Dan regularly authors a range of thought leadership resources covering topics such as sales best practices, sales leadership, sales recruiting, sales career development as well as sharing his own personal journey.
Last year I made one of the hardest decisions of my career. After 35 years in corporate life - most recently leading HubSpot across Asia Pacific - I decided to “retire.” Except, that one word "retirement" never sat right with me.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Most sales leaders aren’t bad at accountability, they were simply never taught how to drive it properly.
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.
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.
Most sales leaders say they’re coaching their teams. In reality, many are simply using coaching to avoid driving accountability.