The ESSENTIAL Element to Advancing Sales… Are You Missing It?
What does it take to truly lead yourself to success in sales?
Lifelong learning isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a mindset that separates high performers from the rest. In this episode, Cindy and Anneliese break down why staying curious is the secret to long-term success. They dive into overcoming common learning roIn this episode, Cynthia and Anneliese dive into the essential qualities of leadership and why mastering self-leadership is the first step toward becoming a high performer. From creating a clear vision to taking full ownership of your territory, they unpack what it means to lead yourself before leading others. Discover practical skills to build trust, make decisive moves, and stay resilient in the face of challenges.
Whether you’re a sales rep aiming for President’s Club or just starting out, this conversation will inspire you to step up, take charge, and own your path to success.
adblocks like time constraints, lack of motivation, and knowledge gaps, while also sharing actionable strategies to make learning a daily habit. Whether it's leveraging technology, seeking mentorship, or attending industry conferences, this conversation will inspire you to never stop growing!
Tune in now to power up your career with the ultimate success tool: lifelong learning.
Episode Chapter Markers
00:00 Introduction
00:13 Defining Leadership
04:18 Importance of Vision in Leadership
07:02 Decision-Making and Communication
08:38 Empathy and Emotional Intelligence
10:06 Motivation and Engagement
13:08 Ownership: The Secret to Leadership
15:00 Building Leadership Skills
22:22 Resources for Personal Growth
Must-Hear Insights and Key Moments
The Power of Vision – Why having a clear vision is the foundation of effective leadership.
Decisiveness Drives Success – How making bold decisions propels you forward and builds trust.
Trust: The Cornerstone of Leadership – Why building trust with customers and colleagues sets leaders apart.
Resilience in Action – Turning setbacks into setups for future success.
Communication is Key – Mastering the art of effective communication for stronger leadership.
Words of Wisdom: Standout Quotes from This Episode
"Leadership isn’t about the title — it’s about owning your path and showing up every day." – Anneliese Rhodes
"Trust isn’t given, it’s earned. And as a leader, that’s your responsibility." – Cynthia Ficara
"Resilience is the difference between getting knocked down and staying down." – Anneliese Rhodes
"Decisiveness separates leaders from followers. Make the move and own the outcome." – Cynthia Ficara
"Your sales territory is your business. Lead it like a CEO." – Anneliese Rhodes
"Effective communication begins with listening. Leaders know when to speak and when to listen." – Cynthia Ficara
"High performers don’t wait for someone else to lead — they step up and own it." – Anneliese Rhodes
"Every day is an opportunity to build trust, show integrity, and lead with purpose." – Cynthia Ficara
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A Team Dklutr production
Blog Transcript:
Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies
Anneliese Rhodes: Welcome everyone to another episode of secrets and medical device sales brought to you by the girls of grit. We are so excited. You guys keep tuning in and today we have another very fun, very exciting episode.
Cynthia Ficara: Good morning, everybody. Yes, we are on power play number seven. Gosh, you know, these have just been flying by, I think anyway.
power play I think is really a great one, and it can be interpreted in many different ways. Today we're talking about leadership, but we're putting leadership in the context of leading ourselves in your sales territory or maybe you are In a medical device role and you are a leader and you're in a leadership role so we just kind of wanted to take a little bit today and kind of Focus this a little bit more on how do you lead yourself?
and i'm just going to start with the definition of What actual leadership is? And then we'll kick it off. So, leadership, I'm reading this, is the ability to guide, influence, and inspire individuals or groups toward achieving common goals and objectives. To take it a step further, I did kind of look at just common qualities across the board, whether it's leadership books, leadership courses, or when you think of a leader, what qualities you see in a person that maybe you also find a strength in yourself.
So common qualities you will find in a leader are integrity, empathy, vision, communication, accountability, confidence, resilience, and decision making.
Anneliese Rhodes: I love all of those. And you know, as I'm sitting here, Cindy, I think all of us probably want to believe and think that we are all leaders to some extent, right?
and if we're high performers, we should be leaders to some extent. So, I think today's episode's really gonna be neat because, you know, we all have that very initial thought of, Oh, well, I know what a leader is. But I think as we run through this today, I think you guys might maybe change your mind a little bit.
On exactly what a leader is, maybe not totally, but there's more to it than just, you know, the title than just, well, that person is the CEO. So they must be a leader. There's more to it than that. And I think today when we talk about things, we're going to really uncover it. And we're also going to talk about some, some qualities or traits that maybe some of us have that we need to change in order to really be that true leader. I think it's really important because as you and I were talking about this, Cindy, I believe, at least, and you and I were agreeing on this, that you have to be able to lead yourself before you lead others. You have to define your own path and lead yourself down that path successfully before you can lead others.
And I think that's a really key thing to remember because sometimes we get so caught up in what we want to do next and what we want to do next. Oh, I want to move to this position or that position, but we forget that we really need to master where we're at and that in and of itself can be a leader.
Vision and Decision-Making: The Cornerstones of Leadership
Cynthia Ficara: Absolutely. And in the theme of today, just to set the stage, we're not really going to talk about leadership styles so much. It's more just about leadership qualities. So I want to read a quote by John C. Maxwell, that many of you know, is known to, I would say, general public and many people out there as a leader of leaders.
Absolutely. So John C. Maxwell said, a leader is one who knows the way. Goes the way and shows the way that's one of my favorite quotes. when you think about leadership at the end of this podcast, let us know if your opinion changes some, and if you agree with what John C. Maxwell just said and how leadership fits into your role.
So Lisa, why don't we just kind of start talking a little bit about, why leadership is so important because sometimes You're in your own territory and your own business or your own team. Like what problems are we trying to solve? What ways can leadership help us grow?
Absolutely. Yeah. So I'm just going to start off with one that I think is really important because I, I think that lack of vision and direction is one of the very first things that can steer you away from leadership. Like, if you don't have that. You can kind of struggle, like, what are your goals? Where are you trying to go?
You can be confused. You know, when you don't have a vision, you're unproductive. You don't have something you're shooting for. And I think one of the main, main qualities of leadership is being able to have a good vision. I think one issue is if you don't have this vision, it can be a problem.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah.
Well, I agree with you. And you and I were talking and you mentioned a really great example of someone that just could not seem to have a good vision, a good direction, make decisions, which is another quality that you really need to be able to do. But, you know, we just did a podcast on vision.
And if you guys haven't listened to it, go back and listen to it. I think it was our power play number. Five six, or six. Sorry It's one of those. Anyhow, we've already talked about it There's so many but but but vision is key right to being a high performer And so if you don't know how to create a vision Go back listen to that episode and really Learn how to have a vision if you don't have one and sometimes it's you know Well, I have a vision it's a pie in the sky and it's this Like I have a house on the beach, but there's more to it than just that, you know, I think it's really important if you guys don't know how to create a vision to go back because that is a key quality of being a leader is to always have that vision and direction.
Cynthia Ficara: So yes, I'll share the story that Lisa and I were discussing when this made me think of this years ago, I had a coworker that really, didn't notice it at first. But he really had no vision and no self direction. So he heavily relied on his manager for the simple things. And he had a fabulous manager.
I mean, this manager was one of those great people would step in and help and do things. And then the manager one day actually got promoted. And it was so evident after the manager left, how he seems like a little lost puppy. He couldn't make a decision. He didn't know where to go. He wouldn't do anything.
It was almost like paralysis by analysis Thought too much about this. I mean when you think about a general sales role every day, you're out there every day You're going if you don't have a vision of what you're going for You're not going to be able to ever advance in your career your growth your sale or anything so eventually this person ended up leaving his numbers kind of tanked and He just resigned.
What a shame. That's such a shame.
Anneliese Rhodes: And it's not hard to do. It's not hard to do. You just have to work on it. You just have to put your mind to it and create your vision. You know, another thing that you're talking about along with him is decision making, right? You got to be able to be a good decision maker.
It doesn't mean that you're always going to make the right decisions because listen, we're not perfect. Everybody makes mistakes. Somebody Sometimes you make a decision and you're like, that was probably the wrong decision. But then you learn from them and you move on, you know, you change, you pivot, you go to the next thing.
but you have to be able to be decisive in certain moments, whether that's in a case or that's, Hey, I'm going to a call on this account versus this account. And these are the reasons why. And you really got to be Decisive on that. I mean, I was talking with somebody and they're like, Oh my gosh, you know, just getting into a new territory.
I've got all these opportunities, but I don't know where to go. I don't know where to start. Well, sit down, make a spreadsheet and then make a move. Because if you get paralyzed by the, what is it? Analysis by paralysis or paralysis by analysis, then you're not going to be able to move forward regardless.
So you have to be able to make good decisions decisive decisions.
Cynthia Ficara: And what you just said kind of links into another one is communication. So if you have poor communication, that's a problem, so effective leaders really are transparent. In my mind, think back to managers that I had or, higher up in leadership.
And one of the first things that comes to mind is strong communication. They're transparent, they're clear, when you have poor communication, you have decreased morale. You don't really trust them because you don't really know what's going on. And when you have poor communication, what does that lead to?
Assumption and assumptions are never good for anybody. So think that's something to also consider as a problem when you don't have good leadership.
Communication and Empathy: Leading with Connection
Anneliese Rhodes: And you know what you just. I love that. and along with that communication in your definition, you talked about empathy. I think that it's so important as a leader, not to just yell at others, but have empathy, right?
Be aware of self awareness and be aware of how you're speaking to others, whether or not you're in a leadership quote unquote position, you're a leader of yourself. to be able to communicate with others. empathetically, very like decisively, but not in a way that you're yelling or pushing an idea or forcing somebody to have to listen to you.
I think it's so key in that communication that you are very self aware and aware of everybody else too. So I think that's another key thing. And again, you don't need to be in a position of power. you're a sales rep just like me. But when we communicate, it's very important to be aware of how you're communicating what you're trying to get across.
Cynthia Ficara: So there was a, post actually on LinkedIn, and when you just said that, I was just like, what was it? What when you talk about when managers either yell or just miscommunicate, this was the quote, the quote is by Justin Wright, when you manage by fear, you make people focus on avoiding mistakes instead of doing their best work.
True leadership inspires confidence, not anxiety. And that really caught my attention, just something different. not that it went along exactly what you said, but it just popped in my mind. I was like, Oh wait, there was a really good quote I heard about leadership. That's a great quote. But I think too that, It's not what you say, it's how you say it.
I mean, that's something we've mentioned before in communication. So one other area I think is a problem when you don't have leadership for yourself or your team is really decreased motivation and engagement. And that kind of goes along with my story of the guy that just kind of was lost, you know? Once his manager didn't do everything for him, he had no motivation.
He didn't engage if the manager wasn't gonna plan a dinner and And go somewhere or make the meeting or leave the meeting. You just sat in the passenger seat the whole time, you know, leaders are in the driver's seat. when you don't motivate others. Or, okay. When I say others, it doesn't have to just be that you're the manager of a team of a number of people.
Motivating others could be your customers. You could be like, what is like you're leading your team and when you engage them, then you're productive and you get this great momentum and that's really, really important. I think that fits along again with the areas that where leadership can really help solve.
is if you have decreased motivation, I
Anneliese Rhodes: love that. I think that's really actually quite important. I didn't really think about it, but you're right. If as a leader in your own territory. Regardless of where you're at, you have to always be positive and motivating. You cannot just carry this.
Oh, woe is me for as me attitude, because number one, nobody wants to be around that. And number two, I love your idea of be the driver in the driver's seat at all times. Don't ever be the passenger because when you're the passenger, it leads to complacency and look, we're all out there to sell more.
Be more successful, make it to president's club. You have to be in the driver's seat at all times. And again, that's what a true leader embodies. We did an episode, a fantastic interview. No, if you haven't listened to it yet, you guys have got to listen to it. It's actually one of our highest episodes.
Listen to on a true successful female in the medical device world. And her name is Patricia show cat. I cannot remember off the top of my head what episode it was, Cindy. But dang it, man. If you want to be inspired to be a true leader in your own territory, listen to hers. Because I can tell you this, guys.
She is always in the driver's seat, and she's probably driving a Ferrari at all times. Because she is just so phenomenal. But she embodies that. And hey, she's a sales rep. She's not, the director, VP, CEO. She is of her own territory though, and she is absolutely owning it every day. So I think what we just talked about Cindy, these are such key things to remind ourselves to be aware of, to work on.
And so with that, I think we should probably now roll into, some of the ways to build leadership skills, right?
Cynthia Ficara: Exactly. But I think what you just said segued into one of the most important parts of our episode and that is revealing the secret. Oh! The secret. Forget about the secret!
What's wrong with me? Well, you really just talked about it and it's so crazy how there, we believe there's secrets behind Every piece of information that we give you and we give you this because we really want to help you focus. There's so many things. We can say leadership. Okay, and then you can finish this podcast and be like, well, where do I go from here?
What's the thing to take? And we want you to use our secrets as a takeaway. We want you to really think about leadership and how you can embody and embrace it in your own Territory in your own team or whatever role you're in So to reveal our secret our girls secret for leadership. It is what is it?
Lisa?
Taking Charge of Your Leadership Path
Anneliese Rhodes: ownership You have to own it own every minute of every day and you just gave such a great example because You know, a lot of times we listen to these podcasts and we're like, Ooh, we're so inspired. And then something happens and it completely just shifts us off course. And I think this is a really good one to remind you that you have to own it every day.
Every minute, every hour, you have to own your own leadership trail or path. And that is the key to it. I mean, I think once you own your decisions, you own the way you're going to handle your business, you own everything about your territory, you are being a leader of yourself. And that is so key.
Cynthia Ficara: Absolutely. now for the fun part, here you are all high performers and let's really kind of link the relationship between leadership and high performance. And we've already talked about how leaders are inspiring. They inspire their peers, their customers, their coworkers, actually upper management at times too.
But it's not just about. That it's really your self motivation, and it's navigating a lot of challenges that you may have ownership is owning up when things go bad, adapting to change, and you can jump in and do it. So let's kind of go through the leadership qualities that we see. For sale, and I'll go ahead and start with number one because we touched on it.
And I just think I just want to reiterate. This is all part of ownership is one of the key qualities of leadership is vision. High performers really need to see just hitting behind the quota. It's that long term strategy. It's looking way down the road and, every little bit of what you do each day is a piece of it.
You know, we talk about one of the things we do on this podcast is we try to give you tips and little hints for everyday excellence, because if you're excellent every day, you can only end up with a great result at the end. And that's not saying that you're perfect every day. If you did one good thing very well, every day.
Think about the difference that would make.
Anneliese Rhodes: , that's such a good point. And right along with it, like you just mentioned, another key quality to have as a leader is resilience because. Everybody gets knocked down. Everybody has a bad day, bad sale, bad case, bad customer call. It's what you do with that situation that makes the difference.
when you have the ability to look at this as not as a setback, but a set up. For something bigger, greater down the road, you have to be able to be resilient, flip the script, and be able to change and pivot and move forward. Because when we get caught up in the bad things, they can really take us down an ugly hole.
And man, I mean, that right there, that's a motivation killer. everybody's like, Ugh, I don't want to be around her. She's super, depressing right now. You can't be like that. You have to be resilient, right? again, we all face these. I mean, I faced them many times.
I still face them all the time. It is a true mind shift and a change that you have to have.
Cynthia Ficara: Absolutely. Emotional intelligence is another key, key, key quality in leadership and we have talked about this. This is one of our I think it was like power play number three, maybe, but you know, empathy goes along with emotional intelligence and you're really understandings what other people need and what motivation they need to build a relationship or influence your customer or to ultimately help that patient at the end of the day.
and it's feeling your way out, it's following your instincts. And again, that's another great one to go back and listen to, which is great. Some vision. Resilience, emotional intelligence, just to focus a little bit more on qualities, which there are many, but I feel that this wraps into ownership of the conversation we're having today about leadership.
Anneliese Rhodes: Yeah, absolutely. All right. So let's talk about some skills because these are things, I mean, some people, you know, argue a leader is born or they're made Well, I think it's a For today's discussion, we're going to give you guys some easy skills that you can use to build your leadership. So maybe you already are a leader.
Maybe you're already a high performer. But nobody's perfect every day, and there's always ways to improve. So I think these skills really help remind us of how to keep on that top level of leadership, whether it's in our territory, it's leading a team, or it's leading a company. So one of the biggest things is, and you love these, Cindy, is setting clear goals.
Always have that list of goals either in your mind, well, probably written down on a sheet of paper and you're running through them. You have to have those goals. And we talked about how to set goals in one of our earlier episodes. I think it was like the one for the beginning of 2025. but it's so key to be able to create these long term goals as well as short term goals so that they keep you on the path to success.
And they keep you on that leadership path versus just getting derailed. I don't know where to go. I don't know who to call on next.
Trust and Communication: Building Blocks of Leadership
Cynthia Ficara: So true. A second leadership skill for our high performing sales professionals is building trust because trust, I don't know about you, but I feel like it is the pillar, the foundation.
Like, that's what everything is built on, you know, high performers really need to establish credibility with your customers, as well as your. Co workers your team. And I tell you when you have a leader, you can trust. it is just unbelievable. It's exciting. Don't you think that just builds on motivation and all the other things we just said?
Anneliese Rhodes: Absolutely. I think trust needs to be underscored, underlined, putting in caps. I there is so much to be said about trust and that is something that. true leaders absolutely have. I think with, by a sales point of view, a salesperson point of view, your customers have to trust you and customers aren't just physicians, they're nurses, they're techs, they're office managers.
They're people that when they see you, they're like, Oh. She's got it. She's bringing in a good product. She's trustworthy. She's not just out there for the sale. She really cares about our patients. That's so important as it relates to being a manager or a VP or a CEO Cindy. I don't actually, I can't imagine.
Well, I can, but being led by somebody who I don't trust Really can lead people down the wrong road because when you don't have that trust at that upper level, it's kind of hard to work for somebody that you don't trust, right? So it's the same thing in a relationship. How are you supposed to be in a relationship with someone, you know, personal if you can't trust them?
So I think that trust is so key and I'm so glad you brought that up and you guys, how do you build that? You build that by being honest. You build that by being vulnerable, authentic, true to yourself. have other people in mind at all times. You are there to serve others, not yourself. That will build trust.
Cynthia Ficara: Absolutely. The third one we've already mentioned, so I'm just going to quickly outline it, but I want you to kind of think about these like in order. But the third one is effective communication. I think that's something that we can communicate over and over again. But remember, kind of the art of communication begins with listening.
It is so important to listen first, and that when you listen and then kind of articulate different ideas, it really helps you both establish where you're going. So, another takeaway about communication, body language listening talk is listening. Number one, listening.
Anneliese Rhodes: Well, I struggle with that, Cindy. That
Cynthia Ficara: is really a hard one for me.
to have room for growth. Girl,
Anneliese Rhodes: that and patience, man. I need to work on that thing. Anybody will tell you that. one of the other things that we touched on and, and, you know, is still really important and it brings me back to that example that you mentioned with the rep that just Totally dependent on the manager for everything is decision making you have to be able to make decisions.
And yes Sometimes there are really tough decisions to be made and that's when you look to your mentors That's when you look to people that you trust That are leaders in a company or even outside the company that can say to you. Hey, cindy Hey, lisa, this is how I would look at this situation.
This is what I would do, Take these factors into consideration Nobody is at fault For looking outside of your own self to make a decision. I mean, that's why companies hire third parties sometimes to look at data, analyze it, and then make a decision, the best decision in their minds for the company.
So there's nothing wrong with outsourcing for a decision, but you also got to trust yourself. You got to have that gut instinct of saying this is the right decision, you know, and then you got to be able to back it up.
Cynthia Ficara: that is so awesome. And, you know, those four skills we just mentioned, setting goals, building trust, effective communication and decision making are really key things that we can all work on.
Along with what you mentioned first is a shift, but the last area I think is really key. And the last area to really kind of help develop your leadership is resources that you can seek out for personal growth. It's reading books, you can attend workshops, you can find a mentor actually your company or outside in different groups.
There's so many different things you can do, listen to podcasts, audible. And I think that when you reach out and just extend your own self to betterment. That's where you see a lot of change happen. Oh, that is so good.
Anneliese Rhodes: We did an episode on Lifelong Learning, right? Yes, we did! Yeah, so again, go back and listen to that one.
Man, I swear, we talk about so much good stuff. but you're right. There are so many different ways to be a bigger better resource not just for yourself But for others and there's so many different ways and it's important that we always are continuing to grow I mean, that's why we do this podcast cindy to help others continue to grow to be better to be better High performers.
that's what we're all searching for right? So I think that's super key And so I think today we talked about a lot of stuff. Leadership is such a key quality to being a high performer. I actually don't know if you can be a high performer and not have leadership because it's almost in and of itself,
all of the qualities that we talked about as being a leader are things that make you a high performer. So if you seem to be struggling and maybe just one of these areas, right? Maybe it's just, Hey, really am struggling with building that trust. Well, go back, re listen to the episode again and really understand, look it up, be a resource, go find some books on how to build trust with customers.
there's so many great things out there for you guys to really build yourselves up. And we're just here to help remind you of that everyday excellence and what it takes to really be a high performer.
Cynthia Ficara: And we want you to take our secret today of ownership. So pick one area, one area that you think you could grow today.
One area that could just get you one step closer to either being a better leader that you already are, or stepping into leadership, starting with your own self, your own territory, and then maybe someday a team or greater team or many other levels, because we believe everybody listens to these podcasts is a bit.
And they're able to do anything they set their mind to in their career. So, let's tie it back into our call to action that we mentioned earlier in the beginning of this episode. John C.
Maxwell said, A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. So our call to action is this. Are you what John Maxwell said? And from the beginning of this episode, has your take on leadership changed? If so, how, and what one piece of leadership quality can you take ownership in today to step in to greater leadership for your territory, region and sales career?
Anneliese Rhodes: Imagine if you could tap into your inner potential and lead yourself to greatness. What if mastering self leadership is the key to unlocking your best self?
Cynthia Ficara: Today, we dive into how to become the leader of your own sales career.
