Football, Sales, and Everything In Between with JD Brookhart

On this episode of the Revenue Builders podcast, John McMahon and John Kaplan talk to veteran football coach JD Brookhart. JD has led an interesting life, working as a coach for the Denver Broncos and several college football teams. He coached the Akron Zips to their first MAC Championship Title in 2005 and brought the team to their first collegiate bowl as a Division One program. Beyond his life in football, JD also earned accolades as a salesperson during his time with Xerox and is now a managing partner at CJ&M Holdings. JD talks about the parallels between coaching football and managing sales teams, particularly in building a team, motivating them, and knowing how to lead them to success. HIGHLIGHTSParallels between sports coaching and sales work You need to know what motivates you and what motivates your teamNobody cares about what you know until they know you care  Team chemistry can be just as important as individual talentAlways work just a little bit harder to find success Leverage your network and believe in the power of who Accountability, Productivity, and Persistence QUOTESJD: "You got to have three rules to hiring. Number one, you got to know how to hire, two, you got to know how to fire, and number three, you got to do number one so you don't have to do number two." JD: "The guys that I've seen that are really good coaches, many times have been walk-arounds trying to prove themselves. Guys that worked up the ranks, that came from smaller schools. Sometimes those guys that have been there, they understand what it takes to be good and the time that we have to put in to be great." JD: "It’s always great to be on a winning team, but we’ve all been in a situation when things aren’t going so well. Whether it be the revenue numbers or the Games in the win column – that’s when real leaders differentiate themselves."JD: "I look back on it, and I don't know of a job that I got by myself. I had somebody helping me or somebody I met along the way, which just changed the course of my life. I've just been fortunate to be around the people I've met through the course of my career." Connect with JD via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jd-brookhart-ba647977/ Hosted by five-time CRO John McMahon and Force Management Co-Founder John Kaplan, the Revenue Builders podcast goes behind the scenes with the sales leaders who have been there, done that, and seen the results.  This show is brought to you by Force Management. We help companies improve sales performance, executing their growth strategy at the point of sale.  Connect with Us: LinkedInYouTubeForce Management