Executive Sales Leader Briefing: Should Sales Leaders be Passionate or Rational?

Do these two things — passionate and rational — even fit in the same sentence?

I’ve had people say to be a leader of any type you can’t be passionate, because you’ll get your emotions tied into your decision-making process.  The argument is you have to remain rational in how you think. The argument isn’t uncommon, but I don’t believe it holds weight.

Being rational is essential in every decision-making process. We get into trouble quickly when we fail to make rational decisions.   Thinking I can drive at 100 mph to get me from point A to point B might be what I want to do, but when I think rationally about the idea, I rule it out.

Let’s flip and think about passion.  When I or anybody else is passionate about something, we view it with a higher level of focus and commitment. The passion we have for something makes us willing to push farther than we would otherwise.

My contention is being passionate increases my level of focus, which actually winds up increasing my ability to be rational.   When a sales leader is passionate about seeing their sales team and customers achieve results others thought to be impossible, they’ll increase the boundaries of how they see as being rational.

Did you catch what I wrote in the preceding sentence? I wrote, “increase the boundaries …” My view is being rational is not a fixed position. Being rational is a variable, and the more passionate we are to see an outcome come to pass, the more it will alter what we see as being rational.

We need to stop using the need to think rationally as a reason why we can’t do something.  Rather, we need to become more passionate about what we believe in to allow us to increase the boundaries of how we think rationally. Being passionate and thinking rationally are inclusive.

Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.

Mark Hunter, your next keynote speaker: 

Mark Hunter, CSP, “The Sales Hunter” is recognized globally as one of the top sales speakers, known for his challenging insights, high-energy, and passion to create change that he delivers each time he speaks, whether it be a sales kick-off meeting, corporate function or association event. Mark Hunter is the author of the best selling book, High-Profit Prospecting. Here’s what others are saying:

Mark presented “Accelerate Your Sales Prospecting” at the February 2015 Institute for Excellence in Sales program in Northern Virginia. He nailed it and gave the 150 selling professionals and business owners in attendance amazing tips, strategies and tactics they could implement that day. The sales leaders at our program universally acknowledged Mark as one of the top speakers we’ve ever had.

• Fred Diamond, Executive Director, IES Washington DC

At our annual company sales meeting we’ ve never seen a speaker work so hard, with advance preparation, with such genuine style of delivery, and with such hunger for results. If you weren’t on the edge of your seat….you were in a coma. Period! 

• Mark Allen, Regional Manager, Marlin Companies

Mark’s strategies are innovative, easy to follow and easy to use in the “real world.” He customized his strategies to directly speak to the issues and challenges facing our unique business, and he helped us encompass specific selling examples. This training was very applicable to our sales staff, both at a senior and junior level, as it reinforced important sales techniques.”

• Danielle Pakradooni, Blue Man Group

Copyright 2017, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Prospecting: Powerful Strategies to Find the Best Leads and Drive Breakthrough Sales Results.