Dear CEO, is your relationship with your sales team a healthy or unhealthy dependency?
“I just don’t get it,” lamented a business owner and CEO. “I deliberately hired a trained, ready-to-sell sales people. Further, I already have my sales operations in place and they follow it. To a point. The point where they are required to go meet the prospect. Suddenly, I’m being pulled in all directions with requests to take them. At first, I was happy to go. I felt I was growing my team while staying connected to the business. But now, it’s become a habit—an irritating, worrying habit.
“We sell software for architects. I’m a trained architect myself, although I don’t practice. I’ve even shared my database of contacts with the team. But still, they insist I attend client meetings. Why? I don’t get it. I have my job. What do I have them for?”
The problem with an unhealthy dependency
If you can relate to this CEO, yours is an unhealthy dependency, and it needs to be diagnosed and treated. Because let’s be honest: You are not the CEO in this scenario—you are the sales back-up.
They are selling you instead of the product. Your presence is their “power move.” They lean on your authority to lend them credibility. And in the process, they never grow their sales muscle (in fact it atrophies), undermine your sales structure, and the very idea of scalable growth. This might feel flattering at first—after all, you’re the closer, the one who gives clients the final push.
But that flattery hides a silent threat: with the captain looking inwards your company will sink in high seas or hit an iceberg. You’re not building salespeople. You’re building dependents. That power move is slowly weakening your team.
Further, if your customers have been conditioned to wait for “the big boss” to show up before making decisions, it’s not just the sales team that has a problem—your business model does too. Your company is too personality-dependent. And you’re the personality. When you remove yourself from the equation, does the sale still happen? If not, you haven’t built a sales machine. You’ve built a fan club.
What’s behind this CEO dependency?
So, where does this overreliance come from? It often starts subtly. What seems like a hands-on, supportive leadership style slowly morphs into a bottleneck. At first, your involvement might feel necessary—or even strategic. But over time, what was meant to empower begins to enable. And when that tipping point is crossed, dependency sets in.
This is the turning point many CEOs and business owners experience: the realization that their team isn’t growing in confidence, just in expectation—that the dependency isn’t temporary, but structural. The root of this dependency can usually be traced back to how the team was onboarded, how leadership demonstrated or set an example of how sales should be done through their own actions, and how success was reinforced.
Without realizing it, many CEOs teach their teams that the best way to close is to bring in “the boss”.
Onboarding and leadership by example
So, what’s a CEO to do?
The onboarding process and incubation period of your sales force matters. I have my reservations about “buying ready-made” sales people. That aside though, if you are starting out in business, in the set-up period, like Paul Kinuthia, you tend to be the business owner and salesperson-in-chief. After all, entrepreneurship does not exempt one from salesmanship. The challenge comes when some CEOs—particularly business owners, former salespeople-turned-CEOs, or superstar CEOs—don’t outgrow this role or struggle to let go.
The “Superstar CEO” is often remembered for fast growth—and for how the business crumbled after their exit. Full of charisma and self-belief, they thrive in the limelight. And salespeople, naturally inclined to take the path of least resistance, are happy to ride their wave. In other words, use you.
As for business owners, driven by perfectionism and impatience, they often fail to invest time in nurturing a sales team. Believing no one can sell quite like them, they hover, micromanage, and step in unnecessarily. This fosters dependency, not growth. As CEO, you create a culture where your presence—whether with staff or customers—means things get done fast. But at what cost?
Whatever the root cause, the effect is the same: a CEO doing what a sales rep was hired to do. The result? Confidence in your sales team erodes and initiative dies. You become a crutch they never grow out of.
The shift: from back-up to builder
Start weaning yourself off the unhealthy dependency. That’s exactly what one software business owner did. She explains:
“First, I made it clear the dependency had to end, and laid out both the plan and timeline to make it happen. Then I stuck to it.
“I coached without closing, even when the opportunity to jump in was obvious. I shadowed my sales team in meetings, but only to observe and coach—not to take over. The team led; I reviewed with them after. That’s how I built muscle, not dependence.”
Start with a step-down plan. If you’ve been heavily involved in sales, ease out gradually. Shift from lead, to support, to behind-the-scenes mentor. And be prepared to let go of those who don’t grow into this new, healthier dynamic. I typically recommend a 90 to 180-day period.
What should you expect?
Admittedly, not all of them will develop an executive presence to speak confidently with decision-makers at all levels. In fact, a paltry few will. But that’s not your measure of success. No. In any case, the normal distribution curve will kick-in. The idea is that at the end of the weaning period the team is eating solid foods, albeit with varying degrees of difficulty. And that those still clinging on to pap, you part ways with. That way you evolve to a culture of healthy dependency.
What healthy dependency looks like?
In a state of healthy dependency, you accompany a salesperson because you want to motivate them, it’s a coaching opportunity, or because, from their sales reports, it’s a strategic move-the sale has reached a level of complexity or value that warrants executive involvement.
You’re no longer needed in the room. You’re invited—for specific reasons. That’s leadership. That’s scalability. And that’s a healthy dependency.
If yours Is a more mature business, then it’s time to audit your hiring and onboarding practices. Are you recruiting people—starting with your sales manager—who can lead conversations or only follow yours? Adjust your criteria accordingly.
It’s not easy evolving from an unhealthy to a healthy dependency; it’s not easy but it’s necessary.
Unhealthy dependency. Who Is Selling—you or your team?
If your sales success depends on your presence, you don’t have a sales team—you have an entourage. It is not sustainable.
And that’s not leadership; that’s a liability. So, as you move from an unhealthy to a healthy dependency, every time your sales team asks you to attend a meeting, ask yourself this: “Is this a growth opportunity for them, or a safety net?” And then decide whether to show up… or coach from behind.
If your title is CEO but your calendar reads like a junior salesperson’s, it’s time to reset. Build a team that closes sales without you. That’s the real mark of leadership. And the real definition of healthy dependency.
Check out our short courses and other services here. If you would like to have your sales team sell more, we can help. In order for us to do so we propose a free consultation meeting or a call. If in agreement please complete the form below and we will get in touch after receiving your details, none of which will be public. Thank you.
Views – 6