Follow The Leader . . . and discover five traits the great ones share.

What makes a great sales leader? There's no single,remarkable secret. In fact, great sales leaders are many things.Depending on the situation, a great sales leader is atime-management supervisor, a meeting planner, a contestcoordinator, a talent scout, a coach, a trainer and a psychiatrist.All of those roles put together-and executed well-make for a greatleader.

However, there are five key areas in which the best salesleaders excel. Great leaders:

1. Are passionate andenthusiastic. These traits are transferred to the entiresales team. If the leader is negative, everyone else will be pulleddown. How do great leaders maintain a realistically positiveattitude? Great leaders are great readers; they read everythingthey can find about their crafts and industries. They seek outmentors whose wisdom and experience can help them achieve theirgoals, and they encourage their reps to do the same. They surroundthemselves with high-quality people.