Stop Riding the Wave. Start Leading.

To keep everyone anonymous, I’m leaving out the person's gender and the sales industry they're in.

Last week, while attending an event, I met someone who manages a large office of approximately 100 salespeople.

As I often do, I struck up a conversation and asked how business was going these days.

The response caught my attention.

Morale is down. The industry is facing challenges across the board. Sales are struggling. And their biweekly sales meetings? Only about 10% of the office shows up.

Wow. I thought, what in the world is going on over there?

There was a lot to unpack, so naturally, I started asking questions.

Me: "What are you doing to separate yourselves from the rest of the industry? What are you doing differently to stand out?"

Response: "Nothing really. We're just riding the wave."

That answer baffled me.

So I asked another question.

Me: "What are you doing to improve attendance at your sales meetings?"

Response: "We're thinking about changing them from biweekly to once a month."

Wait a minute. People aren't showing up, so the solution is to give them fewer opportunities to show up?

Then I asked why morale was so low.

The answer? People are just riding the wave.

And there it was.

The energy you put into your organization is the energy you're going to get out of it.

Every industry has its hot spots and cold spots. Every market has its challenges. There are heat maps for practically everything, and somewhere, even in a struggling industry, someone is finding a way to succeed.

The question is, are you looking for those opportunities, or are you simply accepting the conditions around you?

When your people stop showing up, the answer isn't necessarily fewer meetings. Maybe it's time to ask why they don't see value in attending.

When morale is low, the answer isn't to ride the wave. It's to give people something to get excited about.

When the industry is struggling, the answer isn't to do what everyone else is doing. It's to find a reason for customers to choose you instead.

Leadership isn't about waiting for the market to improve. It's about giving people direction, purpose, accountability, and a reason to believe they can succeed despite the market.

If you're managing 100 salespeople and only 10 are showing up, that's not just an attendance problem. That's a leadership opportunity staring you right in the face.

You can't expect your team to bring energy, enthusiasm, and creativity to the table if you're not bringing it yourself.

And here's the part that really stuck with me.

If the person steering the ship is just riding the wave, why would anyone on board believe they're headed somewhere better?

Markets change. Industries struggle. Business cycles come and go.

But the people who find ways to win aren't always the ones with the best market conditions. They're often the ones who refuse to let market conditions dictate their effort.

Stop riding the wave. Start making some waves.