Lessons in Sales Leadership

We’re re-formatting the podcast to share weekly advice on the Covid-19 crisis, derived from hundreds of commercial leaders all over the world.  Maria Boulden joins me to discuss what the best leaders do to immediately adapt, and what they under no circumstances allow to change.  At the end of the day, even in sales, it’s a very human story.  Stay safe, everyone.  Featuring: Maria Boulden, Vice President, Executive Partner, Gartner Maria.Boulden@gartner.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-boulden-8a778b11/ Host: Brent Adamson, Distinguished Vice President, Gartner Brent.Adamson@gartner.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/brentadamson/  Explore:COVID-19: A message to Marriott International associates from President and CEO Arne Sorenson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SprFgoU6aO0 Follow us:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/gartner-for-sales/Twitter: @gartner_salesWebsite: www.gartner.com/en/sales   

A self-described “ruthless pragmatist,” Dave Brock has always been motivated by problem solving. As a kid he preferred to assemble puzzles with the picture side down – just to make them a bit harder. Today he takes his problem-solving skills to high performance organizations all around the world. A consultant and “CEO whisperer,” Dave encourages organizations to employ a careful balance of “back to the basics” selling fundamentals, while also taking a step back to focus on how the pieces of the sales organization fit together. 

Tim Hardin represents the best in all of us who aspire to leadership. An artful turn-around expert with deep knowledge, enviable discipline, and incredible skill, Tim has carefully constructed a successful career built on a single, powerful idea: make a meaningful impact. To get there, he’s made what many might call counterintuitive, maybe even counterproductive, career choices, taking at times one step backward to eventually make two leaps forward – all with a crystal clear view of making a purposeful impact on both the people and the world around him. This is where lessons in leadership meet lessons in life.

Reflecting back on an incredible career as Chief Growth Officer at Aramark, Jeff Connor provides perspective for those still seeking the top of the career mountain.  The chief lesson?  Successful leadership is a result of purpose, not oversight—a principle few would dispute, but most would struggle to sustain across a 30-year career the way Jeff did so well.  How he do it?  Here’s Jeff’s story.   

In this episode of Lessons in Sales Leadership, Brent Adamson speaks with Myke Hawkins, SVP of Global Solutions at Kelly Services. The two discuss Myke’s career journey as a sales executive and how his leadership style has deeply been influenced by his personal experience growing up in Flint, Michigan. Being at the forefront of the changing world of work, Myke also shares his perspective on how organizations should be interpreting this change and what they can do to adjust their talent strategies to adapt.For more on this interview, download the latest issue of Gartner's quarterly publication, The Chief Sales Officer

Brent Adamson sits down with Randy Kobat, Senior Vice President at Cox Automotive, to discuss Randy’s rapid rise to general management, the lessons he's learned, and the value of both an open mindset and a relentless focus on building a business through a customer-first lens. Along the way, Randy explains how he manages to implement an incredible range of productive change in less time than it takes most companies to identify a need for change in the first place. Truly one of today’s most impressive and productive commercial leaders.About Randy Kobat:Randy Kobat is the Senior Vice President of vAuto, HomeNet, Rebates & Incentives, and Dealertrack DMS. In this role, Randy oversees all aspects of operations and performance for these companies and segments of Cox Automotive, helping them meet their respective goals for growth, product development and integration, and customer and employee satisfaction.Follow us on LinkedIn at Gartner for Sales and Twitter at @Gartner_Sales

Brent Adamson interviews Mitch Little, who leads the Worldwide Sales and Applications Engineering team at Microchip. The two discussed Mitch’s approach to critical and controversial decisions he’s made including eliminating sales commissions and focusing his sales team’s training on their purpose rather than products.

Go inside the minds of top chief sales officers. What are their stories? Their challenges? What drives them to succeed? On Lessons in Sales Leadership, sales and marketing guru Brent Adamson interviews heads of sales about the decisions they’ve made and the lessons they’ve learned on their journey to success as a sales leader. About the Host:Brent Adamson, Distinguished Vice President of Advisory, collaborates with heads of B2B and B2C sales and marketing around the world. Brent’s work spans a wide range of commercial challenges, including customer buying behavior, sales performance, marketing excellence, commercial strategy, content marketing, customer/consumer experience and understanding, sales management, personalization, leadership and coaching, organizational productivity, and both in-person and digital customer engagement. He is a sought-after speaker and facilitator, with more than 25 years of experience as a professional researcher, teacher, and trainer. He is also the co-author of The Challenger Customer and the best-selling The Challenger Sale and has written for a wide range of business publications including numerous articles in the Harvard Business Review, along with Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Selling Power.

Brent Adamson interviews Maria Boulden, who just retired as Global Sales Director, Corian Design Business at DuPont. The two discuss highlights of her career, including a CSO’s first and last 100 days, when to step down and increasing diversity in sales.About Lessons in Sales Leadership:Go inside the minds of top chief sales officers. What are their stories? Their challenges? What drives them to succeed? On Lessons in Sales Leadership, sales and marketing guru Brent Adamson interviews heads of sales about the decisions they’ve made and the lessons they’ve learned on their journey to success as a sales leader.About the Host:Brent Adamson, Distinguished Vice President of Advisory, collaborates with heads of B2B and B2C sales and marketing around the world. Brent’s work spans a wide range of commercial challenges, including customer buying behavior, sales performance, marketing excellence, commercial strategy, content marketing, customer/consumer experience and understanding, sales management, personalization, leadership and coaching, organizational productivity, and both in-person and digital customer engagement. He is a sought-after speaker and facilitator, with more than 25 years of experience as a professional researcher, teacher, and trainer. He is also the co-author of The Challenger Customer and the best-selling The Challenger Sale and has written for a wide range of business publications including numerous articles in the Harvard Business Review, along with Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Selling Power.More podcasts from Gartner: ThinkCast: https://www.gartner.com/en/podcasts/thinkcast Talent Angle: https://www.gartner.com/en/podcasts/talent-angle Podcasts page: https://www.gartner.com/en/podcasts