---
title: "Adversity Is the Best Opportunity to Hone Sales Leadership Skills"
description: "Adversity is the best opportunity to hone sales leadership skills. When you first start in sales, good performance is often due to the broader environment or even luck, not your true ability. This is why many salespeople fail when they leave their company platform and go to another company; they haven't actually mastered real skills or accumulated genuinely valuable experience. This is even more true for managers: a well-functioning team with stable performance doesn't require much intervention from the manager; just doing the basic work is enough. What truly tests you is adversity."
author: "New Distribution"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2016-03-09"
language: "en"
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# Adversity Is the Best Opportunity to Hone Sales Leadership Skills

> Adversity is the best opportunity to hone sales leadership skills. When you first start in sales, good performance is often due to the broader environment or even luck, not your true ability. This is why many salespeople fail when they leave their company platform and go to another company; they haven't actually mastered real skills or accumulated genuinely valuable experience. This is even more true for managers: a well-functioning team with stable performance doesn't require much intervention from the manager; just doing the basic work is enough. What truly tests you is adversity.

"Adversity is the best opportunity to hone sales leadership skills."
When you first start in sales, you may find that good performance is often due to the broader environment, or even luck, rather than your own true ability.
This is why many salespeople, once they leave their company's platform and go to another company, perform terribly and feel lost. They haven't actually mastered real skills or accumulated genuinely valuable experience. This is even more true for managers: **a well-functioning team, a team with stable performance, does not require much intervention from the manager; just doing the basic work is enough.** **What truly tests you is adversity.**
In adversity, you'll find that it's not just poor performance; a host of troubles await you. **Low morale** is the first obstacle in your path. Then comes **declining execution**, because employees no longer believe that your leadership can guide them out of the困境. Then **top performers leave**. The departure of top performers further lowers morale, creating a vicious cycle.
In such circumstances, you need to understand this behavior. You need to **provide an explanation for past poor performance**—not to yourself, but to others, because when adversity hits, low morale is the first problem to solve. Of course, your own confidence, determination, and every word and action are more effective than finding a scapegoat. Everyone is watching you! **Pay attention to execution, especially in adversity.** Why do armies often suffer total defeat when they lose battles? Cao Cao at Red Cliffs, Fu Jian at the Fei River—all are examples. The mindset "since performance is poor, coming to work on time is useless" must be stopped. Use strong measures to control the situation. **Do your utmost to retain core employees**—treat them as you would treat your clients: plead with them, promise them. Because you cannot fight alone; your team needs them!
Finally, you must know that if the downturn continues, all the above is in vain, because even if you hold on a bit longer, you'll still fall. You must **find the cause of failure**. If you can't find it yourself, seek help from your superiors, your peers, and anyone you think might be able to help.
If you still don't know what's wrong, never stop searching for answers!
Adversity is the best opportunity to hone sales leadership skills.
> Liu Zhao, founder of Field 365, CEO of Nanjing Kongzhi Network. MBA from Nanjing University, previously worked at ZTE, AsiaInfo Linkage, and FiberHome Technologies.
>
> "Field 365" is a SaaS-based CRM management system. Founded in late 2012, it has received two rounds of USD financing from GSR Ventures and China Broadband Capital, with 100,000 enterprise users.
**-END-**
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