There would not be one business leader who doesn’t know that it is easier to lead the right people than it is to lead the wrong people. Despite that, many leaders continue to keep the wrong people on their teams. Why do we do this to ourselves?
I spoke with a leader recently. He has a ‘salesperson’ who has been with him for less than one year. Despite having no previous experience in real estate sales, she refuses to attend training. She is ignorant, and intends to stay that way.
The issue is confused as she is making sales, but she sells her colleagues’ listings because she is low on stock and her stock is overpriced. Her stock situation is unlikely to improve because, in addition to her refusal to train, she also refuses to prospect.
What value is this person to the team? I believe none. I asked the leader what he intended to do about this person. He said, “When I get back to the office, I’m going to read her the ‘riot act’”. I said, “There’s another option. Fire her”.
I explained to the leader that there is no hope with a person like this. Without training, she will never improve. Without prospecting, she will never contribute to the company’s saleable stock. And her personal culture is not one of pursuing excellence, but one of mediocrity.
“Why do you do this to yourself?” I asked. The look on this leader’s face told me that this person was going to continue working with the agency, spreading her lessons of mediocrity to the rest of the team. Winners seldom ever positively influence the mediocre people; it’s the opposite – the mediocre infect the winners.
Leaders who tolerate mediocrity endorse it.
The death knell for a salesperson’s career is a disregard of training. Keep them and you send a message to your team that you are a weak leader who has no intention of building a great company.
Your team may feel sorry for you, they may think you are a nice person, but is pity the emotion you want when your team thinks of you?
I know why this leader will keep this person, for a little while longer at least. It is because he is not hiring. He doesn’t have a likely replacement for her.
Hiring is your insurance against mediocrity. If you won’t hire, you are stuck with the team you have. If it’s a team of winners, good luck to you. But if you are tolerating mediocrity because you have no other option, I ask you again: WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO YOURSELF?