Guest: John McMahon, author of The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO

A hell of a lot of people work in sales. But until recently, says five-time CRO and The Qualified Sales Leader author John McMahon, it was rare for colleges and universities to offer a sales degree. Salespeople had to learn on the job from experienced coaches, and adapt. And their bosses, John explains, had to themselves as agents of transformation. “If somebody’s really smart, they’re going to pick up the knowledge,” he says. “If they have what I call a PHD — persistence, heart, and desire — they’re going to learn the skills ... You’re going to have to do thousands and thousands of repetitions before you’re going to get good.”

In this episode, John and Joubin discuss lazy LinkedIn cold calls, Tom Brady’s retirement, being “married to your job,” Carl Eschenbach, crying, sales as a calling, corporate culture vs. coaching culture, adaptable workers, opportunity vs. title, Bob Muglia, transactional leaders, sad rich people, cookie-cutter advice, handshake evaluations, and David Cancel.

In this episode, we cover:

• CRO to CEO? (02:21)
• Ego and relevance (04:25)
• Escaping the 90-day grind (06:25)
• Persistence and physical discipline (09:05)
• Daily habits and positive energy (14:12)
• Why John quit BMC (17:09)
• Poor communication (21:17)
• Was there another way? (24:37)
• Identifying sales talent (28:36)
• Showing that you care (32:58)
• Sales leaders as hockey coaches (39:46)
• Firing people (44:25)
• Interviewing the right type of salesperson (49:14)
• Snowflake and Chris Degnan (51:22)
• “What’s the book on you?” (56:03)
• Managing from a position of power (58:01)
• The three “whys” (01:00:31)
• Why John never went VC (01:04:33)
• Is he really done? (01:07:17)
• Shlomo Kramer (01:10:20)
• Having impact (01:13:11)
• Bad advice (01:16:19)
• Working with marketing (01:19:32)
• Sizing people up (01:21:26)
• Can CEOs give up? (01:26:51)
• Coaching sales “artists” (01:28:29)
• What “grit” means to John (01:30:48)

Links:

• Connect with John
  • LinkedIn
  • Buy The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO
• Connect with Joubin
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email: grit@kleinerperkins.com 
• Learn more about Kleiner Perkins
• This episode was edited by Eric Johnson from LightningPod.fm