This is the last article in the series following my Enterprise Sales Show interview with Anant Patel, Vice President, EMEA & APAC at WEX and we finish with a great topic – how to show up as our authentic self.

What is Anant’s advice about showing up as our authentic selves?

Understanding showing up as our authentic selves is realising that:

● If you show up as yourself, you will be accepted and not only will you be accepted, but you will be trusted and people will respect the fact that you are being you.

● We must learn to grow. It's okay not to know everything or to have all of the answers.

● Showing up as you is being open and honest with yourself and that includes being open and honest when you do not know the answer.

● People who can admit they do not everything create the option to collaborate and connect with others who could provide a solution. Anant happily acknowledges that he does not know everything, in fact, the week before our conversation, he found himself in this exact situation when speaking to his US line manager. So, he took his own advice and told his manager that and he would come back to him with the solution later in the week, which was accepted.

How to show up as yourself:

● Do not make things up or try to give an answer when you do not have one - that breaks trust, which is too valuable to risk.

● Create a network. Anant has got a team around him on whose knowledge he can draw, and he has extensive knowledge within his network that he can tap into.

“It's okay not to know everything - yet have the network to find the answer.”

Whether it's trying to get a sale over the line, a connection with somebody or trying to solve a major problem, Anant will know and trust that, within his network he has enough goodwill with enough people that the answers will come to him.

It was a joy to interview Anant again and to take this time to draw together the key takeaways from our time together in this series.

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This is the next article in the series following my Enterprise Sales Show interview with Anant Patel, Vice President, EMEA & APAC at WEX and we continue with two great topics – lessons in leadership learning from others and advice on connecting with fellow humans when it’s not a natural trait..

What does Anant admire in particular about the leadership qualities of MasterCard senior leaders Carol Cosby, Carlos Menendez , CEO Ajay Banga, Jennifer Rademaker and Keith Douglas?

They display three traits:

1. They are servant leaders - they are all in service of, and care about, their people and know that they will not achieve optimum business growth or drive things forward other than via their people. That doesn't mean that their approach is soft, and their people aren't accountable.

They are results driven, but what sets them apart is how they go about getting those results. Even with very large teams - sometimes more than 1,000 they remain human and ensure that they are both accessible and approachable.

2. They are curious - this is not an arrogant leadership team. This is a team that never thinks they have made it and wants to keep on getting better and to keep on learning. They will learn from every interaction that they have.

3. They have a Decency Quotient (‘DQ’) - Ajay Banga adds DQ to IQ and Emotional Intelligence (‘EQ’) and he acknowledges that the decent thing to do is not necessarily the easiest thing to do.

High IQ is, he says, the starting point for most successful people and in an increasingly interconnected world, EQ and how you connect with other humans has also become very important. To those two qualities he adds decency, by which he means the way you conduct yourself.

MasterCard, believe you can do well, by doing good. Ajay believes that none of us really succeed in a failing world, so he wants everybody to succeed and financial inclusion is a big part of that.

What advice would Anant give them to begin to someone who does not find connecting with people natural?

This is very much a natural skill of his, I believe this has a lot to do with the environment that he grew up in. This is the advice that Anant had for those to whom it, perhaps, does not come so naturally:

● You have got to take a chance - you have got nothing to lose and everything to gain by making those connections.

● Ask yourself, what is the worst that can happen if you try to connect with someone or build a relationship with them?

● The worst that can happen is rejection. Your ego might take a bit of a hit, but nothing worse than that.

● Be brave, the best that can happen is that you make a meaningful connection and, together, you are able to help someone else. Anant constantly tries to help people as much as possible.

● If you consistently reach out to people, you are more likely to succeed.

● Take the initiative and ask. Ask for things and ask persistently.

Very generously, he said that he knows that some listeners and readers struggle in this area and welcomed them to reach out to have a chat with him (his PA will probably shoot him for it!).

It was a joy to interview Anant again and to take this time to draw together the key takeaways from our time together in this three-part series.

If you missed either of my previous articles, you could catch up on each of them by subscribing to the Enterprise Sales show channel.

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If that is you or who you are aiming to be, head over to the website - I’d really value your feedback.

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Continuing the series based on my observations and key takeaways Vice President, EMEA & APAC, Anant Patel,

Having worked with Anant for the last 7 years, I had my own ideas but what I really wanted to hear was his own view. So, the second part of the interview focussed on some of those things that make Anant, well ... Anant.

What makes Anant, a super curious servant leader, continue to learn?

Anant:

● Sees his curiosity, wanting to know more about people and things, as something that it is in his DNA. He grew up in a very curious family and I think that that environment had a huge part to play in fostering his curiosity.

● Genuinely cares about people, so it feels natural to him to want to know more about them.

● Gets a feel-good factor from learning more about anybody and to find out if he can help them. This makes him fit for growth.

● Has a personality and approach that is all about growth - he can create a ground swell of opportunities. Recently, in a business that isn't growing, he has needed to adapt his approach to focus on cost management and optimization and keeping people motivated. Taking this balanced approach is something that he has learned a lot about from his current line manager- an ex McKinsey consultant who is brilliant financially.

● Loves learning, which is a valuable skill that he has capitalised on to stay constantly adaptive and move forward in his career.

What does winning mean to Anant?

I know that Anant likes to win, but what I really wanted to know was his view on how to win. Infact, he told me that there are only certain things that he is keen on winning:

● Football - as a big Leicester City fan, he’s still dining out on the fact that they won the league title in 2016 at 5000:1!

● When everybody is happy to win - he likes everyone to be happy and the competitive side of him wants to know how to help to achieve that. He firmly believes that behaviours drive culture and that culture drives results.

● He believes everything is a learning process and his competitive side continually reflects on that and asks: What can we do to make our work culture better?

Why does Anant choose to work in 30-minute compartments?

Over the years of working with Anant, I have noticed that this way of working enables him to thrive. Here’s what he told me about this approach:

● It is deliberate.

● He gets his energy from people and wants to speak to as many people as possible in a day. So, if he scheduled 1-hour calls during, say, an 8 hour working day, he could only speak to eight people. Whereas, by limiting his calls to 30 minutes, he can speak to 16 people in the same 8 hours.

● This approach keeps his mind occupied and energised and enables him to grow and move forward.

● He finds that, after about half an hour, conversations tend to ‘fall into the ocean” a little resulting in diminishing returns. He’s happy to take a 30 minute call to 35 minutes.

● This approach has worked very well for Anant and he sees it very much as a leadership trait and executive way of doing things.

You can listen to the full show

https://soundcloud.com/user-778251999/adrian-adrians-personal-room-2020-10-01-10-04-26

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Our goal is to provide world class enterprise sales, career management and life skills to help you navigate through challenging times. I’d love for you to head over to the website and let me know your feedback.

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I was thrilled to recently be able to interview Anant Patel, Vice President, EMEA & APAC at WEX, again on the Enterprise Sales Show.

As many of you will know, he and I have a long-standing relationship, having worked together for the last 7 years. I was keen to invite Anant back following his first interview because I still had so many questions that I wanted to ask him.

Anant is an outstanding, super curious, servant leader who believes that everybody can win. Here, I share my observations and key takeaways from the first part of the interview.

How Anant has managed his energy, relationships, and team during these challenging times to make optimal decisions?

He keeps his energy high by:

● Regularly connecting with other people, which is important for him, as an extrovert. He gets most of his energy from other people throughout his day starting with his morning connection with his family.

● He thrives by consistently keeping the number of daily conversations he has high.

● Seeing people in 2D via video calls and being able to read body language and non-verbal cues is important to him.

He helps to maintain the energy of his team by:

● Connecting with people and making sure that the first question asked of his leaders and the rest of his team is “How are you?”. That is a question that he truly wants to hear the answer to in order to connect with his team. And, more than that, he will read the virtual room to gauge the feeling amongst the people in it. Doing these two things means that he can understand how that person really is.

● He connects with his team by using a lot of banter to keep things light and enjoyable.

● Making optimal decisions for him is about feeling the mood of his team. He knows that having a happy team drives success, so he looks for ways to make it happen.

Anant’s advice for somebody moving from an individual contributor role to a leadership role, or moving from a manager to a manager of managers?

This was probably THE challenge of Anant’s mid 20s when he moved into leadership, and his advice is to:

● Let go of what got you into the new role and acknowledge that that isn’t the same thing as what will get you into your next role.

● When going from contributor to a manager, as the old adage says: ‘give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.’ To move from being a leader by doing, to a leader by vision it is key to let go and believe that you are adding value by letting go.

Understand that by not doing so you are not making yourself surplus to requirements but that you are coaching someone else to be able to succeed. That will leave you with the capacity to do the things that you need to do to take the next step forward.

● When you go from a manager to a manager of managers, take more of a coaching approach and ask questions to drive the right outcomes, rather than diving in there. As a fixer of problems, that can be quite challenging for Anant, because he likes to fix things, so he constantly reminds himself to coach.

● Look at feedback as a gift. Feedback is hard from someone to give in the first place, so take it as a gift. In fact, I give feedback to him to ensure he is staying honest to the coaching approach and not just being the problem solver.

I will be sharing my takeaways from the rest of Anant’s interview in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can listen to the full podcast:

https://soundcloud.com/user-778251999/adrian-adrians-personal-room-2020-10-01-10-04-26

Enterprise Sales Club is now LIVE at https://www.enterprisesalesclub.com.

Our goal is to provide world class enterprise sales, career management and life skills to help you navigate through challenging times. I’d love for you to head over to the website and let me know your feedback.

If you want to take your career seriously, and also improve your skills in Enterprise Sales, please contact me [email protected]

I recently shared my experience of how my top Enterprise Sales clients see 'pressure as a privilege'. It’s not just their skillset that enable then to see pressure as a privilege, that takes them to the top. There’s much more to it than that.

They Conceive the idea of amplifying their own brand with customers and across their organisation…

They Believe that creating early engagement by targeting Economic Buyers is a vital first step…

They Win recurring deals that are larger and more profitable than their peers by their:

Presence - they are ready and able to disrupt the customers’ thinking. They are aware of how the specific individual they are working with will be thinking. The CFO, for example, is not just interested in the ROI, but the total cost of ownership, what the implications are for their business and the opportunity cost of staying with the current solution or building internally.

The elite get into 'the soul of the customer' - they understand their language and perspective & what makes customers look good.

Smart choices - they invest over 30% of their time, with Economic Buyers. That's right they spend a disportionate about of time with the people who 'actually' make the buying decisions.

This IS uncomfortable, but it is absolutely key. Most Enterprise Sales professionals spend far too much time where they are comfortable. That may be with end users, in technology or with the middle management. The result? They get outflanked by one of their competitors, who really has a strong political relationship with economic buyers.

Team playing - they use rare reciprocal relationships to close a deal. They use their network and their network’s network and they'll help others. They have relationships with Executives from previous employers and use each and every connection to make sure they win.

See everything as a resource - whether adversity, their values, an internal or external connection.

Ultimately, the way to win is best served by being customer obsessed and having self-belief.

Which one of these areas could you focus on for self-growth and to create more success in your Enterprise Sales career?

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They Conceive the idea of amplifying their own brand with customers and across their organisation…

…They Believe that creating early engagement by targeting Economic Buyers is THE vital first step

Committed - they know that they will find a way to win and they can step into that uncertainty. Uncertainty might now be the norm for us as humans for the next 20, 30, 40 years. Perhaps, the steady state we had previously was the anomaly - we need to get ready for change on our terms, and to adapt.

Proactive - they drive business value for the customer, anticipate and get ahead. They go beyond what the customer wants by anticipating whether it is fit for purpose.

Adaptive - they learn and tailor dialogue to different buyer personas, speaking differently to the legal team, procurement, finance, and end decision maker. Adapting to those different personas is fundamental to tailor messaging to their agenda and their language.

…They Win recurring deals that are large and more profitable

Which one of these areas could you focus on for self-growth and to create more success in your Enterprise Sales career?

Enterprise Sales Club is now LIVE at https://www.enterprisesalesclub.com.

Our goal is to provide world class enterprise sales, career management and life skills to help you navigate through challenging times.

Ready to take control of your Enterprise Sales career and work with your personal power to hone the skills of the elite? Contact me [email protected] to take the first step.

I recently shared my experience of how my top Enterprise Sales clients see, and work with, pressure as a privilege. But it’s not just seeing pressure as a privilege, that sees them rise to the top. There’s much more to it than that.

Today, I’m diving deeper into the skills that those that rise to the top almost always have and how you can hone your own skills on your way to the top.

They Conceive the idea of amplifying their own brand with customers and across their organisation

1. Think big - anticipate winning 6, 7 & 8 figure deals. They create a mindset in which they don't fear that scenario and, in many ways, embrace it.

2. Customer obsessed - they visualise success for the customer and for the organisation and have their eyes on achieving multiple wins.

3. A sense of urgency - they channel all their resources to unlock the customer pain, know where that is and align next to it. They stay almost single mindedly focussed amidst all of the day to day distractions.

They Believe that creating early engagement by targeting Economic Buyers is a vital first step

4. Committed - they know that they will find a way to win and they can step into that uncertainty. Uncertainty might now be the norm for us as humans for the next 20, 30, 40 years. Perhaps, the steady state we had previously was the anomaly. Therefore, we need to get ready for change on our terms, and to adapt.

5. Proactive - they drive business value for the customer, anticipate and get ahead. They go beyond what the customer wants by anticipating whether it is actually fit for purpose.

6. Adaptive - they learn and tailor dialogue to different buyer personas, speaking differently to the legal team, procurement, finance and end decision maker. Adapting to those different personas is fundamental in order to tailor messaging to their agenda and their language.

They Win recurring deals that are large and more profitable

7. Presence - they are ready and able to disrupt the customers’ thinking. They are aware of how the specific individual they are working with will be thinking. The CFO, for example, is not just interested in the ROI, but the total cost of ownership, what the implications are for their business and the opportunity cost of staying with the current solution or building internally. The elite get into their language and understand their perspective & what makes them look good.

8. Smart - they invest over 30% of their time, with Economic Buyers. This might be uncomfortable, but it is absolutely key. Most Enterprise Sales professionals spend far too much time where they are comfortable. That may be with end users, in technology or with the middle management. The result? They get outflanked by one of their competitors, who really has a strong political relationship with economic buyers.

9. Team players - they use reserved reciprocal relationships to close a deal. They use their network and their network’s network and they'll help others. They'll have relationships with Execs, past organisations and use any and every way to make sure they win.

10. See everything as a resource - whether adversity, their values, an internal or external connection.

Ultimately, the way to win is best served by being customer obsessed and having self-belief.

Which one of these areas could you focus on for self-growth and to create more success in your Enterprise Sales career?

Enterprise Sales Club is now LIVE at https://www.enterprisesalesclub.com.

Our goal is to provide world class enterprise sales, career management and life skills to help you navigate through challenging times.

Ready to take control of your Enterprise Sales career and work with your personal power to hone the skills of the elite? Contact me [email protected] to take the first step.

Anant interview part 2:

1. Current challenging situation – “never let a good crisis go to waste” – how have you managed your energy, relationships and team during this time to make optimal decisions?

2. What advice do you have for someone moving from Individual contributor role to a leadership role and those moving from manager directly to manager of managers?

3. How do you stay curious and continue to learn – what do you deliberately do?

4. How competitive are you – like to win tell us more about what winning means to you?

5. Time management – I have noticed you operate in 30mins compartments – can you tell us more?

6. Last time we discussed how you admire the leadership of Mastercard senior people like Carol Cosby and Carlos Menendez I know your admire the likes of Ajay Banja current CEO at MasterCard and Jennifer Rademaker EVP Product Delivery– can you tell us specifically what it is about these people that inspires you?

7. You are always looking to connect people, if this is not a strength of someone in the audience what advice can you give them to gain the courage to begin this practice?

8. You mentioned that you wish you knew early on in your career, that showing up as self is key – what practical steps can people take?

Q4 is going to be make or break. The pressure, for some, could not be more intense.

Do you see pressure as privilege or a threat?

My top clients would say that it’s a privilege and here’s why.

There are two types of pressure:

External Pressure - from line managers, those above, peers and our teams.

Internal Pressure - that expectation that we put on ourselves that our behaviour and our motivation will be driven from within.

I was recently reminded of this quote:

“Long distance running is 90% mental and the other half is physical.”

The same can be said of Enterprise Sales. 90% is mental and the other 50% based on other factors like territory and need.

Our mental state of mind has a disproportionate effect on what we believe is achievable - right here, right now.

When pressure is privilege

I've asked a number of my top clients what it feels like to be in the spotlight. These are the clients with the biggest in region or organisation deals. They are used to all of the key decision makers within their organisation focusing on them and the pressure that comes with that. This is what they told me:

I'm very much used to being in the spotlight. The pressure is actually enjoyable. It’s something that I’ve earned the right to have, by having all eyes looking directly at me.

I can only do the best I can do.

These high flyers have learned to excel under pressure.

They:

Communicate with the customer in every way they can.

Communicate internally as effectively as possible and use Execs where they need to.

Control every controllable to the best of their ability.

Acknowledge that, if the deal slips, the deal slips and they have to handle the consequences.

Constantly manage expectations.

Drawing parallels with Rugby, Elite players live for make or break games. Former Lions captain Sam Warburton recently stated they “see pressure as privilege”. They thrive on this pressure. This is why they work so hard -because they know that certain games will be won at the margins.

What mindset do you have as we move to the very end of Q3 and into Q4?

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Our goal is to provide world class enterprise sales, career management and life skills to help you navigate through challenging times.

Ready to take control of your Enterprise Sales career and work with your personal power to hone the skills of the elite? Contact me [email protected] to take the first step.

I recently posted, that one of my long-standing coaching clients recently made the observation that just trying to close on anything at the moment “feels like nailing jelly to the wall”.

In the second part of this post see practical advice on how to adapt and maintain rather than lose momentum.

Here’s how to connect with multiple Economic buyers:

1. Invest in time with multiple influential people including Champions and Economic Buyers; show them how your technology is going to make them look like a star.

2. Keep visualising success for all - creating situations in which there are multiple winners.

3. Maintain an adaptive mindset and dialogue that says ‘this is different’ and the opportunity is still well qualified.

4. Park any frustration and move forward by asking: how do I adapt?

Switch to an adaptive, multi-winner strategy

Adaptive dialogue is key in driving partnership value, deal value and in cultivating success for all sides. Let go of win-lose thinking. Set aside any fear that the deal is actually gone because this person has lost their role - it’s still yours for the taking if you adapt your mindset.

But how can you make the difference with Economic Buyers?

One of the key things to do is to have multiple routes into an organisation. Develop relationships with multiple Champions, ensure multiple engagements with significant layered levels of influence including the Economic Buyer. This enables you to de-risk any deal as much as possible.

Reciprocal winning and reciprocal networking are always the key way forward.

If you missed my article on how to create multiple winners in Enterprise sales, click here to read it now.

Enterprise Sales Club is now live and I’d love to receive your feedback. The platform serves the Enterprise Sales community and provides a safe space for members to voice opinions, explore new ideas and collaborate. We are here to facilitate bringing your inner hero out of its shell, and to empower you to manage and grow your career. We care about people and build relationships that last decades.

Please head over and take a look

We've launched in Beta and we're taking feedback over the next couple of months. Please get in touch to let us know what works for you and what you would tweak - all feedback is valuable. Just like MasterCard, we believe that when we do well by doing good, every part of the partnership wins.

If you’re looking to take your career seriously as we round off 2020 and enter 2021, get in touch with me: [email protected]