Leading sales is about people — Including when it’s time to let go

Leading a sales organization is often misunderstood. Many assume it’s about targets, pipelines, and pressure. In reality, great sales leadership is first and foremost about people.

At its best, leadership is about making others successful. Creating clarity, setting direction, removing obstacles, and building confidence. Great sales leaders invest time in coaching, structure, and expectations so that salespeople can do their best work. When a team wins, it’s rarely because of one heroic individual — it’s because the system works.

But leadership has another, harder side.

Sales leadership is also about knowing when someone is not succeeding — and acting on it responsibly.

Not everyone will thrive in a given sales role, in a specific market, or at a particular stage of a company. Ignoring that reality helps no one. Keeping people in roles where they consistently fail is not kindness; it creates stress for the individual, friction in the team, and underperformance for the company.

Professional offboarding is therefore a core leadership skill.

Done well, offboarding is respectful, clear, and timely. Expectations have been communicated early. Feedback has been honest. Support and coaching have been offered. And when it’s clear that the match isn’t right, the leader takes responsibility for making the decision — rather than letting it drag on.

Strong leaders understand this paradox: You build people up — and you also protect the organization by making tough calls.

Sales is a performance discipline. Clarity beats comfort. Fairness beats avoidance. And long-term trust is built not by keeping everyone happy in the short term, but by being consistent, transparent, and human — even when the decision is difficult.

That is what it truly means to lead sales.