There are different leadership roles within a sales department, each of which require a very different skillset to perform the job well. The qualities that make a great sales director, for example, don’t translate very well into being a good sales manager. Although they both have different traits and serve different purposes, the best sales managers and sales directors must first be strong leaders.

What Makes a Strong Leader?

Leaders delegate well. Leaders have the temperament to stay level-headed in a crisis. People follow leaders because they want to, not because they have to. Most importantly, however, leaders are brave.

Bravery could mean having the courage to drop a client. It could also mean having the courage to challenge an accepted methodology — but most importantly, brave sales team leaders allow themselves to be challenged by their sales team stars.

A morbid but relevant example is a famous plane crash from the 1960s that killed everyone on board. The pilot was an autocrat who the staff was afraid to challenge, so when he made a wrong decision no one intervened. In the wake of the tragedy, the culture in the industry changed. Today, even the most senior pilot has to justify their logic when a subordinate challenges a decision. The industry as a whole is safer now due to the introduction of this policy.

Sales Directors vs. Sales Managers: Different Styles of Leadership

Sir Richard Branson is a natural leader. He’s the billionaire head of a global corporate empire and one of the most recognized names in the UK — but if a worker on the line has a suggestion, he’ll listen as seriously as he will to a member of the Board. Different leaders possess different qualities — so what exactly makes a great sales director, and how do they differ from a great sales manager?

Sales managers are detail-oriented by nature. They know the ins and outs of all their staff’s accounts and call lists, and can recite the benefits of any product or service they offer at the drop of a hat. They are always monitoring their team’s numbers and can pick up on trends better than any spreadsheet. The best among them ask their sales team what they can do as a manager to help them improve upon those numbers. They lead by support. They lead by interaction.

A good sales director, on the other hand, leads by direction and strategy. They determine where the team needs to be, and set a course to get them there. The best sales directors get the entire team to buy into the vision and methodology by articulating how they can work together to reach a greater goal.

Natural leaders do exist, but leadership is a blend of both nature and nurture — there is always room for improvement. Sales team leaders have the courage to challenge conventional wisdom and the status quo. But most importantly, they let themselves be challenged by a team of people who are following them not because they have to, but because they want to.