“How am I complicit in creating the conditions I say I don’t want?” -Jerry Colonna

So in my experience, managing salespeople for a long time, anytime a rep or an SDR or BDR are struggling to hit quota, the first thing that I do or any half-decent manager should do is check their self. And are things that you are doing? Are there things in which you are complicit that are leading to this outcome?

There’s this great quote by a guy named Jerry Colonna, whose books I’ve read, whose podcasts I love. The quote is “how am I complicit in creating the conditions I say I don’t want?” 

I don’t want SDRs to miss quota, I don’t want AEs to miss quota, I don’t want CS teams to miss whatever and I have this practice of when I find a situation that I don’t like, my first look is inward. It’s not a perfect habit and is a very hard habit to build, but I really encourage you to build it because if you’re the CEO of the business, or even a manager of the team, you have a lot more influence than you think you might.