Can salespeople lead themselves? Thought self-leadership strategies and their influence on sales performance

Sales leadership has attracted a good deal of research attention during the past thirty years. Prior work, however, has largely taken a dyadic, interpersonal approach where leadership originating at one level (i.e., the sales leader) influences others (i.e., salespeople) thus paying no attention to the intrapersonal level whereby leadership originates within the individual with the purpose to influence oneself. Importantly, the realities of the modern sales position (e.g., self-managing teams, virtual work away from direct supervision) requires attention to other forms of leadership that may stem from and manifest at the individual level – namely, self-leadership strategies. Here we address this gap by focusing on a particular form of self-leadership – that is, thought self-leadership (TSL). We draw on social cognitive and self-regulation theories to ground hypothesis development and investigate the relationship between self-monitoring behaviors, TSL, self-efficacy, organizational-based self-esteem (OBSE), and salesperson performance. Findings from a sample of 301 salespeople in five companies demonstrate positive relationships between self-monitoring behaviors and TSL, TSL and self-efficacy, and self-efficacy and salesperson performance. Moderation analysis shows that TSL will result in higher levels of self-efficacy only when moderate to high levels of OBSE exist. Further, results suggest full mediation of self-efficacy on the relationship between TSL and salesperson performance. Theoretical and managerial implications of the study are discussed.