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Guest post by: Ralph Burns Become an Author

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I used to work for a company that tried to change me into someone I just was not. In an interview, the HR manager said, "This company will help you overcome your weaknesses by thrusting you into different kinds of situations. We will help you grow to become a completely different person."

Here is the thing. There's nothing wrong with "overcoming your weaknesses". But to turn me into a "completely different person," that's something else.

Back then I didn't realize the repercussions of that statement. Now that I've got years of experience as a sales manager, I know better than to try and change my sales reps into something they're not.

My sales reps are themselves. They are not their colleagues. They are not their friends. They are not me.

I'm sure you've seen some good relationships go bad when one person tries to change too many things-big or small-about his or her partner. In the beginning it's all good. It feels charming even. But after a while, it starts to get old and annoying, until the person realizes his or her partner is trying to force him or her to become somebody else. Someone he or she is not. At this point the relationship is pretty much doomed to failure.

Learn from the mistakes of lovers. Learn from the mistakes of past employers. As a top-performing sales manager, make small deposits into your sales reps' Trust Accounts, one day at a time, and try and get to know them on a personal level. This way, you learn what makes them tick and uncover their talents. Use these as launch pads to leverage them to better sales performance.

The concept goes,

"Draw out more of what your sales reps already have, and stop trying to fix what they don't."

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