“Think about fairness and equality and make sure that everyone’s opinion is just as valuable as the next person.” – Eduardo “Eddie” Baez in today’s Tip 967
Have you thought about equality and fairness through the concept of meritocracy?
Join the conversation below and learn more about Eddie!
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Eddie Baez and since he’s self introducing I’m just gonna let him take it from here:
Eduardo “Eddie” Baez: Hi Daily Sales Tip Community. My name is Eddie Baez with Teams Win Championships, and my message today is for sales leaders and having them think about equality and fairness through the concept of meritocracy. Through our professional experience and that are the people within our network. The TWC team noticed that one of the core values adopted by successful companies is that of meritocracy.
Meritocracy is defined as a system, organization, or society in which people are chosen and moved into positions of success, power, and influence on the basis of their demonstrated abilities, merit, and hard work. Meritocracy ensures an equitable, unfair playing field for individual contributors and sales leaders alike. In our experience, we have seen companies instill this value through clearly defined career path, tangible metrics to achieve different earnings thresholds, and intangible qualities like the level of work ethic required to progressing your career. This transparency, coupled with ongoing dialogue during mid-year and annual reviews, provides a clear path for individual contributors and managers to better plan for the goals they help to achieve. There are, however, pitfalls of meritocracy that we want to address to ensure that we approach it in a truly fair and equitable way.
First, we need to understand what meritocracy looks like in context in the workplace. In a meritocracy, everyone has the right to express their opinions and is encouraged to share them openly and without reservation. And while opinions are respected and decisions are taken based on those opinions deemed to be best. According to Jim Whitehurst from Red Hat, it’s noted that unfortunately, while everyone does have a voice, some are listening to more than others. Though meritocracy breeds competition by driving participants to be the best and make the best contributions, we all need to consider and remember that not everyone is driven by the same intrinsic motivators. Not everyone is ultimately built the same.
For that reason, we encourage sales professionals to really think about what it is that they’re looking to achieve. For some and for the best account executives, they look to be the best, and that is their major contribution to the team. For others, it’s a completely different intrinsic motivator. But to make sure that it’s fair and equitable, we want to make sure that everyone knows that it can’t just be one person, one voice, or one face for the team.
A great friend once told me that there can be no prima donna on any team for it to be successful. To avoid this and still the drive to contribute, compete and collaborate with each member of the team, there must be a team-based competition or collaborative projects along the way to make sure that everyone’s on the same page. Meritocracy demands active listening to the ideas and considerations of everyone on the team at every level within the organization, and sometimes the truth will hurt. But we encourage you not to lose sight of the bigger picture.
The people within your sales organizations have a lot to lose when things are not going well and they should not be demoralized or ostracized for being brave enough to share these concerns. The team should feel sufficiently empowered to take the lead and speak up when things are not going well and celebrate their colleague’s individual wins and great ideas. This approach acts as a secondary feedback loop like the ones we build with our clients. At times, the feedback helps us confirm market assumptions and potentially net new opportunities, thereby enabling the organization to scale and cross-functionally sell to existing patrons.
So the big idea and the big takeaway. Think about meritocracy. Think about fairness and equality and make sure that everyone’s opinion is just as valuable as the next person. With that happy selling.
Scott Ingram: For links and resources from Eddie, including a link to grab your copy of Teams Win Championships, just click over to DailySales.Tips/967.
Once you’ve clicked over there, be sure to come back here for another great sales tip. Thanks for listening!