A sales principle—'You can't be more committed than your prospect'—applies directly to mentorship. A mentor's energy should mirror the mentee's. When a mentee stops applying advice, the mentor must pull back to avoid burnout and wasting effort on someone not committed to their own success.

Promoting top individual contributors into management often backfires. Their competitive nature, which drove individual success, makes it hard to share tips, empathize with struggling team members, or handle interpersonal issues, turning a perceived win-win into a lose-lose situation.

Underperforming sales reps are not failures; they often lack proper coaching or strategic frameworks. Investing in their development can transform these reps from liabilities into consistent performers, saving the high costs associated with turnover and re-hiring.

Transitioning from a top-performing rep requires a mindset shift from doing to enabling. A new leader's role is not to teach their specific 'Michael Jordan' method, but to align company and personal goals, then focus on removing obstacles for each team member's unique path to success.

Despite delivering excellent sales numbers, a sales VP was reprimanded by her mentor for being too task-focused and ignoring colleagues. The mentor's message was clear: how you treat people is more important than the revenue you generate. This highlights a focus on long-term character development.

When confronting a high-performing but abrasive employee, don't just criticize. Frame the conversation around their career. Offer a choice: remain a great individual contributor, or learn the interpersonal skills needed for a broader leadership role, with your help.

A manager's highest duty is to an employee's fulfillment, not just their performance. When a top performer is not personally aligned with their role, a leader should actively help them find a better fit—even if it means using their own social capital to place them at another organization.

For short-term mentoring to be impactful, it must be painful. The goal isn't gentle guidance but to make an overlooked opportunity or flaw so painfully obvious that the mentee is jolted into action, partly to prove the mentor wrong. It's 'crash therapy'—uncomfortable but highly effective at driving change.

Most employees avoid giving leaders negative feedback for fear of repercussions. However, a leader's ability to improve is directly tied to their willingness to accept the 'emotional hit' of criticism. The team member who provides unvarnished truth is therefore the most critical for achieving long-term goals.