Are You a Sales Leader or a Sales Manager? (And Why It Matters)
By Shawn Hamilton, M.S., DBA(c) Shawn Hamilton is a leading sales leadership advisor and doctoral researcher at the University of Houston, specializing in Sales Leadership.
Are You a Sales Leader or a Sales Manager? (And Why It Matters)
It's 6:00 PM on a Tuesday. A sales manager is still at their desk, head buried in a spreadsheet, trying to make the forecast numbers align. They've spent the day chasing down reps for CRM updates and sitting in on "closing calls" to rescue deals.
They are, by all accounts, an incredibly busy sales manager.
But are they a sales leader?
In most organizations, the terms "sales manager" and "sales leader" are used interchangeably. This is a fundamental—and costly—error. While the roles are often held by the same person, they are not the same function. One is about maintaining the system; the other is about developing the people.
This isn't a new-age theory; it's a foundational concept in organizational science. Harvard Business School professor John P. Kotter, in his seminal work, defined the difference perfectly: Management is about coping with complexity. Leadership, by contrast, is about coping with change (Kotter, 1990).
The Role of the Manager: Coping with Complexity
The manager’s world is one of order, predictability, and systems. Management is the "science" of the role. It asks:
Is the forecast accurate?
Is the pipeline hygiene clean?
Are we adhering to the rules of engagement?
Is the comp plan being administered correctly?
Management is the essential function of making the current system work. It ensures the machine is well-oiled and running efficiently. Without good management, the sales organization descends into chaos, and you can't build a reliable, repeatable revenue engine.
The Role of the Leader: Driving Change & Growth
If management is about the system, leadership is about the people. Leadership is the "art" of the role. It is about navigating the constant change in your market, your product, and your team. Leadership asks:
Does my team understand and believe in our vision?
How can I coach this "B-player" to become an "A-player"?
What barriers are in my team's way that I can remove?
What is the market telling us that our current strategy isn't seeing?
Leadership is the art of inspiring people to move from where they are to where they need to be. It fosters growth, resilience, and adaptability.
Why Most Companies Fail: Over-Managed and Under-Led
The problem is that most sales organizations are drowning in management and starved of leadership.
We promote managers and immediately bury them in complexity—reports, dashboards, and forecasting tools. We train them on the system but never on the people. We incentivize them only on "hitting the number," a purely managerial outcome.
The result? Reps don't grow. They hit a performance ceiling because they are never coached on their skills, only managed on their activities. They become disengaged. They leave for a company that will actually invest in their development. The team you're left with is a group of reps who can follow a process but can't adapt, innovate, or win in a tough, changing market.
Actionable Takeaways
You need both management and leadership. The key is to find the balance.
Conduct a "Management vs. Leadership" Time Audit. Ask your managers to track their time for one week, bucketing every 30-minute block into "Management" (reports, pipeline reviews, forecasting) or "Leadership" (1:1 coaching, team motivation, barrier removal). If the split isn't at least 50/50, your team is under-led.
Split Your 1:1s. Stop combining management and leadership into one meeting. Have a weekly 30-minute Pipeline & Forecast Review (Management). Then, have a separate bi-weekly 45-minute Performance & Development Session (Leadership) where the pipeline isn't even mentioned.
Incentivize Leadership. Look at your sales managers' compensation plan. Is it 100% based on quota attainment? Consider adding "MBOs" (Management by Objectives) that reward leadership, such as rep retention rates, team skill development, and the number of reps promoted.
A well-managed sales team will hit its targets in a stable market. But a well-led sales team will adapt, grow, and win in any market.
Stop asking your managers to just manage complexity. Start developing them to lead change.
References
Kotter, J. P. (1990). What leaders really do. Harvard Business Review, 68(3), 103–111.
