Partners in EXCELLENCE - Making a Difference
Leadership
True leadership lies in guiding others to success. In ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they are pledged to do and doing it well. —Bill Owens
Leadership is critical to success, whether self-leadership or organizational leadership. Too often, we confuse leadership and management. Both have their place, but leadership enables organizations to achieve.
We provide a variety of programs to support the development of leaders. Whether it is their role in the organization and how to perform. Developing/implementing strategies, setting performance goals and dealing with performance challenges. Or managing performance and maximizing engagement. Or coaching and developing people in their teams.
Our programs and consulting can be offered at the organizational level, working with people in developing a strong leadership capability within the organization.
We also work at the individual level, serving as coaches or mentors to individuals, maximizing their ability to lead and helping them to move forward in their careers.
Leadership Posts
We Thrive Because We Are Cooperative
I read a fascinating editorial by David Brooks, People Are More Generous Than You May Think. A line stood out, “Humanity hasn’t thrived all these centuries because we’re ruthlessly selfish; we’ve thrived because we’re really good at cooperation.” I had to re-read the article a few times, but it gradually sunk in. As I reflect […]
The Joy Of Selling……
With smaller groups or one on one’s, I frequently talk about “The Joy of Selling….” To some this concept may seem a little too soft and abstract. Some react, “Dave, we’ve got to focus on hitting the numbers, achieving our growth goals! It’s tough work and sellers need to be tough minded!” Increasingly, I don’t […]
The Inefficiency Of Human Interaction
Human interaction is remarkably inefficient. It’s downright sloppy. We come into conversations with our own biases, hopes, dreams, beliefs, values, fears, experiences, points of view, and goals. We engage others, each with their own biases, hopes, dreams, beliefs, values, fears, experiences, points of view, and goals. And each person in a conversation brings these factors […]
Appreciating Appreciation…..
Appreciation is one of those “soft” topics that tough minded business people, focused on the numbers and growth, don’t tend to appreciate. In selling, I suspect too much of the mindset is, “When the going gets tough, the tough build more pipeline…..” Yet appreciation is integral to our success–both within our organizations, with our partners, […]
“Do Sellers Have To Have Honesty, Integrity, Transparency?”
My friend, John Smibert, wrote a great post, posing the question, “Do sellers have to have honesty, integrity, and transparency?“ Of course, we do! We have to establish trust with our customers: honesty, integrity and transparency are critical elements of this. What troubles me about John’s article is not the point of view he presents, […]
Coaching And Developing Managers
We (including me) spend a lot of time talking about the importance of coaching/developing our people. Unfortunately, high impact coaching is rarely done. If we “coach,” too often, it isn’t a collaborative discovery/learning process. Instead, it is information sharing or an update on something–perhaps a deal, an account, the pipeline. It is usually met with […]
Driving Our Customers/Prospects Away!
I, and so many others, write constantly about how buying is changing and how sellers (sales and marketing) must change to respond to these changes. We read about how email is failing, phone calls, social, and virtually every other engagement platform. We have continuing debates about “Is cold calling dead?” “Is outbound dead?” We look […]
Differentiating Skills: Curiosity, Generosity, Humanity
I’m a big fan of Scott Osman’s writing on leadership. Recently, he wrote an outstanding article on Showing Up. Be sure to read it. In it, he talks about three characteristics of inspirational leaders: Curiosity, Generosity, Humanity. I wanted to do a deeper dive into this and it’s importance. First, I’m sure Scott would agree, […]
Confidence Eroders
Hank Barnes has been writing a fantastic series of articles focusing on Decision Confidence. One of the reasons I’m so fascinated by the article is Hank is directly appealing to my mathy-science nerdiness. Long time readers will know I often try to codify issues around mathematical equations. Hank has generated an equation on Decision Confidence: […]
“But The Competitors’ Prices Are Less Than Ours…..”
My post, Games Sellers Play, Pricing/Discounting, generated a lot of interesting conversation and questions. One pervasive question was, “How do I compete against competitors whose price is less than ours?” Some of the discussions asked about matching prices or coming up with standard discounting, or how to find other ways to match or beat the […]
Leadership Testimonials
"After reading the Sales Manager Survival Guide and being impressed with David’s expert understanding of sales and relevance to our industry, we engaged David directly for a Sales Manager coaching program. The content was excellent and David’s engagement with our managers was outstanding. I highly recommend David and Partners In Excellence if you want to take your sales to the next level. " Brad Colledge, Executive General Manager
“I was asked to take the role of managing a sales organization. Having no prior sales experience, the task seemed quite daunting. Thankfully, David Brock was there to give me direction and encouragement. Yes, David helped me understand the sales process; however, more importantly, David provided me with firm, but supportive critique that has proved invaluable to me. David never soft-pedaled his approach with me. Instead, he spoke to me as an executive, and expected me to live up to the call. In addition to direction, David provided me with the encouraging words that I needed to believe in myself, and that I could be successful in my new role. “ Scott Dixon, Managing Director
“Dave sets himself apart in the industry with his ruthless focus on preparation and sales discipline. Dave's mentorship and coaching is designed to ensure I focus on the most qualified opportunities, bring exceptional value to each customer interaction, and win more deals. He has been an indispensable mentor and transformational influence.” Mary Grogan Strain, Business Development Manager
“Dave Brock literally wrote the book on sales management! Dave provides critical insights that are thought-provoking and directional. Better yet, Dave not only provides a different perspective, but he also has the ability to work with clients to build solutions that positively impacts sellers and coaches alike.” Jim Wood, Vice President of Sales
One of the greatest gifts a coach can give to a coachee is to help them think more accurately about themselves, about their challenges, and about the various ways they go about solving those challenges. But Dave’s gift is something more. So much so that Dave’s helped me to fundamentally shift the way I think to begin with. This process has resulted not only in increased performance, but in a continual learning process that hasn’t stopped since our first coaching session. It’s an honor to call him my coach and a privilege to continually learn from him, even on the days between our coaching sessions! - Nate Tutas
When I was about to move into my first sales management role I reached out to Dave after I had read his book that really resonated with me. It was fantastic to have Dave as a coach and sounding board during those first months and it really put me on the right track to succeed in the sales management role and also set the foundation for me to progress from that. Didrik Moe, EMEA General Manager