Articles by Dan Bognar

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I closed the must win deal for the quarter. Days later, I was made redundant.

I closed the must win deal for the quarter. Days later, I was redundant. HR told me it would be "the best thing to ever happen to me". I didn't believe them until I did the work. That process took me from being redundant to leading DocuSign & HubSpot.

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How Great Sales Leaders Drive Cross-Functional Alignment to Accelerate Growth

In Tech Sales, success doesn’t come from heroic sales performance — it comes from driving alignment. The best sales leaders don’t just manage teams; they orchestrate internal ecosystems. They create a rhythm of collaboration.

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The Hidden Cost of Success: Why JAPAC Sales Leaders Are Burning Out (And What We Can Do About It)

If your top performers can only succeed by damaging their health and family relationships, you haven't built a successful sales organisation. You've built an unsustainable one.

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The Charade of "Fair Process": When Internal Promotions Become Theatre

Last week, I watched a talented professional deliver the presentation of his career. A week later, he received a brief phone call: they'd "gone in a different direction." No feedback. No development conversation. Just a polite dismissal.

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Your career won’t stall because you lack talent. It will stall because no one is willing to bet on you.

Coaching won’t get you promoted. Mentoring won’t put your name on the list. And hard work alone won’t break your orgnisation's structural inertia. Only sponsorship does.

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The loneliest part of leadership is realising that most conversations are no longer safe.

Leadership doesn’t feel lonely at the start. It only feels lonely once you realise the truth - most conversations are no longer safe. The higher you go, the fewer places you as a leader can speak freely.

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Most Sales Leaders Were Never Taught This Simple Framework - And It’s Costing Them Millions!

Most sales leaders aren’t bad at accountability, they were simply never taught how to drive it properly.

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The promotion myth: why doing your job well simply isn’t enough

Most people believe promotions work like this - I do great work; I get recognised for it; I get promoted. That story is comforting because it seems extremely logical. It’s also plain wrong.

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Most Deal Reviews and Loss Reviews Are a Waste of Everyone’s Time

I’ve sat through hundreds of deal reviews and loss reviews in my sales career. And if I’m honest, many of them were deeply flawed and a complete waste of time.

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Most Sales Leaders Aren’t Coaching. They’re Avoiding Accountability.

Most sales leaders say they’re coaching their teams. In reality, many are simply using coaching to avoid driving accountability.

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Walking the Camino de Santiago - a life changing experience

The Camino de Santiago had been on my bucket list for years. My "reframing" last July finally gave me the gift of time to pursue it. I had no idea what was waiting for me on the other side.