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Dear Quota Team

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I recently moved from an individual contributor into a sales manager role. I've always wanted to be a leader that helps people develop themselves professionally. I have a team of 12 reps under me. I'm a voracious reader, so I've started a "book club" for my team where I send the entire team a book every other month that can help them develop — usually a book about sales, business, negotiation, or psychology. I try to (casually) talk about the books with my team during one on one conversations, usually at the end of a meeting or when I’m passing them in the hallway, but no one seems to be reading the books. I don't want to force them to do anything they don't want to do, but I want to help them develop. What can I do?

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Helpful in Michigan 

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Dear Helpful,

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Wanting to help develop your team is a great leadership trait, but you might be taking the wrong approach. Just because YOU like reading self-improvement books, doesn't mean your team does. If you keep pushing them to do what is essentially homework unrelated to their job, they'll grow to resent you. Take a step back on the books. Maybe make it a standing offer that you'll buy any rep on your team any book they want if they ask you, but don't force it on them. Talk to your team and find out what they would want in terms of professional development. Maybe they want certifications, maybe they want in-person sales training, but in order to find out, you need to ask. Good luck!