This article comes from Jeffrey Hatchell’s insightful talk at our Las Vegas 2024 Sales Enablement Summit. Check out his full presentation and our wealth of OnDemand resources.

What’s the biggest challenge when it comes to enabling your sales team to succeed? If you thought of effective leadership, you’re not alone. Leadership enablement is often the missing piece that bridges the gap between strategic vision and on-the-ground execution. 

As sales enablement professionals, we pour our energy into equipping teams with tools and training. But how often do we ensure the leaders guiding those teams are just as prepared?

Leadership enablement is a topic that has grown close to my heart over the years. It’s about empowering leaders with the skills they need to coach, guide, and reinforce the work we do in enablement. 

So today, I want to share my perspective on why exactly leadership enablement matters, how it differs from sales enablement, and some strategies I’ve found effective in driving adoption within organizations.

Let’s dive in.

Why leadership enablement matters

When I stepped into my first leadership role, I quickly realized that being a great individual contributor doesn’t automatically translate to being a great leader.

To be honest, I struggled. At first, I thought leading was simply about showing my team how I worked and expecting them to replicate my success. It didn’t take long to learn that leadership required a completely different set of skills—skills I hadn’t been trained for. 

The realization hit me hard: while most organizations invest in training their individual contributors, leadership training often takes a back seat. 

Leaders are expected to figure it out as they go, relying on minimal foundational training or their own instincts. This lack of formalized training can lead to missed opportunities, misaligned teams, and ineffective coaching.

Leadership enablement is about filling that gap. It’s about empowering leaders with the tools and skills they need to inspire, coach, and guide their teams effectively. When leaders are equipped to succeed, they become an extension of our enablement efforts, reinforcing training and driving accountability within their teams.

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