BTM Event Video: Salesloft CEO Kyle Porter – What is the difference between business leadership and sales leadership?

Building the Sales Machine (BTM) Event Series: we post clips of the best questions that where answered during our live events, so you can take the best ideas back to your teams and companies for further discussion.

I know this is a sales event.  When I started Salesloft, I was the sales guy, but now I’m the CEO and I have a VP of Sales.  What I’ve found is that even the people I’m speaking to in the city today, they’re ahead of me.  They know the tools and the tactics better than I do.

But what I realized is that I’m a company leader.  And I need to look at how do I put people in the right places, to run the right departments.  Today, in the office, we discussed a particular manager.  In her case, she’s super strong and very hands off.  We want her to step back a bit, to let go, and give room to let some of her people develop.  Sales Leadership is so hands on, it’s hourly.  Even the best VPs, they are in the trenches, they can be on the calls.  As you step back and get into bigger organziations, you have to step back and empower other leaders.  That’s what true leadership is.

When you can go in, connect, understand someones motivations, understand someones skills, understand where they want to go.  Then you help put them on a path to be a leader for other people.

The whole idea is leadership is influence of other people to be come leaders.