This message is for any senior management members reading my blog. When things have been tough, and you feel like you need to get involved in the day-to-day operations and details of every deal, please don't.
The reason you are in a senior leadership position is because you are expected to guide the ship. You are supposed to set the course, and rely on the team that you put around you to execute on that. One of the most difficult things for sales and marketing teams is when you want to be involved more than ever before. Micromanaging does not work.
The whole thing is counterintuitive actually. When in a good time, you leave the salespeople to do what they need to do. But when things get tough (read: the economy collapses), you suddenly step in and ride to the rescue. But since you haven't been around, you now need to be updated. This basically takes salespeople who are already stretched thin and working incredibly hard out of the field, further limiting their time in front of customers. Every minute they are talking to you, they are not talking to a customer.
Instead of trying to get in on each and every deal, make yourself available when needed, but work to empower your employees. Let them reach out to customers in new ways. Develop tools to help them win more. Set a strategy and direction, and communicate this to the team.
Remember, you put a team of doers around you. These doers are relying on you to be a thinker, and let's be honest, that's what got you to where you are in the first place. I'm not saying sit around and just think about things. But spend your time working on big picture, enabler top projects, not deal to deal minutiae. It just makes things more difficult for all.
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