The Watercooler Hangout Podcast
Season 4 Episode #13
From the Leader Board to Leadership™ with Rebecca Gebhardt
“I thought, ‘Well, I can work hard. I’ll do that… The majority of sales leaders, to varying degrees, are stressed out, and they’re emotionally exhausted. …I don’t feel like it’s really the work per se. I feel like it’s our focus and our mindset about the work.’” 
– Rebecca Gebhardt
Welcome to the Watercooler Hangout podcast, where I chat with influential and successful sales and marketing gurus, entrepreneurs, and creative people just like you as we share real-life stories about sales, marketing, leadership, and creativity. Listen in and learn the best advice on how to move your business to the next level!
A Bit About Rebecca
Rebecca is a sales and performance coach specializing in independent salespeople and entrepreneurs. She started in door-to-door sales in college. Moving up the ladder to insurance and then recruiting and training, she achieved top-tier success in her field. Today she has 20 years of experience building businesses that have generated over $50 million in revenue. “Retiring” from in 2014, at the age of 33, she felt burned out. Now, her passion is helping others achieve sustainable success. Her new book is Beyond the Board: How To Achieve Your Vision Board Goals in a Fulfilling and Sustainable Way.
Two Experienced Businesspeople Talk Sales
Rebecca and Bob talk about starting in sales and the difficulty involved in working your way up and meeting different people. Rebecca believes that the mindset and focus about the work are what causes sales leaders to feel emotionally exhausted and stressed. Sure, some jobs are demanding, but ultimately, the focus is off. Work hard, play hard leads to burnout. But it isn’t the work itself; we burn out thinking about the work as opposed to doing the work.
Professional Sales in the Era of Pandemic
After talking about various business and sales topics, Bob and Rebecca touch on what it’s been like to try and sell during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rebecca underscores the persistence and positivity of people who work in sales. “Salespeople change reality in their mind to make it win for them,” Rebecca explains. In this way, good salespeople “choose their own reality” to move forward, even in the face of the pandemic. Online communications, brand focus, and “making things work” are all highlights of this driven approach. Among the surprising changes? Better work-life balance because salespeople are no longer expected to come calling in person when they can communicate virtually.
A Value-Add
As Rebecca and Bob conclude, they touch on all the coaching available out there. “Selling’s not bad,” Rebecca comments. Some people don’t like to be perceived as salespeople, but there’s a lot of good this work accomplishes. It also works that anyone can do if they’re determined to accomplish it. “All you have to do is learn and work,” Bob offers.
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