Building Resilient Leaders & Performance Teams with Sebastian Schieke, #227

The Modern Selling Podcast

What do you do when faced with change? How do you handle conflict? What ways do you nurture the different personalities on your team? All of these are questions that sales leaders must navigate on their journey to inspire and motivate their teams.

But, all too often, the focus for sales is on meeting quotas or constantly outperforming the competition, that the “softer” skills of leadership get left by the wayside.

And, with trends like Quiet Quitting becoming the norm, how sales leaders manage and lead are quickly becoming a hot topic of conversation to curb employee turnover.

In this episode of the Modern Selling Podcast we dive into the importance that sales leadership plays and what sales leaders should be doing to build up their teams for success.

Our guest, Sebastian Schieke, is one of the leading experts in understanding the new era of leadership and the best way to engage, motivate, and train teams to not just hit quotas but to excel as sales professionals.

Sebastian Schieke is a leadership mentor, entrepreneur, speaker, author, and angel investor. As a digital enthusiast, he has witnessed disruption in businesses in the past twenty-five years, and seen the need for more great leaders in the ever-changing world. Sebastian is dedicated to making a positive impact by empowering motivated individuals and organizations to become exceptional entrepreneurs.

Tune into this episode to hear firsthand what Sebastian recommends leaders do today to step up to the new leadership challenge and position their sales teams to thrive.

What Is Resilient Leadership?

Sebastian is most known for the concept of “Resilient Leadership”. So, I wanted to better understand what it is and how it can be applied to B2B and B2C organizations.

According to Sebastian, resilient leadership involves responding to what he refers to as VUCA:

Volatility – we live in a world of constant changes that require us to adapt in new ways.

Uncertainty – we have to learn how to expect and accept uncertainty as a permanent way of life.

Complexity – we operate in environments that are integrated, interconnected, and highly complex networks of connections and relationships.

Ambiguity – we must learn how to get things done when we don’t always have the best data, the right answers, or the needed resources.

Bottom line…

As leaders, it is our responsibility to remain agile and flexible to adapt to what changes come our way, not only in the world, but also within our businesses and teams.

And, it is within this space of needing to accept and be comfortable with change that leaders must develop a strong sense of resilience, so they can adapt while also reaching their goals.

Download the full episode to hear how you can elevate your leadership style to be more resilient and aligned to excel even in the face of change.

Why Is Resilient Leadership Needed?

A recent McKinsey survey found that 86% of employees turn to their leaders more than public officials for guidance on how to navigate times of uncertainty.

That means that as a leader, you truly do set the tone for the type of culture you have within your team and larger organization. And, since your teams are looking to you for continual guidance, support, and direction, how you respond is super critical.

Sebastian shares his thoughts, “A resilient leader shows that even despite uncertainty, they always know how to find a way to get access to the resources they need. When you set this as the standard or example, it trickles down throughout all the levels within your company – from your executive teams, to your team leads, down to your individual employees.”

Another way of looking at this is that resilient leaders are not afraid of change because they recognize that it is change that creates productivity, growth, and innovation.

And, it is through this understanding of knowing why uncertainty and change is such a blessing that sets resilient leaders apart.

As Sebastian adds, “It's so important to make sure to do things wrong because only through failure can we learn and can we build our muscle of resilience and persistence. Knowing the power of failure and giving your teams the space to make mistakes is how you build high-performing teams.”

Listen into the full episode to dive deeper into the key benefits that resilient leaders bring to their teams and the role all of this plays in enhancing your team’s performance.

How do you build high performance teams?

In my 20+ years as a sales leader, knowing how to lead teams effectively has been one of my strongest assets and skill sets. Sebastian has a unique perspective on high performance teams and what it takes in this resilient leadership model to build teams that are positioned for success.

He shares his insight, “As a resilient leader who wants to create high performance as a standard, you must be a great communicator so you can generate buy-in. Buy-in is critical to all you do as a leader.”

In addition, Sebastian outlines three (3) key components to nurture, as a leader, in order to create high performing teams.

They are:

Behaviors – Identifying the behaviors and personalities in your team makes it easier for you to know how to navigate team dynamics to meet each person where they are. This is essential so that as the leader, you’re able to bring people together in a synergistic way to reach your goals.

Motivators – Understanding what motivates the people within your team is how and why high performing teams are so successful. Motivators can be money, prestige, recognition, community service, etc. The important thing is to get clear on what motivates people within your team to take action and build this into your overall team structure.

Critical Thinking – Giving your team members (individually and collectively) the ability to make mistakes and reason through decisions is such a much-needed skill that so many leaders don’t allow their teams to acquire. It is through this that you’re able to build a sense of independence so that your team won’t only be high performing, but also self-governing.

Download the full conversation to learn more about resilient leadership and hear the 3-step system Sebastian recommends using to increase your team’s performance.