ambitions, I asked the group to self-reflect on the following:
- What are you trying to achieve from a business perspective over the next 1-3 years?
Based on their reflections, they then answered the following questions anonymously via Slido, which we discussed together in the room.
- What behaviours do you observe that don’t align with your business growth strategy?
- What behaviours are not visible that would be supportive of your business growth strategy?
- What behaviours are visible that you want to see more of?
Key Take-Aways:
Their answers, shared below, highlight the importance for every team to work on their team dynamic and desired behaviours together.
When team members agree on how they’ll work together most effectively, towards shared meaningful goals, they start to manage themselves. It’s much easier to trust in them when you set them up for success first. If you’re banging a drum about what you want to see and hear from them, without their input or buy-in, you’re disempowering them.
All attendees will get a summary of the other discussions too – powerful tips and insights.
If you’re a senior leader in a tech sales org and have FOMO, reply and let me know. I can put you in touch with Ross Keating from the Lennox Academy, or Stu Taylor from Allego, and get you added to the list for future events (we’re working on ideas this week).
For now, focus on answering these questions:
- How can I get the team I lead to take more collective responsibility going forward?
- How can I change my style to facilitate the change I want to observe in others?
- What can we do to accelerate our learning and performance as a team on an ongoing basis?
Ohhhh, and one final important piece of info (from my perspective anyway), I came 2nd in the time trial!!! Definitely unexpected, but absolutely DELIGHTED with myself!!
