Welcome to Leadership That Sells, the podcast for sales managers and leaders who want to inspire, serve, and unlock the greatness in their teams.
Leading a sales team is one of the most visible and high-pressure roles out there. Your team’s results are on display for everyone to see. But leadership isn’t just about hitting numbers—it’s about selling people on their own potential and helping them thrive.
Join Paul Morton, CEO of Practical Leadership Academy, as he explores how servant leadership and influence can transform the way you lead. With practical insights and real-world stories, you’ll discover how to build trust, drive results, and support your team in one of the most challenging and rewarding leadership roles.
If you’re ready to lead with purpose, inspire action, and create a culture of success, this podcast is for you.
151. Ken Rusk - How to Turn Employee Goals Into Growth
I don’t buy the pretence that a good hire should stay forever. I want them to do good work, build the life they want and help the business move forward. Sometimes that relationship ends with them leaving. That doesn’t wipe out what they contributed.
Ken Rusk returns with a practical way to connect personal ambition to business performance: personal timed pathways. I push him on the dependable people who don’t want promotion, the danger of backing an individual at the expense of the team, and what to change in your one-to-ones when targets are being missed and there’s no extra budget.
In this episode
Here’s what I’d put to work:
Ask what each person is working towards personally. Turn one ambition into a personal timed pathway: a clear outcome, a deadline and an action already under way.
Give people authority over revenue and costs in their area, with a financial stake in the decisions. Let them solve problems you once thought only you could solve.
Give the pathway board an owner. Ken’s chief cool officer keeps it active; after two weeks, check which plans are clear, written down and actually moving.
Separate knowledge, desire and ability when someone isn’t delivering. Don’t let how much you like them replace a difficult performance decision.
Be honest when someone wants more than the business can provide. Recognise what they’ve contributed rather than pretending every successful relationship must last forever.
Episode highlights
[04:11] My test for autonomy: what can your people decide without you?
[07:22] A dependable nine-to-five employee can be a rock star. Promotion isn’t the test.
[09:17] A holiday, a deadline and weekly savings: what a personal timed pathway actually looks like.
[12:39] The first mistake: trying to make everyone’s progress your responsibility.
[22:20] I’ve backed the individual and done the wrong thing for the team.
[24:41] A great employee leaves. Have I failed, or has the relationship worked?
[27:00] Missing target, no extra budget. What changes in next week’s one-to-ones?
Links and resources
kenrusk.com: The website Ken shares for more about his work and books.
@kenruskofficial: Ken’s Instagram account, where he discusses culture.
Rock stars and rain makers: The book behind our conversation about culture, retention and the chief cool officer.
Blue collar cash: The book Ken and I discussed on his previous appearance.https://www.amazon.com/dp/006298960X?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback
Thanks for listening. I’d appreciate a rating and a review; follow the show and share this episode with a founder or MD who’s trying to keep good people without standing in their way.
5 Oct 2026
150. Julien Godbarge - How to Spot Blind Spot Leadership Early
When the numbers are good, a blind spot can look an awful lot like determination. I want to know whether we’re genuinely leading well or just being rewarded for habits that could eventually bite us.
Julien Godbarge gives me a brutally honest example: an acquisition decision that felt decisive at the time but was driven by revenge. I push him on where burnout shows up in the P&L, how to help close deals without making yourself indispensable, and why the first change might be to stop doing something rather than add another initiative.
In this episode
Here’s what I’d put to work:
Decide which deal sizes and stages need executive involvement. Build in peer-to-peer support rather than waiting for a last-minute founder rescue.
After a setback, make time to assess and recover as well as chasing the next quarter. More activity isn’t a substitute for dealing with what happened.
Count the cost of losing and replacing key people, including training. Make that part of the conversation about burnout.
Before taking more risk after a strong run, separate your contribution from the team’s execution and the market’s tailwinds.
Book monthly or quarterly time offsite with your executive team or board to assess and plan. Don’t wait for a crisis to force the pause.
Episode highlights
[04:34] My alternative to the founder rescue act: build executive support into the sales process.
[09:09] Am I moving the business forward, or just avoiding dealing with the setback?
[11:05] I want a P&L answer: what does burnout actually cost?
[14:33] Hitting the numbers can make a blind spot look like relentless execution.
[19:11] The acquisition that felt like decisive leadership. Julien admits it was revenge.
[22:18] An 18-month plan becomes a 90-day supply crisis.
[29:09] Put reflection in the diary: a monthly or quarterly offsite, not another permanent sprint.
Links and resources
10blindspots.com: Julien’s 10 blind spots framework, which I explore with him throughout the conversation.
Crash, burn, and learn, Julien Godbarge: His book drawing on his own experience, with parts of the story fictionalised.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GM1HCKSW?lv=shuf&channelId=510&plpRedirect=mhFallback
Thanks for listening. I’d appreciate a rating and a review. Follow the show and share this episode with a founder or MD who’s always running at full tilt.
28 Sept 2026
149. Csaba Toth - How to Build Teams That Decide Better
I can see what the top biller brings in. What I can’t see so easily is what the rest of the team stops contributing because of their behaviour. That’s the calculation I want before deciding we can’t afford to lose them.
I push Csaba Toth on whether psychological safety tells us anything useful about commercial performance, and why his framework is more than another personality label. We get into the trap of mistaking agreement for commitment, why another workshop may change nothing, and my own mistake of hiring people from different backgrounds who largely thought like me.
In this episode
Here’s what I’d put to work:
Measure psychological safety and motivation before and after leadership development. A well-liked workshop isn’t evidence of better performance.
Assess the top performer’s impact on colleagues, not just the revenue beside their name.
Speak last. Give quieter colleagues room, then check whether they feel safe enough to challenge you and motivated enough to bother.
Look for different ways of thinking when hiring. Different backgrounds don’t automatically give you that.
Ask what motivates each person. Stop assuming everybody wants what you want.
Episode highlights
[02:24] A joint venture that worked on paper, until the CEOs had to work together.
[07:12] My objection to stalled execution: why is the answer always to add something?
[16:32] Before I worry about losing the top biller, what are they already costing the team?
[21:42] I’ll tick the boxes. Why should a personality label change anything?
[27:54] My hiring blind spot: different backgrounds, much the same thinking.
[31:55] I suggest inviting the quiet person in. Csaba explains why that isn’t enough.
[36:47] Am I seeing clearly, or am I just looking down a tunnel?
Links and resources
https://gamechangersbyicq.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/csabatothinterculturaldisc/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/icq.global/
Thanks for listening. I’d appreciate a rating and a review. Follow the show and share this episode with a founder or MD who’s trying to get more from the team they already have.
Inside a recent episode
104. How to lead like a beehive: collaboration, clarity and cycles - with Philip Atkinson
Published 1 Sept 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] If you have three people in a room, you don't have three brains, you have six different conversations going on, which is the best part. If you can take us back a little bit about your inspiration from doing this, what first drew you to be as a meta for a firm leadership? Was there a moment where it just went, ah, just a quick story. And you mentioned some of the study I've done. I was studying work stuff, and then I thought, in my home life, I want to study a home hobby. There's nothing to do with work and I started to become a beekeeper 18 years ago. And it took me a few years to realise it's a fabulous metaphor for a complex organisation and life today. […]
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