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Stop Leading Sales Like a Football Team — Paul Morton on Practical Leadership That Works

/ 30:02/E42
Today’s guest: Paul Morton, founder of Practical-Leadership.Academy — a straight-talking leadership operator who helps managers become leaders and leaders become visionaries. We get brutally practical about leading parallel teams(like sales), running pipeline meetings people don’t hate, balancing empathy with accountability, and how AI is changing the game for A, B, and… let’s say “learning” players.
🎁 Free Gift from Paul: practical playbooks & tools for high-autonomy teams
👉 https://practical-leadership.academy/gift

🌐 Learn more: Practical-Leadership.Academy
What You’ll Learn
  • Parallel vs. “football” teams: Why most sales orgs aren’t truly interdependent—and why that changes how you lead.
  • Pipeline meetings that don’t suck: The “Win/Learn, Who-Do, Standard-of-the-Week” format you can steal tomorrow.
  • Tight–Loose–Tight: The cleanest accountability framework you’ll ever use.
  • AI & performance: Why AI turns A players into A+… and C players into D.
  • Promotion traps: Why your best seller rarely makes your best sales leader—and who to promote instead.
Timestamps
0:00 Intro — Welcome to Inside Marketing with MarketSurge
1:12 Who is Paul Morton? From revenue leader to Practical Leadership Academy
4:55 Practical leadership vs. theory: what changes in the real world
8:30 “Parallel teams” explained (why sales ≠ football)
13:10 AI’s impact on A/B/C players (and how to use it without spamming the world)
18:42 Why top sellers often make average leaders (and vice versa)
23:05 Pipeline meetings that create learning (not soul drain)
29:18 Balancing empathy & accountability using Tight–Loose–Tight
34:47 Rethinking President’s Club: reward what lifts the whole org
40:25 Action steps you can implement this week
43:10 Where to find Paul + free toolkit
(Adjust timestamps after final edit if needed.)
Guest Links
  • 🎁 Free Power-Up Playbook: https://practical-leadership.academy/gift

  • 🌐 Paul’s site: Practical-Leadership.Academy
  • 🎙️ Podcast: Leadership That Sells (search on your favorite app)
  • 💼 Connect on LinkedIn: (search “Paul Morton Practical Leadership Academy”)
Key Takeaways (Clip-Worthy)
  • “You don’t rise to your goals—you fall to your identity.”
  • “Most ‘sales teams’ are parallel performers. Lead them like that.”
  • “Tight on the why and what, loose on the how, tight on the deadline.”
  • “AI amplifies what’s already there. A players get sharper. C players spam faster.”
  • “President’s Club should reward collective impact, not just top-line output.”
Try This This Week
  • Replace your next pipeline review with:
    1. Significant Win/Loss deep dive (copy the email/subject line)
    2. Who-Do block (Who do you need to do what by when?)
    3. Standard of the Week (one tactic everyone tries; report back)
About Inside Marketing with MarketSurge
We break down what’s actually working in marketing and leadership—minus the fluff. New episodes weekly.
🧠 Want strategy or a live demo?
🎯 Book your 15-minute Value or Free Coffee Call:https://link.marketsurge.io/widget/bookings/15minutevalueorfreecoffee

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Creators and Guests

Reed Hansen
Host
Reed Hansen
Reed Hansen is a seasoned digital marketing executive with a proven track record of driving business growth through innovative strategies. As the Chief Growth Officer at MarketSurge, he focuses on leveraging AI-powered marketing tools to help businesses scale efficiently. Reed's expertise spans from leading startups to Fortune 500 companies, making him a recognized authority in the digital marketing space. His unique ability to combine data-driven insights with creative solutions has been instrumental in achieving remarkable sales growth for his clients. ​
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Stop Leading Sales Like a Football Team — Paul Morton on Practical Leadership That Works

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