“If you told my 20-year-old self that he would one day become a sales leader, he would have laughed heartily. It’s because back then, I was pursuing an engineering degree. For three years, I worked as an engineer, building commercial structures, and dreaming of becoming a highly successful project manager. But life, as it often does, had other plans.
Fourteen years later, after a decade in sales, I found myself on my first day as a Sales leader—a role I had prepared for over two years. I was excited but quickly realised that the reality was tougher than I imagined. I spent most of my time solving my team’s problems, thinking it would build trust. But the more problems I solved, the more they surfaced. I was trapped in a cycle of co-dependency—my team leaned on me for solutions, and I relied on them to validate my leadership.
Fortunately, I had a mentor who helped me face the reality of my situation. He helped me see that by constantly solving my team’s problems, I was stifling their resourcefulness. I needed to foster an environment where success was not just an objective, but a natural outcome.
In the next few years, I naturally gravitated towards what became my passion and expertise – enabling leaders to create an environment of success. So, in 2015, I left my corporate role to become a full-time facilitator, mentor & coach, with a simple motto – ‘Not everyone has the fortune of having a good mentor, especially one who has gone through their struggles. I’m here to help all those sales leaders who feel like they’re thrown to the wolves, & their teams to become exceptional.’
It’s been 9 years since, and a lot more has happened – I left corporate, published 700+ episodes of The Exceptional Sales Leader Podcast, and most importantly, trained over 5000 people, including sales leaders, to foster an environment that breeds sustainable success.
From wanting to be an architect who ended up pursuing Engineering, to a coach, I’ve come a long way. It isn’t what I expected, but looking back, I wouldn’t have it any other way“ Darren Mitchell
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