Coaching the Greed Out of New Leaders
There’s nothing like promoting a rockstar employee to leadership… only to watch them morph into a toddler at Toys “R” Us: “More money! More budget! More discounts! More, more, MORE!”
Cue the coaching session where you, the seasoned leader, suddenly realize your protégé has mastered sales but skipped Econ 101: budgets are real, and leaders don’t get to shop with Monopoly money.
The Problem
When a new leader transitions out of sales (or any individual contributor role), they often forget one tiny little detail:
Sales = “I eat what I kill.”
Leadership = “I feed the whole village.”
And yet, many rookie leaders get hung up on comparing their paycheck to the people they now manage. “Why do they make more than me?” they ask, conveniently ignoring:
They’re making 20% more than last year (hi, receipts).
Leadership pay is about building scalable results, not chasing commissions.
Budgets don’t stretch just because your ego does.
The Coaching Moment
Here’s where the rubber meets the road. When a new leader whines about money, you don’t shame them—you coach them out of their scarcity mindset. A few phrases I swear by:
Shift the frame: “Salespeople get paid for personal effort. Leaders get paid for multiplying effort. Which one sounds more powerful to you?”
Reality check: “You’re already in the top 50% nationally for your role. If you owned this business, would you give yourself more right now?”
Crossroads question: “Do you want to maximize short-term commission, or do you want to build long-term wealth, influence, and opportunity?”
Neuroscience Meets Leadership
Here’s the kicker: the brain loves instant gratification (dopamine spikes from quick wins, commissions, and applause). But leadership requires the prefrontal cortex—the grown-up part of your brain—to plan long-term, balance risk, and manage resources.
Greedy new leaders? They’re running on dopamine. Seasoned leaders? They’re playing the long serotonin game of stability, trust, and delayed gratification.
The Takeaway
Coaching greed out of new leaders is about helping them see:
Leadership isn’t about getting more—it’s about creating more.
Budgets are sexy when you treat them like your own money.
If you want to “make more,” grow your people, not your paycheck.
Mic-Drop Closing
So next time your new leader stomps their foot about money, don’t roll your eyes. Hand them the Leader vs. Sales Mindset cheat sheet and ask: “Do you want to rent success month-to-month, or own the building where success happens?”
Because at the end of the day, greed makes lousy leaders. But perspective? That’s where true growth (and yes, bigger paychecks) lives.