Coaching for Success: The Intersection of Sports and Sales Coaching with JR Butler

The Sales Consultant Podcast

JR Butler is the CEO & Founder of the Shift Group and our interview covers a range of topics including the balance between talent and coaching, personal drivers of success, and practical leadership strategies.

It also touches on the transferability of skills from sports to sales and highlights the importance of effective coaching and continuous improvement.

Throughout the conversation, JR's personal anecdotes and insights offer valuable insights for listeners pursuing a successful career in sales or sales management.

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Time Stamps:

[2:10] - JR’s reaction to Bill Belicheck being released from the New England Patriots as their Head Coach (we recorded the same day the news broke).

[3:45] - Is it the Player or is it the Coach? Is it the rep’s individual talent or is it the environmental conditions that manager’s create that makes winning teams? JR gives us his perspective.

[8:10] - JR opens up about what has driven him to be successful. He gets real with us on this one and shares some inspiring stories.

[14:40] - JR explains his quote, “athletes have the right balance of humility and confidence”.

[17:00] - How to avoid complacency.

[19:56] - We discuss how sports is or is not uniquely qualified in its ability to facilitate a transfer of useful skills/attributes to a profession in sales.

[23:30] - Operationalizing an emphasis on “practicing” in a sales environment the way we do in sports.

[27:40] - Why it’s easier for JR to coach teenage hockey players than adult sales professionals.

[32:30] - Having difficult coaching conversations with low performing reps.

[34:00] - Derrick puts JR through a rapidfire challenge where JR has to come up with his best sales analogy based on a variety of hockey concepts.

[39:00] - Why “coachability” is so sought after when at the same time we all know there is a massive opportunity for managers to do more/better coaching with their teams.

43:30] - JR takes us through the inflection point in his life where he decided to go all in on building The Shift Group.

Connect with JR:

JR’s LinkedIn page - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrbutler/

Shift Group website - https://www.shiftgroup.io

Connect with Derrick:

Connect with Derrick on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrickis3linksales/

These interviews are also available on Derrick’s YouTube page - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFfMnGtGWVrzO3BorCimojw