You’re frustrated.
You’re carrying the quota, the pressure, the pipeline
and you’re still the one pushing everything uphill.
Be honest with yourself…
Who’s navigating?
Because if it’s not you and it’s sure as hell not them, then don’t act shocked when the team stalls out.
Most inside sales leaders confuse vision with a kickoff deck.
You spent a weekend writing out priorities.
Maybe even built a “To ___” statement.
Then what?
You unveiled it like it was a launch.
Delivered it with confidence.
… nothing happened.
Why?
Because your team didn’t help build it.
They didn’t even get to edit it.
So it doesn’t belong to them.
If you’re the only one steering and navigating…
…you’ve built a system of compliance, not commitment.
The team will do what you ask.
They might even do it well.
But when the storm hits, or the GPS reroutes…
they’ll wait.
For you.
Again.
A team that co-creates direction doesn’t wait for instructions.
They adapt.
They troubleshoot.
They lead each other.
And they do it because they had a hand in setting the course.
Not just the target.
The path.
One client I worked with realized her team had clarity on “the number” but zero idea how they were expected to get there.
She was exhausted from pushing them every day.
So we flipped it.
She walked into the team meeting and said:
“I’ve been setting the plan. This quarter, I want us to build it together.”
She asked three questions:
- What do we want to be known for?
- What’s our approach to hitting goal?
- What will we hold each other accountable to?
That team didn’t just hit goal; they got faster, tighter, and more self-led. Because now? They were navigating, not just executing what someone else thought was important.
🎯 Try this with your team this week:
Ask:
“If someone outside our team asked what we stand for, what would you say?”
Then listen.
Don’t correct.
Don’t reframe.
Just capture what you hear.
You’ll learn two things quickly:
- Whether they have a shared understanding.
- Whether you’re actually leading the navigation or just calling out directions.