Mike Garber: Commercial Productivity and Organizational Development

  If you ask ten people what "revenue enablement" means, then you'll most certainly get ten different answers. Usually, it’s some version of "training" or "the deck library." And while that’s not exactly wrong, it is only a small portion of the picture. After years of building this function inside different companies, I keep coming back to the same architecture. It wasn’t because I set out to invent a framework, although I do like how frameworks make things repeatable and scalable, it was because every time I've walked into an enablement mess, the diagnosis was surprisingly similar. In nearly every case at least one of five pillars was missing entirely, and the other four were trying to compensate for it.  So, today, I will share a breakdown of these pillars, what each one actually covers, and what it looks like when it's not there. You’ll notice that “training” is not one of the 5 pillars, and that is because it is woven into each pillar. 1. C...

  There is an epidemic and I think we can all feel it. AI is accelerating the pressure to prove efficiency, and for some orgs, that pressure is getting close to a breaking point. While the use of AI in personal and professional lives is increasing, many organizations are invested in apps and programs that claim to improve productivity, efficiency, and quality…and now they need to have something to show for it. Quality gains have been uneven, and without oversight, it can drop fast. We see the receipts with what a large portion of the population not-so-lovingly call “AI slop”. This is happening on social media, in education, and in corporate, and is usually a byproduct of when people offload far too much to the AI program and don’t retain enough human oversight. Most productivity with AI is treated simply as “more tasks completed”. And while this can be true in output-driven work, in modern commercial teams and knowledge work, this usually means that you’ve simply created more noise...

  We hear about “smart leaders” all the time. They’re good at reading the room, mastering corporate politics, riding cycles in growth or downturns. But what we don’t hear enough about is intelligence—deep strategic thinking, foresight, building teams that last. I believe the workplace has too many leaders who are “smart,” but far too few who are truly intelligent. I want to show you data that backs this up, explain where I think the decline is coming from, and argue why intelligence should be a frontline expectation for leadership. I think the decline in intelligent leadership comes from 2 main places: MBA-ification of leadership, and the almighty shareholder value. Together, these create a mismatch: we reward “what looks smart” (credentials + quick wins) without ensuring “what is intelligent” (sustained growth, team strength, adaptability). MBA Graduates: Strong Credentials, Mixed Outcomes Let me be clear: education matters. I have my master’s degree and value what I learned. My w...

 It’s easy to get swept up in the AI hype cycle. This is especially true if you’re leading a commercial team trying to hit ambitious targets with shrinking budgets and rising expectations. New tools pop up daily, each promising to revolutionize the way you sell, serve, or strategize. And yet, many teams, while busier than ever, are still stuck. That’s not a tech problem. It’s a systems problem. Enhancing Productivity through AI

  Too many commercial teams are stuck in an increasingly frustrating loop where they are always busy but never seem to get better . Some metrics look fine on the surface with activity levels high like emails sent, demos delivered, and meetings held. And yet, despite the outputs, outcomes are suffering with stalled pipelines, lagging onboarding, and lackluster business reviews. Most leaders will add more activities to “get out of the slump”. But many times, the actual problem here is the system in place.  Your commercial and customer-facing teams need an integrated vision and engine for productivity. Not necessarily a reorg or rename, but a designed system for clarity, capacity, and outcomes. And one of the most effective ways I’ve seen this in nearly 20 years of operations and enablement experience is by combining enablement, operations, and strategy into a single productivity engine that drives alignment across every stage of the buyer, seller, and customer journey. The Probl...

  Business is at a crossroads. We are witnessing one of the most transformative revolutions in our lifetimes as we navigate Artificial Intelligence (AI). Commercial teams (sales, customer & partner success, marketing, operations, enablement; etc.) are facing relentless pressure to deliver results during this upheaval, but are still being asked to maintain tight budgets, manage global and regional privacy regulations, and exceed growing customer expectations. AI simultaneously offers great solutions while still introducing new concerns. Currently, most teams are solely relying on Large Language Models (LLMs) like OpenAI's ChatGPT, or xAI's Grok. These LLMs are great, but they are also resource heavy and public. So, if you are using them to their capabilities, they are both very costly and make your company data available to the larger model.  A hybrid model for using AI where we combine lightweight local AI, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and the power of the popular...

  In the first article , we explored why healthy conflict is essential for real growth. Now the question becomes: how do you intentionally create and manage conflict in a way that fuels progress without damaging relationships? Healthy conflict doesn't happen by accident. It requires a thoughtful foundation, clear modeling, commitment to ongoing feedback, and consistent reinforcement at every level of interaction. Set the Foundation: Safety and Expectations First You can't have productive tension without psychological safety. People need to know that disagreement won't cost them respect, reputation, or opportunity. When safety is established, people feel empowered to speak candidly, take risks, and engage with one another’s ideas without fear of personal attack. As a coach or leader, you must: Explicitly invite disagreement: "I expect you to challenge ideas here. It's how we get better." Normalize discomfort: "If this feels a little uncomfortable, that’s a...

  In many teams, coaching conversations, and even friendships, "success" often gets equated with "harmony." There are no raised voices, and certainly no voiced disagreements. But if everyone is always agreeing, is anyone really growing? Without tension, ideas stay shallow. Without friction, assumptions stay unchallenged. Without healthy conflict, there is no growth. The Hidden Danger of "False Harmony" When surface-level agreement becomes the goal, real thinking stops and we start optimizing for comfort instead of the truth. This results in what can be called false harmony. It is an environment where people may nod along outwardly, but inwardly hold back real insights, questions, or concerns. False harmony looks peaceful on the surface, and it leads people to think things are fine. But it breeds very dangerous emotions and habits: Stagnation : New ideas wither before they even form. Groupthink : Consensus becomes more important than correctness. Resentment...

We are already through Q1 and several enablement trends are becoming clear. While none of these are new, it is clear that businesses are more willing to embrace these enhancements in how commercial teams engage with each other and with customers.  1. AI-Powered Coaching at Scale We’ve talked about the use of tools and AI in sales several times in our blogs, but we have only lightly touched on the use of AI in coaching and enablement. Most coaching takes place after the call, like reviewing game tape in order to do better next time. However, advancements in AI are allowing companies to now use live coaching in customer calls and practice. It is hard to scale effective coaching across large teams, especially if the managers either never received coaching themselves, or there are no clear expectations for what is to be coached, when, and how. Recent developments in AI are transforming the way sales teams refine their skills. For example, AI-driven role-play simulations are not only re...

  You cannot escape it, nor should you want to (though you may want to ensure it's ethical). AI is a revolution in how things are done. As GenAI and AI automation tools continue to advance and integrate with other tools, they are not just improving productivity, they are fundamentally transforming how businesses and people operate. Having witnessed the digital assistant revolution firsthand during my time with Nokia and Microsoft (yes, Cortana was ahead of its time), I can confidently say that today’s innovation is staggering. This isn’t just about digital assistants anymore…it’s about augmenting human capabilities like never before. With nearly two decades in sales and enablement, I’ve observed incredible changes over the years. Technologies that once seemed stagnant, like CRMs, have made exceptional leaps. The increasing prevalence of sales automation tools has changed how we develop contacts and business- enabling sales teams to streamline processes and improve results like neve...

  Most of you have seen this article already- Bosses are fed up with remote work for 4 main reasons. The crux of this article, and the assertion made in it, are fundamentally flawed. The problem is not with remote work. The problem is with managers who cannot manage remotely and with workers who cannot work remotely. We need to differentiate between roles that can truly be performed remotely and those that are best suited for in-person or site-based collaboration. Do remote workers get energized during team off-sites? Yes. Does this mean that working in the same space day in and day out is the answer- no. Have we already forgotten the burnout and endless distractions from forced in-office work? During and after the pandemic, we made the mistake of trying to make every role a remote role. It was the future of work! But the truth is, not everything and not everyone can thrive in a remote work environment. We need to look at what can be done remotely and then empower people to do rem...

  I've been fortunate to work with some amazing companies- startups and enterprise. One thing a lot of these organizations have in common is a convoluted tech stack. This is especially true with startup companies where, in the race to exceed growth targets, teams are often given the green light to go and get the "tools they need to get the job done". They usually go out and find the "best tool" for that job, according to online reviews or tech website reviews.  This almost unchecked implementation of different solutions often leads to what I like to call "tool fatigue". This is when, despite having the "best-in-class" tools, teams find themselves overwhelmed and less efficient because they have too many tools to manage. The allure is undeniable, of course. Each tool on its own usually offers superior functionality, cutting-edge features, and the promise of enhanced efficiency. However, when these tools are obtained and deployed in a vacuum, r...

  Sales Coaching is not just a nice-to-have; it is an essential component of any successful sales strategy. Too often, sales teams settle for simply "managing" the sales reps and process and turn their team leaders into "super closers" who come in and push a deal over the finish line. A great sales program should ensure that reps need managers' help less over time. A consistent coaching program is the best way to provide valuable, personalized feedback quickly, develop skills, improve performance, and boost confidence and motivation. Coaching Program Alignment and Metrics An effective coaching program includes revenue/sales leadership, and enablement teams and is aligned with company goals, your sales process and methodology, and a natural cadence of team and 1:1 meetings. Reps and managers/coaches should have clear expectations.  For example, if you want a discovery call to include certain things like a discovery framework, asking for next steps, engaging the p...

  If you ask 20 revenue managers about where enablement lives and how to structure the revenue organization for success, you'll get at least 10 different answers (and if you only got 10 different answers, that may be statistical consensus!). The problem is that all of these answers may be right- and wrong. There is no "one-size-fits-all" approach. Goals, org structures, size, culture, and myriad other variables create countless obstacles to productivity and consensus, and even well-intentioned enablers end up enabling the dysfunction. Too often we look for that silver bullet- too bad it doesn't exist.  Revenue growth and retainment demands a thoughtful and strategic approach aligned with your organizational goals that goes beyond individual or even departmental excellence. These are ideas to start thinking about, but they cannot be answered in a short LinkedIn post- it takes time, review, and in most cases, hands-on auditing. Breaking Down Silos and Creating Harmony A...