Leadership is an interesting concept for a front line inside sales manager. It is almost easier to talk about what it’s not than to define what it is.
• It’s not positional power
• Or being a tyrant
• And certainly, it isn’t micro-managing tasks.
Merriam Webster gives one Leadership definition as “the power or ability to lead other people,” which isn’t very helpful unless you dive into their definitions of lead:
1a: to guide on a way especially by going in advance
1b: to direct on a course or in a direction
1c: to serve as a channel for
2: to go through: live
These first definitions serve as general instructions on how to lead, but may not give enough for an inside sales manager to use in creating a personal leadership definition. The 3a meanings seem to offer a bit more in terms of specific ideas.
3a (1): to direct the operations, activity, or performance of
3a (2): to have charge of
3a (3): to ask (a witness) a question in a way that suggests what the answer should be: to ask (a witness) a leading question
3b has a feeling of being as much about inside salespeople and winning as it does leading people.
3b (1): to go at the head of
3b (2): to be first in or among
3b (3): to have a margin over
Pieces of the next few definitions may be helpful, others will have nothing to do with your goal of defining inside sales leadership. It is up to you to decide what is helpful.
4: to bring to some conclusion or condition
5: to begin play with
6a: to aim in front of (a moving object)
6b: to pass a ball or puck just in front of (a moving teammate)
This wealth of definition choices immediately explains why many times it is easier to define leadership by what it’s not rather than what it is.
Every person; on your team, within your organization, a prospect or customer, even your vendor partners – has their own definition of leadership.
Step 1 to becoming a leader is to be able to articulate what leadership IS to you rather than defining leadership by what it is not.
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