For a long time, I was the leader who looked on fire from the outside…
But inside? I was burning out.
And I learned the hard way: Your team mirrors your energy.
If you’re anxious and disconnected, they will be too.
That’s when I knew something had to change.
It sounds crazy: But I started doing breathwork in team meetings, talked openly about burnout, and started actually connecting with my sellers and myself.
So today, I’m walking through the 3 biggest changes I made during this period:
- My 6-Part Team Meeting Framework
- Split Your 1:1s Into Strategic vs Tactical
- Turn Your Reps Into Black Belt Leaders
Let’s get into it.
1: My 6-Part Team Meeting Framework
I used to run team meetings like a machine.
Scoreboards. Metrics. Deal breakdowns. Rinse. Repeat.
And it got results. Initially.
But over time, I noticed energy dropping. Engagement slipping. Burnout rising.
I realized my team wasn’t mentally there with me.
The weekend hangover. The intermittent Slack checking. The fact that I was the one doing all the talking, not them.
So I created this 6-part team meeting structure to make sure they were actually present and get them running the meeting.
- 2 Minute Presence: Start with box breathing (4 seconds in, 4 seconds hold, 4 seconds out, 4 seconds hold) and a quick gratitude share. Take two minutes to bring people into the present moment and shake off their last meeting.
- Shoutouts: Let reps share wins (personal + professional). Closed deals, great emails, new babies, engagements. All fair game.
- Revenue Goals: Always show the team goal, progress to date, and individual tracking. Transparency fuels ownership from the team goal to how they support it.
- Focus Metric: Pick one metric and stick with it. Calls made. Meetings booked. Pipeline generated. Reps need consistency - not a new flavor of the week.
- “Black Belt” Updates: Assign a “black belt” to report out on product, marketing, or enablement so they feel broader ownership in the business (more on this in section 3.)
- Skill Uplevel: Have one rep teach a tactic. Could be a discovery question, a new pitch, or a cold email strategy.
Your job is to develop leaders, not just manage activity.
2: Split Your 1:1s Into Strategic vs Tactical
Most 1:1s start with:
- “Cool, what do you want to talk about today?”
- Or immediately jump into a pipeline review without ever checking in on the person
You can’t mix a twenty deal pipeline review 1:1 with your professional development 1:1.
For that reason, I started running two separate 1:1s per week with each rep:
The Strategic 1:1 is where you go big picture with the rep:
- People: How are you doing? Energy level? Motivation? Vision?
This is where burnout reveals itself. You don’t need to fix them - just see them. You should always know what’s going on with your reps. It’s also helpful to be vulnerable with your team, as it gets them to open up. - Pipeline Strategy: Not next steps - actual strategy. Are we breaking into big accounts? What’s working in prospecting? Let’s listen to cold calls, tweak messaging, look at account plans. Your north star is 3x quota, and this is where you build the path to get there.
- Big Bets: Focus on the 1–3 deals that will change the game. How big is the problem? Who are we multithreading with? Where are the risks? This is also a chance to coach reps on cross-functional projects like mentoring or marketing work.
The Forecast and Pipeline 1:1 is where you get tactical with the rep:
Line-by-line in Salesforce:
- Where is the deal now?
- What stage do we need to clear next?
- What’s the next step to clear that stage?
Don’t try to mix deal by deal updates with big-picture strategy work.
3. Turn Your Reps Into Black Belt Leaders
If you want your team to grow, start letting them lead on your behalf.
Some reps are only satisfied with carrying a bag.
But others want to have a bigger role in the business.
You can’t handle it all, so nominate Black Belts to be liaisons with cross-functional leaders:
- Product: They meet with Product Managers to get intel on where the product is heading and what features are coming next.
- Competitive Intel: This rep tracks the competitive landscape. New fundings, layoffs, acquisitions, those insights are brought back to the team so we know where we stand on competitive deals.
- Marketing & Events: This rep keeps the team in the loop on upcoming trade shows and new marketing plays, so we can align outreach with campaign momentum.
- Enablement: This rep supports new hire ramp and partners with Enablement to surface upcoming trainings and provide feedback on what’s most impactful.
Now I can trust that sales eyes are all over the organization and they can spend so much more time becoming domain experts in each area vs me being spread across all four.
Stop making them feel like they work for you.
Start making them feel like they’re building the team with you.
That's A Wrap!
That’s a wrap folks!
If you liked this: I started Alluviance to help sellers and leaders win with purpose, presence, and performance.
If you’re interested in leadership immersions, team coaching, or speaking engagements – come and talk to us here.
