Are you caving to those Millennials who keep pestering you for their next career move? Do you fear you might lose your talent because of their uber impatience?

Many sales organizations are embracing the impatience of today’s What’s Next Generation (AKA Millennials), creating additional job functions. New junior and senior job titles have been created to ensure regular career progression. These make the talent happy because they guarantee a shorter time spent in one role with strong promise to move to the next level in their department or a new role within three to six months.

But wait – are they really ready? And what happens when they are suddenly ready to take the management leap and have their eyes on YOUR JOB?

When you are trying to figure out who to promote, remember: “Best Salesperson” doesn’t always equal “Best Manager.” The qualities you might have in a rock star salesperson are completely different than the ones you need to rock a management role.

I believe a good manager must first be a good coach. In my book Smart Sales Manager, I outline these Ten Qualities of a Compassionate Coach:

1. Be a good listener. Use the same active listening skills that make you a good salesperson. Give the rep your full attention, and listen without interrupting. Be empathetic and compassionate, and don’t get defensive.

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My calendar is filling up this holiday month — cocktail parties, happy hours, art openings, out-of-town friends, and even baking dates. During the holidays, we become super-sized taskmasters — we plan, we shop, we party, we watch, we eat, we share  . . . Oops, did I forget something?

Oh yeah, we sell. When we can find the time.

Watch out for these Top Holiday Distractions — don’t let the holiday unproductivity bug catch you!

1. Online Shopping: With all those online deals popping up, shopping is a becoming a prime holiday activity that saps work productivity. Over half of American workers (54%) planned to shop online from the office going in last week’s Cyber Monday deals.

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Most inside sales organizations are structured with multiple and diverse teams — lead generation, sales development, renewals, inside sales, team leads, etc. Many are regionally aligned or product-specific.

All these segmented teams are ripe and ready for competition, especially since today’s Millennials really want to know where they stand, crave regular feedback, thrive on team spirit, and love to engage and #win in healthy competition. Managers who come up with creative ideas for contests, spiffs, and blitzing often find their Millennial team members jumping at the chance to compete, providing a little extra spark to their prospecting and outreach efforts.

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Ahh, infographics. This month, we’ve added some holiday-themed graphics to the mix, just like we did last year. What can we say, we love tradition!

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