Wipfli Leadership & Management

Being good leaders is something we all strive for. Leading well, while leading innovatively, is challenging. It’s also vital. On top of general well-balanced leadership skills, innovative leaders possess an insatiable hunger. Innovative leaders measure success and performance based on revenue, promotor scores and profitability, but are also driven to explore what’s possible. They bank on new ideas.

How do your managers coach and support sales team members to reach their goals?

It takes a village! The support doesn’t come from any one individual. The sales infrastructure for our sales team is made up of executives, performance coaches and peer advisors. Each persona helps in different ways. Whatever the goal, the infrastructure can help. It could be as simple as hitting your numbers or as complex as becoming a partner.

What practices or programs empower your salespeople to take ownership of their growth?

When discussing strategy and growth, our leadership insists our business development team bring solutions to the challenges we’re discussing. When the expectation is set that simply bringing problems to the forefront isn’t advancing us as an organization, it creates an environment where ideas and creativity are celebrated among the team. Once the best path forward has been decided, the entire team gets behind it.

How do you balance accountability with autonomy across your sales organization?

Clarity. Our sales team understands what success looks like and the effort required to get there. Clarity means clear expectations and operating with transparency with our clients. Our team is empowered to allocate resources, both time and money, to achieve our goals. It’s rare for a well-thought-out idea to be turned down. That combination of transparency and freedom creates a culture where people feel responsible for results and empowered to innovate.