A sales leader's job is to shield their team from internal politics, administrative burdens, and cross-departmental friction. This protection allows reps to focus solely on selling. The leader must also mediate between sales and the rest of the organization to maintain harmony.

A common mistake for new managers is to do their reps' jobs for them, especially in tough deals. This approach, born from insecurity or a desire to prove worth, prevents the team from developing self-sufficiency and ultimately fails to scale. The manager's true job is to build skills and muscle in their reps.

A leader's role in a sales call is to empower the rep, not to perform. When a manager takes over a meeting, they disempower their rep and effectively take ownership of the account. MongoDB's CRO Cedric Pech calls this 'promoting yourself into being the rep,' a mistake that stunts rep development and creates customer confusion.

Salespeople will mock and lose respect for a manager who leads from behind a desk. If a leader isn't in the trenches—on calls or in the field—they become a distraction and a joke, undermining their own authority and the team's focus.

A sales leader's job isn't to ask their team how to sell more; it's to find the answers themselves by joining sales calls. Leaders must directly hear customer objections and see reps' mistakes to understand what's really happening. The burden of finding the solution is on the leader.

A key, but often overlooked, role of a sales leader is to shield their team from internal corporate noise, distractions, and poorly timed requests from other departments. This protection allows the sales team to maintain focus on revenue-generating activities.

Leaders must unapologetically defend their time with their team. This means explicitly telling their own managers that they will be with reps from 8-5 and that reports and other admin tasks will be handled outside of those core coaching hours.

A sales leader's value isn't in managing from headquarters. It's in being on the front lines, personally engaging in the most challenging deals to figure out the winning sales motion. Only after living in the field and closing landmark deals can they effectively build a playbook and teach the team.

People naturally start their jobs motivated and wanting to succeed. A leader's primary role isn't to be a motivational speaker but to remove the environmental and managerial barriers that crush this intrinsic drive. The job is to hire motivated people and get out of their way.