Organizational success depends less on high-profile 'superstars' and more on 'Sherpas'—generous, energetic team players who handle the essential, often invisible, support work. When hiring, actively screen for generosity and positive energy, as these are the people who enable collective achievement.

To motivate and retain employees, especially in a challenging market, leaders must shift their perspective from 'they work for me' to 'I work for them.' This servant-leadership approach involves genuinely caring about your team's well-being and success, which fosters loyalty and improves performance.

A key "aha moment" was realizing the goal is to be seen not as an outside seller, but as a contributing member of the client's own team. This mindset shifts the relationship from transactional to a collaborative partnership focused on shared success, fundamentally changing the sales dynamic.

Elite salespeople understand that closing deals requires a team. They actively cultivate advocates within their own company—in operations, support, and finance—by treating them well and recognizing their contributions. This internal support system is critical for smooth deal execution and ensures they can deliver on client promises.

"Glue employees" are team members with high EQ who proactively help others and prioritize the team's success. They are multipliers but often go unnoticed because they aren't traditional "star" performers. Leaders should actively identify them by asking team members who helps them the most and then reward them accordingly.

To build a loyal and effective team, leaders should constantly make "deposits"—helping employees advance, improve, and do their jobs. This builds goodwill, so when a leader needs to make a "withdrawal" by asking for something, the team is happy to oblige. This applies to customers, employees, and government stakeholders alike.

Most engineers only interact with customers during negative events like outages or escalations. To build customer empathy and a product mindset, leaders must intentionally create positive touchpoints. This includes sending engineers to customer conferences or including them on low-stakes customer calls.

Many leaders mistakenly manage their team as a single entity, delivering one-size-fits-all messages in team meetings. This fails because each person is unique. True connection and performance improvement begin by understanding and connecting with each salesperson on a one-on-one basis first.

Don't hide from errors. Steve Munn found that when he made a mistake, taking ownership and handling it well actually enhanced client "stickiness" and deepened the relationship. Clients saw he cared and was accountable, building more trust than if the error never happened.