What sales leaders can learn from Singapore's 2015 General Election

Campaigning for the 2015 General Election kicked off early this month, with candidates from the incumbent party to opposition parties, seasoned and newly formed, thronging their respective GRCs (Group Representation Constituencies) for political support.

Any successful campaign, and in particular a political one, is driven by a strong sales leadership performance. Politicians who understand the sales element played this card to sell their ideologies for votes. This has presented a prime opportunity for sales leaders to observe and learn.

For those of us in business, here are ten tips we found in successful political or sales leaders as developments unfolded in the lead up to Singapore's 2015 election on 11 September.

Is the leader a role model? Leaders need to walk the talk and demonstrate the qualities that they want to see in their teams. Nothing is more persuasive to a team than seeing the behaviors expected of them in action; so to land the big deals, win constituents votes, or inspire people around a cause, leaders need to model the skills that they want their teams (or party) to possess.

For PAP, it was the Lee Kuan Yew factor. Lee Kuan Yew was seen as an emblem of walking the talk, as it was clear that Singaporeans acknowledge the founding father had walked the talk, leading to the nation's success.

Does the leader build accountability and trust? Our global research has found that the best leaders with the highest performing teams are reliable, honor their word, are transparent, and take responsibility – even when things go wrong. This builds a climate of accountability, which increases trust. Trust improves engagement and motivation, which enhances performance.

Second, they know how to drive accountability through others. They make individuals responsible for their actions, they communicate goals and expectations clearly, they host difficult conversations, and they provide their team with the resources to succeed while letting them know that they won't be ostracised for mistakes or failure.

Does the leader coach proactively? According to Forum's global poll last year, coaching was rated as the single most important tool for driving overall sales performance. The same findings revealed that high performance organisations provide 20% more coaching and training than underperforming companies.

Coaching, when carried out properly, significantly develops skills and rapidly increases motivation, which together gives a strong boost to productivity.

Does the leader delegate to develop new talents? At every election, political parties introduce their young up-comers to contest. It is the role of leaders to delegate responsibilities, but delegating is more than just handing over work. It's an opportunity to develop, nurture young up-comers for their time to drive the campaign or in business to develop an employee into a leader.

Some leaders either throw it over the wall or micro-manage. It's important to avoid both. Use the work to encourage and enhance people's abilities. A good leader shows trust by handing over tasks while applying support and contact when needed.

Lend encouragement, praise and reward success, while increasing levels of responsibility to build confidence and capability. This combination of trust and support will make party members feel accountable for their work, which drives motivation and performance.

Is the leader strategic? Party leaders can excel at being a role model, coach, and motivator, but if they fail to craft a solid strategy and cannot enlist their party members in its execution, all of their other gains are undermined.

That's because the ability to translate the party's manifesto into a community strategy, and then to translate this strategy into clear, actionable directions for each member of the team, is fundamental to achieving a high-performing organisation.

In business, involving salespeople in the creation of the strategy pays dividends, as people support plans and ideas that they've helped to develop.

Does the leader host effective meetings? Regular, high-quality meetings ensure that the party is implementing its party's strategy just as sales organisations rely on pipeline or funnel meetings. But poorly conducted meetings will become the bane of everyone's lives.

They need to have a clear purpose, be structured, include an agenda, set objectives, and manage expectations so people come together to share ideas and success stories, discuss changes in society, and apprise each other's on-ground activities.

This way, issues and concerns can surface at an early stage so the leader can provide quick coaching, assess skills, and identify areas for improvement.

Does the leader build internal and external partnerships? Great party leaders spend time with community members to leverage important relationships and build their party's credibility just as sales leaders spend time with customers.

They also identify key stakeholders and processes within the network to influence them and build rapport, to the benefit of their party.

Does the leader focus upstream? Being able to balance upstream management activities (actions that generate long-term results) against downstream activities (those geared towards getting immediate results) is all part of being a strategically successful party or sales leader.

Strategic leaders understand that while upstream activities such as long-term planning and identifying initiatives may not always make an immediate impact on economic growth, they are critical activities that offer a direct line of sight to financial results.

Can the leader lead through change and uncertainty? Change can cause uncertainty, anxiety, distraction, and isolation, which affects performance. People experiencing such emotions are less likely to take the necessary risks that lead to breakthroughs.

The key is to reframe change. Assess the situation positively, yet realistically, to seek out opportunities and in a way that moves the organisation on from the situation.

Does the leader refine remote management skills? It's likely that part of your team will operate remotely all or some of the time. Be as available to remote staff as much as to local ones.

Having an always-open chat room can help. Members can leave messages for one another, share experiences, and re-enact those 'water cooler' moments. Use tools such as web video, but it's important to bring teams together face-to-face as often as possible.

For the first time since independence, all seats in parliament were contested. With tons of information and news about the general election being uploaded onto the Internet every minute, this year's political contestants have faced more discerning, well-informed, and engaged voters.

It should come as no surprise that leaders who were able to check most, if not all, of the above tips stood a better chance of being able to retain and even swing a remarkable number of votes. Sales leaders, let's watch and learn.