I've had the good fortune of employing some incredible salespeople over the years. They were so adept at managing client relationships that I just assumed they would be great team managers, too.

It’s easy for an entrepreneur or a CEO to feel like a leader when things are going well, but the challenge is to keep that confidence and drive in the face of economic downturns, business turnarounds, and stressful personnel situations. Working twenty hours a day, losing your cool, and falling back to a no-risk strategy are not conducive to long-term success.

Do you meet personally with everyone on your team roster to take stock of who directly reports to you? Do you have a regularly scheduled time to connect with each person? While being available for your team at a moment's notice and conducting frequent impromptu one-on-ones with them can be valuable, there's a lot to be gained from a properly executed and well planned session.