The Worst Leadership Lie of All & More Sales Articles You Might've Missed This Week

According to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. While this is common sense, it's hardly common practice. 

For instance, how many times have you heard a manager or colleague say, "Well, it's not working ... but maybe it will get better in a few weeks"? Then when the reevaluation date rolls around and the project or process is still not performing, the team determines that just a few more weeks of observation is in order before anything gets changed. And so on until a clearly broken and inefficient practice become the norm.

Why does this happen? It's not because people don't have common sense. It's because they don't have time. And herein lies the problem -- if a leader can't make time to fix a core problem, they're going to get the same results over and over again. No wonder salespeople on dysfunctional teams can start to feel a little insane.

In Kelly Riggs' opinion, believing that broken processes will magically start to function even though nothing has been done to fix them is the biggest lie leaders tell themselves. In his post "The 4 Most Dangerous Words in Your Leadership Vocabulary," he warns leaders to stop using "I don't have time" as an excuse to sweep hurdles under the rug.

"I understand that you are working 50 to 60 hours per week (or more) and that you really don’t have the time or energy to devote to long-term critical thinking and systemic issues," Riggs writes. "But consider that the way you use your time is a choice. If you don’t address these things as the leader, who will?"

Sort out your internal dialogue, and then dive into five more of the best sales articles of the week below.

1) Self Talk by Seth Godin

Once you stop lying to yourself about lack of time, get a lesson in positive self talk.

2) A Single Platform That Can Help You Auto-Magically Align Sales and Marketing by Amar Sheth

The future is now, and it looks pretty cool.

3) Why Are You So S-L-O-W? by Andy Paul

If your sales process crawls along at a snail's pace, one of these four problems could be to blame.

4) 10 Things You Need to Know About Prospecting by Colleen Francis

A salesperson's success hinges on how well and often they prospect. These 10 pro tips can help you perfect the craft of prospecting.

5) Social Selling 101 by Koka Sexton

What is social selling? Does it work? Is it a fad? LinkedIn's Koka Sexton has all the answers.

What were your favorite sales posts from this week? Share in the comments.