I was a former full-time 20 year EVP/CRO in cyber. I am now the founder of an organization that does fractional leadership, consulting, CISO RoundTable discussions, and cyber-only recruiting. I received a great tip from a mentor of mine years ago. He told me to try and hire former athletes. As a former athlete myself, it did not resonate at first. There were plenty of people in school smarter than me. In fact, I had to take easy electives to graduate on time. Many times over the years though, the former athletes on my sales teams were my top performers. Why? Many reasons, but as a general stereotype, they are highly motivated, specifically very self-motivated. They are team players; they know how to win and lose as a team, they aspire to be the best, they pay attention to detail, and are always trying to improve so, they take direction quite well.
I speak with many CEOs and sales leaders weekly and many ask for this exact profile. They often say, “I’m looking for 3-4 key qualities, but if someone happens to be an ex-athlete, I’ll move them to the top of the list.” Here is the million-dollar question; why do we search for and try to land this specific profile, and when they are hired, they are beat up and demotivated instead of coached?
I speak with top performing reps daily that are leaving their companies for many of the same reasons. They are stuck in a rut where they were given a quota that was too large, based on a number the CFO backed into. More often than not, when this happens, many of the first-year reps on the team struggle to achieve and overachieve. They are then berated and led to believe they are failing, letting both their boss and their team down. They get discouraged, lose motivation, and on top of that, they are already stressed out because they are not attaining the commission they were hoping and planning for. So, they stop working hard and start looking for a new job. The CRO might lose 8 weeks of productivity and qualified pipeline build and then they resign. The new search and hire might take 6-8 weeks based on the struggles of internal recruiting (another post for another day). Once hired, there is ramp time, and new pipeline build and essentially, you’ve lost a full quarter, sometimes even two! There is no reprieve from the number due to an empty territory, so that may lead to a miss that quarter, escalating the pressures even further.
Alternatively, imagine if the quota was based on actual qualified pipeline and the stage of that pipeline per region. Sure, each quota would be slightly different, but all salespeople want is a fair number that they can overachieve, and simply to make the most amount of money possible. In the regions where they must build from scratch, with little to no pipeline, when they are given a 1.25 number with a 9-12 month sales cycle (that only starts once the rep actually finds a qualified deal!), how are we setting them up for success? When there is zero pipeline in a region to work, the main goal is to drive qualified pipeline per quarter and hope they get a lucky deal or two along the way. The goal is to set them up for a very successful Q4. The rep can’t control the number they are given. They can’t control the sales cycle. They certainly can’t control the fact that there are roughly 8,000 cyber companies competing for the same security dollars from the CISO. Why not give them achievable numbers, metrics, and goals? Why not coach and motivate them like they were coached and motivated when they were top performing athletes? Why not encourage them when things are not going great instead of discouraging them?
I’ll close with an analogy that is personal to me and only happened two weeks ago regarding a D3 college athlete that runs cross country in the fall, winter track, and spring track. He outworked everyone this summer. When his teammates did their workouts and rested, he did a second run. When they went out and partied and couldn’t run the next day, he either skipped the party, or ran anyways. I remember one cold, rainy, windy day when lots of other kids posted that they “were not running in this crap” he went out and literally ran 30 miles. Every calorie that went into his body was carefully calculated and every hour of sleep was closely monitored. Again, no one in New England outworked this athlete this summer. He had his first 8k two weeks ago, 89 degrees, 100% humidity, very hilly and rough terrain, and 7 of the best schools in the region attended. It was so unbearable that a few of the girls passed out ahead of the boy’s run. He finished third and was discouraged, much like the rep giving 110% and not crushing his/her number. He was frustrated, negative, and angry. The athlete that finished first passed out. The athlete that finished second dropped and laid down for 30 minutes trying to recover. He finished third, a few seconds behind the leaders, he proceeded to walk over to the tent, grab water, and start complaining. He fully recovered in 3-4 minutes and felt great. His coach sat him down and he wasn’t told that he didn’t run hard enough or he didn’t work hard enough over the summer. He was told that it appeared he was a bit nervous due to the heat and toll that might take on his body, and that maybe he was trying to manage the race carefully. He was then told that he finished third out of the top schools, in 89 degree heat, with 100% humidity and he was barely tired. The coach said “Imagine what you can do next week in perfect conditions?” That was all he needed to hear to feel great about himself and stay motivated. He then took second the next week and first last week. I can’t imagine he’ll be beaten again this season.
Does it make sense to hire him later in life and not coach and motivate him the same way? Wouldn’t you want a rep like this on your team? Do you have a rep like this on your team that is being demotivated weekly for conditions that are not in his/her control? Are they looking to leave, and you don’t know it? At what cost?
