Training & Development

I almost fired our best SDR last year. It wasn’t personal. He was a good guy, worked hard, and always showed up on time. But month after month, his numbers weren’t improving. Emails went unanswered. Calls never connected. Demos? Non-existent. We were both frustrated. I started to wonder if he was the problem. Maybe sales wasn’t his thing? Then one afternoon, we grabbed coffee. Instead of talking numbers, we talked openly. I asked him straight-up: “Why isn’t it working?” He took a deep breath and replied: “I’m following our playbook. I send hundreds of emails, but honestly, I’m just guessing. I don’t really know who’s ready to talk, so I try everyone.” It hit me like a ton of bricks. We’d built a system based on volume and hope, not precision. It wasn’t him. it was us. We’d given him the wrong tools, the wrong strategy. So instead of letting him go, we completely changed how we did outbound. We stopped guessing. We started paying attention to signals: Who’s visiting our LinkedIn profiles? (Tracked via Teamfluence™) Who’s engaging silently with our posts? (Tracked via Clay) Who’s spending serious time on our website? (Tracked via RB2B) Suddenly, our SDR wasn’t sending cold messages. He was following signals that said, “Hey, I’m interested. Talk to me.” Within a month, his reply rate doubled. In two months, he became our top performer. Today, he leads our outbound team. It wasn’t about effort. It was about timing and having a system that showed him exactly when to reach out and who to reach out to. Outbound isn’t about sending more messages. It’s about knowing exactly when and how to engage. If your SDRs are struggling, ask yourself: Are they failing you or are you failing them? It might change your perspective. It certainly changed ours. #Outbound #SalesLeadership #SDRlife #RevOps #LinkedInSales #SalesLessons #GTMStrategy #B2BSaaS #SmartSelling #GTMEngineering #AIOutbound #Teamfluence #Clay

If your one-on-ones are primarily status updates, you're missing a massive opportunity to build trust, develop talent, and drive real results. After working with countless leadership teams across industries, I've found that the most effective managers approach 1:1s with a fundamentally different mindset... They see these meetings as investments in people, not project tracking sessions. Great 1:1s focus on these three elements: 1. Support: Create space for authentic conversations about challenges, both professional and personal. When people feel safe discussing real obstacles, you can actually help remove them. Questions to try: "What's currently making your job harder than it needs to be?" "Where could you use more support from me?" 2. Growth: Use 1:1s to understand aspirations and build development paths. People who see a future with your team invest more deeply in the present. Questions to explore: "What skills would you like to develop in the next six months?" "What parts of your role energize you most?" 3. Alignment: Help team members connect their daily work to larger purpose and meaning. People work harder when they understand the "why" behind tasks. Questions that create alignment: "How clear is the connection between your work and our team's priorities?" "What part of our mission resonates most with you personally?" By focusing less on immediate work outputs and more on the human doing the work, you'll actually see better performance, retention, and results. Check out my newsletter for more insights here: https://lnkd.in/ei_uQjju #executiverecruiter #eliterecruiter #jobmarket2025 #profoliosai #resume #jobstrategy #leadershipdevelopment #teammanagement

This quote got me thinking. Early in my career, I struggled with how people showed up. I was often called too intense, I was often perceived as overwhelming, but the truth of it is I SHOWED UP! I was engaged, I was committed, and I wanted to make an impact. Not knowing why there was such a difference between how I showed up and others, I learned … that ONLY 31% of employees are enthusiastic and energized by their work? Imagine that almost 70% of the people in your team are there because they just have to 🫣 I honestly can't imagine that, which is why I implemented some solutions in my teams, most of it worked, some of it I’m still testing & trying … Here are some things I did: 👉 Trust & Empower: I involve my team in decision-making processes and push decisions to them when possible. This fosters a sense of ownership and responsibility. 👉 Celebrate Feedback: I create an environment where feedback is frequent and constructive. It encourages continuous learning and growth. 👉 Connect 'Why' to Vision: I share a compelling vision to motivate team members and clearly explain why their contributions matter. 👉 Offer Development: I signal my commitment to personal growth with training and development opportunities. It sparks motivation and increases loyalty. 👉 Recognize & Praise: I acknowledge achievements and make saying ‘thank you’ my default. A little recognition goes a long way to boost morale and motivation. 👉 Promote Diversity: I embrace diverse perspectives and backgrounds to enrich the work environment, prompt healthy debate, and drive innovation. 👉 Encourage Collaboration: I encourage teamwork on projects. This builds a sense of community and belonging while also accelerating learning 👉 Challenge Comfort Zones: I push and encourage team members to expand their skills and what they think is possible. It promotes growth and enthusiasm. 👉 Cultivate Inclusivity: I ensure all voices are heard. For example, I make sure extroverts don't steal the show and create the space needed for quieter team members to speak. Be the leader that serves, empowers and inspires. And all will go just fine 🙌 #EmployeeEngagement #TeamMotivation #WorkCulture

Want to build a habit that sticks? Stop describing what you do—start describing who you are. One tiny change in how you talk about yourself can make or break your progress. Here’s how it works 👇 If I tell you about two people: *One runs *One is a runner Who do you think runs more? Probably the runner, right? That’s because actions are temporary. Identities are lasting. Research shows that when we see something as part of who we are, we’re more likely to keep doing it. For example: “I write” → Temporary “I’m a writer” → Permanent Which one do you think keeps showing up? This applies everywhere: ✅ Fitness: “I work out” → “I’m an exerciser.” ✅ Reading: “I read books” → “I’m a reader” ✅ Work ethic: “I work hard” → “I’m a hard worker” When it becomes who you are, you stop debating whether or not to do it. How to use this TODAY: 1️⃣ Pick a habit you want to reinforce. 2️⃣ Turn it into an identity statement. 3️⃣ Use that language every time you talk about yourself. Watch how your consistency skyrockets. What identity are you stepping into? Drop it below 👇

Leadership isn’t about avoiding failure—it’s about rising after it. Last week wasn’t a great one. Our quality dipped. Performance missed the mark. We failed in key areas. But here’s the truth: Failure is not final. It’s feedback. As leaders, we have a choice—we can let failure make us bitter… Or we can let it make us better. Failure exposes the cracks. It shows us what needs our attention. It invites us to grow. Here’s what I’ve learned when facing failure: • Lean in—don’t run. Deep dive. Find the root. Build a plan. • Change your lens. One failure doesn’t mean total failure. Look for bright spots. • Highlight growth. Don’t miss the places where progress is happening. • Capture the good. Even in failure, some things went right. Build on those. When sharing failure with your team, balance the story: • What went well • What went wrong • What’s next Avoid focusing only on the miss. That creates a negative bias—and causes the team to stop doing what’s working. Instead, present the truth fully. Keep your messaging consistent and hopeful. Because leadership isn’t about hiding the results— It’s about helping people rise from them. ⸻ Leaders—how do you respond when failure hits? Do you focus on what’s wrong or also build on what’s right? Drop your thoughts below. #Leadership #TeamDevelopment #GrowthMindset #OperationalExcellence #FailureIsFeedback

7 Brutal Truths About Career Transitions Stuck in yesterday's failures? You're not alone. I spent 15 years thinking I was on the wrong path... Don't make my mistakes. Here's what I learned: It's a trap that leads to: → Drained energy and passion → A life of "what could have been" → A career that's stuck in neutral But here's what's exciting: Each day is a blank page—to write your new chapter. Failure is not a dead-end. It's an opportunity to grow. You just need to rewire your mindset. Here are 7 harsh truths about career pivots: (And the mindset shifts to break free) 1/ Your comfort zone is a career trap ↳ Stop lying to yourself that you're okay with the status quo ↳ Growth happens at the edge of discomfort 2/ The "perfect time" is a myth that's holding you back ↳ There's no "right moment" - only right now ↳ Start building your future skills while you're still employed 3/ Your skills are your secret advantage ↳ Your experience is more valuable than you realize ↳ The overlap between old and new is your golden ticket 4/ Your next big break is hiding in someone else's network ↳ Your next opportunity is within someone's network ↳ Give value first, ask for favors later 5/ Feeling like an impostor? You're on the right track Identity shifts are supposed to feel uncomfortable ↳ Embrace the awkwardness - it means you're evolving 6/ Being a rookie again is your superpower ↳ Discomfort is the price of growth ↳ Short-term pain leads to long-term gain 7/ Your failures are shaping your unique success story ↳ Results take longer than you think, but they compound ↳ Each setback is a building block for your future victory And be sure to supercharge your fresh start: ✅ Small wins fuel big dreams. Celebrate often. ✅ Patience beats perfection. Growth takes time. ✅ Your goals are your GPS. Set them, or get lost. ✅ Your 'why' is your secret weapon. Keep it close. ✅ Mentors are your career cheat codes. Use them. ✅ Curiosity is your career superpower. Stay hungry. — P.S. Starting over isn't giving up. It's giving yourself a new opportunity. Your dream job might be the one you never considered. Have you thought of that before? Repost this to inspire your network! ♻️ Follow me, Dr. Miro Bada for more content like this. 🔔

Research consistently shows that sustainable personal transformation happens through internal motivation. Don't believe it? Take a look: ✅ 52% higher goal achievement rates for intrinsically motivated individuals (Journal of Personality Research, 2023) ✅ 3.4x greater persistence when change is self-initiated (American Psychological Association, 2022) ✅ 76% greater likelihood of maintaining changes after 6 months with autonomous motivation (Behavioral Science Group, 2024) These are the five essential components I use with my clients that you can use right now to kickstart your motivation : 1.) Design your accountability structure: Establish personalized check-in systems matching your motivation style. People with accountability partners are 65% more likely to complete goals (American Society of Training and Development). 2.) Craft your discomfort protocol: Develop systematic exposure to productive challenge zones. Stanford research on "deliberate practice" shows this approach significantly accelerates resilience. 3.) Develop your motivation maintenance: Determine which reinforcement techniques sustain your drive. University of Pennsylvania research shows "implementation intentions" increase follow-through by 91%. 4.) Create your environment optimization: Design spaces to eliminate friction for desired behaviors. Duke University studies demonstrate environment design can be twice as effective as willpower alone. 5.) Formulate your identity reinforcement: Select practices that strengthen your self-concept as someone who follows through. Identity-based habits form more permanently than outcome-based habits (European Journal of Social Psychology). Follow this framework to systematically build the version of yourself that refuses to tolerate what's holding you back. You got this. Coaching can help; let's chat. #executivecoaching #mindset #motivation

Got hung up on from a cold call? The next time you call them should actually be EASIER. IF you “parrot” the specific words they said pre-hangup: ___ Let’s say you call Emma at 4:37 on a Wednesday afternoon. You start with a tailored permission opener. Here’s what it looks like: Emma: “Hello?” Salesperson: “Emma, I just finished reading your press release about the new office opening in Austin. I'm gonna be honest, this is a cold call but it is a well-researched one. Mind if I take 1 minute to share why that press release prompted me to call you, and then you can totally hang up from there?" Emma: “I can’t talk now, I’m crazy busy preparing for a big meeting” *click* ___ Ok, you were hung up on. Don't let it ruin your day. Here’s how to proceed: BEFORE you move to your next call, make note of 2 hangup details: 1. EXACTLY what they said 2. Date/Time of the call Set a reminder to call back in a few days. Take a look at how the 2nd call changes (below) ___ 2nd call: Emma: “Hello?” You: "Emma, you and I last spoke on October 19th at 4:37 PM. At the time, you didn’t have time because you were “crazy busy preparing for a big meeting”. Mind if I take 1 minute to share why I’ve called back and then you can tell me if it’s worth speaking further?” ___ Repeating the EXACT words Emma used is powerful for two key reasons: 1. It signals that you’re persistent (I’m not just a spammer who blindly dials thru the phone book. I want to talk to YOU specifically. You’re so important to me that I’m willing to call back again.) 2. The use of the exact words pre hang up is the best way to get the other person to sit up and say “Huh, I guess I did talk to this guy”. Most cold callers blend in and are forgotten. If you can get remembered, your chance of success improves dramatically.

When flying an aircraft, a 1-degree deviation can lead you a mile off your intended path over 60 miles! When you're traveling at a high rate of speed, those 60 miles pass in the blink of an eye. It's also easy to find ourselves off track outside the cockpit due to small unnoticed deviations from our planned course. So, try regularly auditing your habits and actions. Ask yourself ⤵️ • Are my daily habits moving me toward or away from my goals? • Do my actions align with my core values and aspirations? • Am I making conscious choices or simply going through the motions? It's easy to get caught up in the daily grind and lose sight of our long-term objectives. By conducting these self-checks, you can make necessary adjustments to stay on track before they become big misses. Over time, these small enhancements accumulate and lead to remarkable growth. 🔥 Can you think of any small adjustments you've made that led to big results? Drop it in the comments! ------------------------ Hi, I'm Michelle. I'm a former fighter pilot turned speaker, author, and coach. If you found this helpful, consider reposting ♻️ and follow me for more content like this. #HabitAudit #PersonalGrowthJourney #ConsciousLiving #SmallAdjustmentsBigResults #GrowthMindset #AlignWithValues #SelfImprovementDaily #LongTermSuccess

Here's an easy pipeline generation tactic you can try today. It'll cost you $0. Step 1: Pull a list of your closed lost and no decision opportunities from the last 12 months. Step 2: Look for trends in the closed lost reasons. What's the rationale for why prospects said "no" or "not right now"? Do you see common patterns in the reasons why? Step 3: Create an outbound message that directly addresses it for others who have been unresponsive to your outbound (instead of hoping it doesn't come up and/or trying to objection handle it late-stage). Here's an example. When I was an AE selling the Challenger Sales methodology, I had a lot of Manufacturing accounts. I saw a pattern emerge in my closed lost deals. "We like Challenger, but we've tried to implement other sales methodologies and sales training before and our most tenured reps didn't buy into it. It's too big of an investment to risk making that mistake again." I kept trying to objection handle it when the customer voiced it. But, at that point, I'm playing defense. I'm trying to convince them it won't happen. It's subjective, it's reactive, and it probably reeked of me trying to "save" the deal. So, I started leading with it to build pipeline with manufacturing companies with tenured teams, instead. "Saw Sarah speak at Citi's Conference re: ACME's goal of $25 billion in aftermarket service revenue by 2026. Not sure how sellers are doing with that shift of selling a physical product --> intangible service. But, when ZETA launched their services subscription, their reps pitched it the same way airport car rental reps pitch additional insurance coverage. Lots of "thanks, but no thanks" reactions from customers.  ZETA's avg tenure for their sellers was 21 years. Their concern was - what if we invest in new messaging and training for our Sales team to sell services, but our tenured reps resist the change? Open to hearing some of the tactics that worked for them to drive behavior change with a more tenured sales team? Jen" Is it a silver bullet? No. Nothing in Sales is. But, it helped me open up idea-based conversations about their initiatives, where we laid the objection on the table early (vs. me hoping it didn't come up and then flailing to objection handle when it did).