Welcome to Adapter’s Advantage: Breakthrough Moments that Lead to Success. In this episode, sales leader Colleen Stanley, one of the top sales influencers of the 21st century, describes her transformation from “bull in the china shop” to passionate advocate for soft skills training.

Soft skills set many of the best salespeople apart from their peers, yet most companies don’t vet for them and get clobbered when new hires don’t succeed. In an era of constant change, companies that integrate emotional intelligence into their sales and leadership training programs drive sustainable revenue. Learn from one of the foremost sales trainers how to have critical conversations and coach to improve EQ—personally and professionally.

Episode 3. Integrating Emotional Intelligence Into Sales | Colleen Stanley

Listen and subscribe today: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | TuneIn

“What I’ve learned over the years is that it’s the soft skills that help you with the execution of the hard skills.” — Colleen Stanley

About Colleen Stanley

Colleen Stanley is the president and founder of Sales Leadership Inc., a sales force development firm specializing in emotional intelligence, sales and sales leadership training. She’s the author of two books, Emotional Intelligence for Sales Success, now published in six languages, and Emotional Intelligence for Sales Leadership. Salesforce named Colleen one of the top sales influencers of the 21st century and she’s also been named one of the Top 30 Global Sales Gurus to follow.

From This Episode

Host Mark Magnacca: “What drives you when you think about emotional intelligence?”

Colleen Stanley: “There’s a favorite quote I have from the late Maya Angelou: ‘When you know better, you do better.’ I was really lucky that I didn’t get fired, because I was the bull in the china shop. I have stayed in touch with some of my very good early mentors and Kline Boyd is such a person. I said, ‘I can’t believe you guys sometimes put up with my behavior.” He said, ‘Colleen, we always knew your intentions were good. Your methodology was a little ….’

So part of my drive is I want people to learn these skills. Yes, I’ve had a lot of success, but I was pushing. I didn’t know how to have the crucial conversations. I lacked emotion management. I could escalate from 0 to 100 and you can get a lot done that way. It’s just that there’s a better way. I’m very passionate about teaching that better way. And perhaps they don’t have to get the bruise on my forehead that I had to put some ice on several times.”

About Adapter’s Advantage

Our podcast features leaders from sales, training, and industry who share their personal journeys of transformation and how they are adapting to an ever-changing environment. As your host, I introduce you to some of the most interesting and inspiring people I’ve met over the last twenty years.

Our conversions dive into the ups and downs of their journey. We focus on inflection points—the aha moments that, in retrospect, had a critical impact on their success. These interviews will leave you with practical, real-world advice that you can apply to your life.

Our world is in constant change. The podcast helps sales training, enablement, or learning and development professionals gain valuable insights to help themselves and their organizations adapt to this time of tremendous upheaval.

Subscribe Today

Don’t miss an episode! Listen and subscribe today: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | TuneIn