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There’s a quiet crisis unfolding in sales organizations—and it has nothing to do with compensation, CRM adoption, or closing techniques. The real gap? Leadership.
The most underdeveloped role in the sales org today is the sales manager. Too often, they’re trained to push quotas, review numbers, and escalate deals—but not to coach, develop, or lead.
That’s what made my conversation with Mark Hunter so compelling—he doesn’t look just at the numbers; he gets to the heart of what sales teams really need: leadership. Mark is the bestselling author of A Mind for Sales and High-Profit Prospecting, and one of the most respected voices in B2B sales. But what he shares isn’t just for sellers—it’s a playbook for leaders.
I remember one sales kickoff I attended early in my career. We had just rolled out an ambitious new target, and the manager at the front of the room clicked through slide after slide of metrics. But what stuck with me wasn’t the forecast—it was the hallway conversation afterward, when one rep whispered to me, “I just wish someone would show us how to get there.”
“Leadership and sales are the same thing. Both are about helping others see and achieve what they didn’t think was possible.” — Mark Hunter
If you’re trying to grow your sales team, retain talent, or create a high-performance culture, Hunter’s message is clear: stop managing performance. Start leading people.
“If I can create this level of trust and confidence with you, then you’ll listen to what I have to say.” — Mark Hunter
Mark draws a powerful link between trust and behavior: when people feel safe with you, they stay engaged. When they don’t, they disappear. That’s as true for customers as it is for employees.
I’ve seen this play out on sales teams where performance was lagging—not because of a lack of skill, but because people didn’t feel seen or supported by their manager. They were showing up, but not leaning in. And the difference-maker wasn’t a new comp plan or a shiny tech tool—it was a leader who started showing up consistently for their people.
If you’re leading a team and wondering why engagement is low, start with this question: Do your people feel safe bringing you their challenges? If not, it’s not a performance issue—it’s a trust issue. And trust isn’t built by titles or talk. It’s built by presence, consistency, and care.
Because in high-performing sales teams, trust isn’t a soft skill—it’s the hard currency everything else depends on.
“Most sales managers are spreadsheet jockeys. They don’t coach.” — Mark Hunter
Mark’s right—and here’s what I’ve seen over and over again: Sales managers who think they’re doing the right thing because they’re buried in dashboards, running reports, and tracking metrics.
But that’s not what great sales managers do.
And most importantly—they are present in the moments that matter.
It’s the recap right after a meeting when you give honest feedback. It’s the micro learning opportunity in line at Starbucks. It’s the debrief in the car on the way back from a pitch.
That’s where leadership actually happens.
At Learnit, we work with organizations to help their managers shift from task-focused supervision to growth-centered leadership. One of the most powerful ways to do that is by building coaching skills.
Leadership isn’t about counting numbers.
It’s about bringing out the best in your people—and helping them achieve levels they didn’t even know were possible.
And that often means getting out of your own comfort zone to challenge theirs.
Healthy conflict isn’t a threat—it’s a catalyst.
Whether you’re leading a team or guiding a client, intellectual friction is the fuel for real growth.
It’s the willingness to challenge assumptions, push boundaries, and speak uncomfortable truths in service of a better outcome.
Mark Hunter doesn’t just talk about leadership—he challenges it. Again and again in our conversation, he came back to one essential truth: growth doesn’t happen in comfort zones.
The best leaders don’t surround themselves with yes-people. They seek out pushbacks. They invite hard questions. They create space for intellectual friction—not to stir up drama, but to sharpen thinking and build trust.
Because when teams are too comfortable, they coast. But when they’re challenged—with clarity, purpose, and respect—they rise.
If everyone in the room agrees someone’s not thinking.
At Learnit, we see this every day in the organizations we support. The highest-performing teams aren’t the ones with the smoothest meetings—they’re the ones where people feel safe enough to speak up, push back, and ask better questions.
And here’s the good news: this kind of culture isn’t reserved for a few forward-thinking companies. Any organization can build a leadership environment where productive tension drives performance—if they’re willing to model it from the top.
The best salespeople don’t aim to be agreeable—they aim to be trusted.
They understand that guiding a client to the right decision often requires discomfort. It means saying what needs to be said, even when it’s not what the customer wants to hear. It means challenging assumptions, questioning shortcuts, and sticking to long-term value over short-term wins.
Mark Hunter calls this the real work of sales. “You build trust,” he says, “when you’re willing to tell the truth—even when it’s uncomfortable.”
Because in the end, being liked might win a meeting. But being trusted wins the relationship.
“The way a leader treats their team is the same way their team treats their customers.” — Mark Hunter
Mark shared a story about a former CEO who made up a cover story to hide a public mistake. That moment stuck with him—not because of the error, but because of the lack of accountability. From that point forward, the trust was gone.
We’ve seen this dynamic play out with teams: integrity at the top sets the tone everywhere else. Leadership isn’t about avoiding mistakes—it’s about owning them when they happen. That level of transparency creates psychological safety and builds team loyalty.
You don’t earn trust through perfection. You earn it by stepping up when it matters most.
“If you want your team to believe in something, you’ve got to sell it to them.” — Mark Hunter
This is one of Mark’s most important insights: the skills that make someone great at sales are the same skills that make someone great at leadership.
If you’re rolling out a new strategy, rallying a team through a rough quarter, or asking people to adopt change—you’re selling. And the best leaders do it the same way top salespeople do:
And here’s another parallel I’ve seen play out across high-performing teams and client relationships: great leadership isn’t about doing all the work yourself—it’s about setting the right people up to win. A great leader surrounds themselves with the best talent, listens to diverse perspectives, and ensures their team has the tools, clarity, and support they need to deliver.
The same is true in sales. You’re not forcing a solution on a customer—you’re co-creating it with them. The best salespeople don’t close deals by controlling the conversation. They build confidence and clarity by helping clients find their own way forward.
When your client feels like it was their idea, that’s not a loss of control—it’s the ultimate win. Because confidence is the thread that ties leadership and sales together. As a leader, your job is to build your team’s confidence. As a seller, your job is to build the client’s confidence. And when that confidence results in ownership—whether it’s an internal project or a joint solution—it sticks.
Every sales conversation is a leadership moment. And the best leaders help others believe in what’s possible.
Lead with confidence and humility, and those qualities will carry through every customer interaction.
If you want your people to sell in a way that showcases the best of your brand—acting as trusted advisors, delivering real value, and earning credibility—you need to lead with those same principles.
That means being willing to say, “I don’t know—but I’ll work to find an answer,” and letting others see that in action.
Because when leaders lead that way, others follow.
You’ll see more ownership of difficult customer conversations—addressed directly instead of avoided.
You’ll see thoughtful collaboration replace one-size-fits-all solutions.
And you’ll see better results—not because you gave directions, but because you led by example.
Leadership sets the tone.
And the tone you set is the experience your customers will remember.
Listen to our conversation in its entirety here.
Learn more about how Learnit partners with organizations to build culture-first, results-driven learning programs here.
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