Stop hiring sales managers from the outside. In 90% of cases, it’s a costly mistake. You pay a competitive salary. You hope they fit your culture. Two or three hires later, you’re cycling again — with less trust from the team. We’ve seen this pattern repeatedly with growing companies. One client went through three external sales managers in 18 months. Each one looked great on paper. None of them understood the nuances of the team, the customer, or the sales motion. We helped them shift to an earned-leadership model. Rep to Manager became a 6–12 month roadmap. If a rep hit leadership benchmarks in the first 90 days, they qualified as Manager-in-Training. Months 4–6? They ran team meetings, did 1:1s, helped recruit, coached new hires. By the time they officially stepped in, the team already trusted them. Do this today: Identify one high-performing rep and outline a 6-month leadership track with objective milestones and delegated responsibilities. You’ll build leaders who a...