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Improving Business Development Leadership Skills – 3 Tips!

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The Point: In any business development effort, the leaders are the key elements of any organization to increase the number of sales. Effective business leadership gives direction and defines the framework to achieve the expected objectives, all the while attempting to avoid inefficiency and misuse of resources. So in this post, we’ll explore improving business development leadership skills and share 3 tips… Enjoy!

Improving Business Development Leadership Skills - 3 Tips!

Business Development Leadership… Lonely at the Top?

Business development leadership is the driving force behind efforts to achieve best sales, innovation and productivity. In my years of consulting, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’ve identified that there is a strong correlation between leadership development and business performance. So why are so many organizations reluctant to invest in leadership development training for sales leadership? The answer may surprise you!?!

The Best 3 Tips for Improving Business Development Leadership Skills

A leader with a vision ensures that people understand not only where the company is at, but where it plans on going (and how the people listening play a vital role in how the organization will get there!) The sales leadership in the company can, and should, be seen as the engine that powers the business. The business development leadership role is to be an influential person who motivates their troops and displays a natural positivity.

The following are what I consider to be the top 3 tips to achieving a good sales leadership dynamic:

Tip #1: Be Transparent

Good communication skills are essential for leaders to perform well.

The first step is to be totally transparent with the employees and to tell them exactly where the business is and what their role is.

I often see Sales Leaders that lack authenticity (Be yourself!) attempt to hide behind a proposed leadership mask. People, especially salespeople, will know if you are sincere or not. Your salespeople need all the information they can get to help you achieve your business development goals. Not disseminating information can only provide you confusion/trouble along the way.

Tip #2:   Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses… Then Delegate

In good business development leadership the particular leader must be aware of his or her skills and personality. Make sure you know your strengths, weaknesses and gaps. You can focus on what you do the best, while knowing where you are likely to need help. Furthermore, you could reinforce a weak point in your skills by hiring an external consultant.

The inability to delegate is probably one of the biggest challenges for many leaders who often practice micromanagement (or mismanagement). Sales leadership should recognize the strengths of other members of their team in order to benefit from them. It is important to learn how to surround yourself with competent staff, but you must provide them with the opportunity to prove that competency.

By delegating you also develop your employees, which would be essential to the long-term growth/stability of both the individuals and your organization (People are generally up to the challenge!)

Tip #3: Networking

Another effective business development leadership tip is business networking. If ABC stands for “always be closing,” then the sales leader should employ ABN (Always Be Networking!)

Business networking is a leader’s best friend, regardless of business size (but especially for small and medium-sized businesses). Leaders often need to connect with other business owners, so as to share experiences and learning from each other. Effective leaders know how to build relationships and build beneficial partnerships/alliances.

Networking is also a way to keep up with trends and maintain your visibility in a highly competitive market.

SUMMARY

In this post we’ve explored how improving business development leadership skills can be beneficial. Effectiveness in business development leadership often results in improved performance and improved the sales in the organization. The 3 top could create wider opportunities in business development. These tips have benefited from actions that have had a lasting impact on their business growth.

Sam Palazzolo

 

The Leadership Challenge: Will Your M&A be a Success or Failure? 3 Tips!

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The Point: Recent research by Harvard Business Review reported that the rate of failure in most mergers and acquisitions is around 70% to 90%. So what made this possible? This is simple anyway – a company that focus mostly on what to get from an acquisition is less likely to succeed than a company that focus majorly on what it has to give it (Think of this as a play-off of the “In order to get, you have to give” principle). This truth was also echoed from Adam Grant’s book “Give and Take” – stating that people who are keen to giving rather than on taking, especially within the interpersonal/business realm often later do better than those that concentrate more on increasing their own position. In this post we’ll discuss how mergers and acquisitions can be among those deemed successful… Enjoy!

The Leadership Challenge: Will Your M&A be a Success or Failure? 3 Tips!

Value Creation: The Secret to M&A Success?

Being successful with mergers &acquisition has long been proven to be challenging, yet there have been records of serial acquirers who are more successful with M&A than other companies who occasionally make an acquisition. The major secret behind this success is value creation.

Creating value is regarded as the real essence of any business – it can be easy to forget about this important concept when trying to merge and acquire a new company. Value should be concrete/real, and creating this should always have a positive effect on any business. Most products of true value are embedded with definite way(s) of serving consumers – through a service, for instance, value is being created.

The basic premise of any merger should be that merging parties create greater value together rather than in pre-merger (or while separate entities). Value creation is supposed to be executed by all mergers, yet about 80% of mergers fail to follow this fundamental leadership principle.

Other than making a compulsory effort for creating value, there are also other things that will determine the success or failure of mergers & acquisitions. Below are 3 tips that can help an acquirer improve its competitiveness and increase the chance of succeeding.

3 Tips for Any Acquirer to Improve its Competitiveness

Tip #1: Develop a Clear Strategy

There must be a clear strategy coupled with an open communication channel between stakeholders. Failure to identify a strategy and communicate will hinder the merger or acquisition in delivering desired results. There should be transparency in the process, likewise, it must be realistic and every area of management should be involved for success.

Tip #2: Allow a Wide Range Engagement

When the purpose of mergers & acquisitions are well defined and regularly communicated to stakeholders, market share and growth will allow a natural process to be managed and make goals more realistic. There would be some challenges along the way for sure. However, your strategy must assess any potential risks and challenges that may surface during the process.

By carefully utilizing some employee engagement programs with other strategies built around communication, M&As can operate successfully – it should be at the center of their overarching strategy.

Tip #3: Use a Board and Specialists from Outside

It is a smart approach to build an advisory board regardless of M&A stage – this should include heads of departments, major stakeholders, some internal staff and specialists from outside the organizations to assist with the process.

With the help from an independent source, great business decisions can be validated, claims can be challenged and leadership has a better ability to stay on track toward set goals. A specialist from outside will ensure that employees acquire needed support via a merger or acquisition (See the previous comments on transparent communication and employee engagement surveys).

Summary

In this post titled “The Leadership Challenge: Will Your M&A be a Success or Failure?” we have discussed how not all mergers & acquisitions will succeed (In fact, a high percentage often fail!) To succeed, mergers and acquisitions could run smoother (i.e., achieve better results in less time) by applying the 3 Tips discussed above.

 

Sam Palazzolo

PS – If you or your organization are challenged as a result of M&A activity, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line and request future post titles!