The Sales Leader Of Influence

Where Leadership Under Pressure Becomes Predictable Revenue!

The operating system that prevents forecast variance, margin erosion, and leadership dependency.

Not coaching. Not training. 

Leadership infrastructure you can actually run.

THE NEW SALES LEADERSHIP PARADIGM

Reduce revenue risk by sharpening decisions, execution and influence under pressure and through disruption.

The reliable revenue model

The 3 Core Capabilities

Authority Under Pressure (Positioning) – forecast reliability when the Board is watching

Decision Psychology (Presence) – reading and calibrating resistance before deals stall

Commercial Execution (Precision + Profitability + Prominence) – leadership that scales without you being the hero

If you’re leading a sales organisation today, you already know how to sell.
What’s changed is what leadership is now responsible for.

Deals stall later.
Decisions slow down.
Forecasts feel less reliable – even when activity is high.

This isn’t a motivation problem and it’s not a capability gap.

It’s a leadership execution problem under pressure.

The Sales Leader of Influence™ exists to help leaders:

  • take accountability earlier

  • make decisions that stick

  • make ownership clear so opportunities don’t fall through the cracks

  • stop stepping in late to fix avoidable issues – or not stepping in at all!

  • reduce revenue risk before it shows up in the numbers, or in front of the Board

If any of that resonates, it’s because you’ve already felt the ramifications.

These Patterns Are Costing You

Leaders we work with often discover hidden costs when we measure:

  • Forecast unreliability (The Board can’t plan, strategic initiatives stall)
  • Panic discounting (3-8% margin erosion in the final 2 weeks)
  • Reactive intervention (8-12 hours/week of executive capacity consumed)
  • Unnecessary late-stage escalations (deals stall internally before they reach buyers)

These costs are measurable. Most leaders just haven’t quantified them yet.

Take the Revenue Risk Diagnostic (5 min) to see what these patterns might be costing your organization.

Traditional Sales Leadership vs The Sales Leader of Influence Method™

Old Model:
Activity → Pressure → Control

New Model:
Influence → Precision → Profitability

The Sales Leader of Influence Method™ exists because what used to work is no longer enough under today’s pressure.

It equips leaders to shape behaviour, move decisions, and scale results – without having to carry the load themselves.

THE SALES LEADER OF INFLUENCE METHOD™

The Sales Leader of Influence Method™ combines leadership psychology, intervention discipline, and commercial thinking in one operating system for experienced sales leaders ready for a higher standard and deeper level of leadership.

Sales leader of influence model 7 1

It builds leaders who can:

  • stay grounded when pressure rises

  • be more decisive, before deals stall

  • develop people without doing all the work themselves

  • protect revenue through leadership, not by being the hero.

Leadership becomes predictable when three things work together:

1. How leaders show up under pressure
They influence behaviour, handle resistance, and make decisions without creating drama.

2. How leadership responsibility is structured
Roles, ownership, and expectations are clear so work doesn’t fall through the cracks or escalate late in the game.

3. How results are produced and sustained
Performance becomes repeatable, not dependent on effort, personality, or needing to be rescued.

When these are aligned:

  • teams self-correct

  • deals stop stalling internally

  • forecasts stabilise

  • leaders stop doing everything themselves

Why this exists

Because revenue volatility is no longer a sales problem.
It’s a leadership execution problem under pressure.

EXECUTIVE ENTRY POINTS INTO THE METHOD

Start With The Diagnostic- Identify Your Highest Risk Area

ASSESS YOUR REVENUE PREDICTABILITY

Revenue Predictability (5 minutes)

Identifies which of the 5 leadership dimensions needs attention: Positioning, Presence, Precision, Profitability, Prominence.

Fix Specific Leadership Gaps

1. FIX POSITIONING
(Authority Under Pressure)

Authority Under Pressure

Authority Under Pressure™ is a leadership framework that prevents forecast variance and margin erosion by installing decision consistency that holds when boards are watching, quarters are closing, and scrutiny is highest.

Using The 6 Protective Patterns, The Primary Question, and The Gap Framework, leaders learn to recognize and deliberately disrupt the automatic behaviors (Closer, Hero, Firefighter, Fixer, Pleaser, Protector) that cause authority to collapse under pressure – before those patterns erode pricing integrity, forecast credibility, or team capability.

Ideal for: CROs, VP Sales, and Sales Leaders accountable for forecast reliability, pricing integrity, and decision consistency when pressure rises.

This system forms the Authority Foundation of The Sales Leader of Influence™ Method.

2. FIX PRESENCE
(Decision Psychology Mastery)

Decision Psychology Mastery

Decision Psychology Mastery™ is a diagnostic framework for sales leaders that prevents late-stage deal slippage by reading buyer psychology early – before resistance becomes crisis, before deals stall internally, and before objections surprise you in Week 12.

Using The Human Psychology Map™, The 13 Decision Filters, and The 3-Question BPP Method, leaders develop the capability to diagnose psychological resistance accurately and adapt their approach before deals stall – reducing late-stage escalations and accelerating pipeline velocity.

Ideal for: Sales Leaders, VP Sales, and CROs accountable for pipeline velocity, deal progression, and coaching teams to read and respond to buyer psychology.

This system forms the Diagnostic Intelligence Engine of The Sales Leader of Influence™ Method.

3. FIX PRECISION
(Revenue & Role Clarity)

Role and Revenue Architecture™

The Role and Revenue Architecture™ defines role responsibility, revenue ownership, and pipeline clarity so sales teams move faster, prevent execution gaps, and deliver consistent commercial outcomes.

By creating alignment across roles, functions, and decision points, it improves forecast accuracy and revenue predictability.

Ideal for: CROs, VP Sales, and CEOs accountable for role clarity, pipeline integrity, forecast reliability, and revenue ownership.

This system forms the Clarity & Precision Engine of The Sales Leader of Influence™ Method.

4. FIX PROFITABILITY (Leadership Intervention)

Coaching As A Leadership Discipline™

Coaching As A Leadership Discipline™ reframes coaching from an ad-hoc activity into a repeatable leadership standard embedded within the sales organisation.

Using proprietary frameworks such as R.E.W.I.R.E. and the Q4 Quadrant, leaders replace reactive firefighting with early diagnosis and decisive intervention, advancing deals through clarity rather than pressure.

Ideal for: VP Sales and Sales Leaders accountable for shifting behaviour and execution – not just managing outcomes.

This system forms the Intervention Discipline Engine of The Sales Leader of Influence™ Method.

5. FIX PROMINENCE (Executive Influence)​

Executive Influence System

The Executive Influence System™ transforms invisible expertise into market authority by installing the frameworks, stories, and positioning infrastructure that differentiate leaders from competent operators in their market.

Using Authority Architecture, The 3-Story Portfolio (Origin, Client Success, Vision), and Framework Creation (Progression, Tension, Integration models), leaders build the thought leadership positioning that attracts top talent, commands premium compensation, and creates board-level influence.

Ideal for: Sales Leaders, CROs, and Commercial Executives ready to position as market authorities, influence boards strategically, and attract top-tier talent.

This system forms the Market Authority Engine of The Sales Leader of Influence™ Method.

Ready For Complete Transformation?

FULL SYSTEM INTEGRATION (All 5 Dimensions)

The Intensive

The Intensive is a 12-week, system-level integration for sales leaders who have outgrown surface tactics and need the full Sales Leader of Influence Method™ embedded across all 5 dimensions: Positioning, Presence, Precision, Profitability, Prominence.

Participants install the complete operating system—not piecemeal fixes—so leadership capability sticks, scales, and becomes the new standard.

Ideal for: Sales leaders and commercial executives accountable for revenue reliability, decision quality, and sustained influence—not just a short-term performance fix.

This is full-system integration across all capabilities of The Sales Leader of Influence™ Method.

For Sales Teams

For Commercial Teams Facing Complex Buyers

Selling to Decision Makers™

Selling to Decision Makers™ is a leadership and sales framework that replaces bottom-up selling with top-down, commercially led conversations that accelerate decision-making and deal progression.

Using StorySelling™ and the AI-Powered Market Validation Framework™, sales leaders equip their teams to engage senior decision-makers with clarity, relevance, and commercial confidence – reducing time to value and increasing deal quality.

Ideal for: Senior sales leaders and enterprise teams seeking consistent access, influence, and credibility at executive decision-maker level.

This system acts as the Execution Intensifier within The Sales Leader of Influence™ Method.

Stay Connected

The Sales Leader of Influence SHOW

The Sales Leader of Influence SHOW™ is a weekly leadership briefing for commercial leaders navigating uncertainty, complexity, and execution pressure.

Each episode sharpens how leaders think, decide, and influence—prioritising precision over volume and conversations that move both people and pipeline.

Ideal for: Senior sales leaders, CEOs, and commercial decision-makers seeking clearer thinking and stronger leadership conversations.

[Watch on YouTube]

[Listen on Spotify]

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What Happens When Leadership Discipline Is Embedded

“Bernadette helped identify where leadership behaviour was impacting execution. She brought clarity to how decisions were made, how people were held accountable, and where responsibility needed to sit. The impact was felt in leadership conversations and how the business moved forward.”
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David Tagg
SALES LEADER, CROWN POSTURE
"Bernadette you were AWESOME!! You kept our leadership team engaged and focused on what mattered. I applied the 4Ts framework immediately, which elevated the quality of our customer conversations. It shifted us away from generic sales dialogue toward commercially relevant discussions."
Damon
Damon Lembi
CEO, LEARNIT
“The Mastering Influence frameworks gave us a clearer commercial narrative. We applied them directly to an international approach and saw lead generating opportunities increase from an average of 50 to over 200 senior leaders.”
Jeff naylor
Jeff Naylor
CEO, SIRF ROUNDTABLES ANZ
“The greatest benefit was the clarity it gave us as a leadership team - how to train new salespeople, set expectations, and hold performance standards consistently. The system removed ambiguity and improved execution from onboarding onward.”
Sales leader of influence sam rowse 2025
Sam Rowse
CEO, MACHSHIP
“The frameworks clarified how leadership decisions translated into execution. It strengthened our ability to align strategy with action and move forward with confidence as a leadership team. To anyone considering working with Bernadette and may be hesitant – Dive in!
Darren paone crown posture mattress sales leader of influence sales leadership academy bernadette mcclelland 2025
Darren Paone
MARKETING MANAGER, CROWN
"Bernadette’s work with our sales leaders strengthened our leadership framework and improved alignment toward shared commercial goals. It had a direct impact on how decisions were made and executed across the organisation."
Tina economou
Tina Economou
CHIEF SALES & MARKETING OFFICER, RICOH ANZ

Architect of The SLI Method™ ~ Bernadette McClelland

Berrnadette mcclelland keynote speaker sales leadership influence identity impact 2025

Global Keynote Speaker | Creator of Deliberate Disruption™ and  Architect f The Sales Leader Of Influence Method™

  • 20+ years in commercial sales leadership

  • Former Tony Robbins Master Coach (APAC)

  • Mentor to Harvard MBA students and executives worldwide

  • Recognised by the U.S. Government as Top 1% of Global Sales Leaders

  • Mentor to the incarcerated in Colorado’s State Penitentiaries

  • Proven record coaching leaders from burnout to Board roles, pipeline chaos to forecast precision, and under-acknowledgment to executive influence

This isn’t just theory.

This system is designed to be installed, adopted, and scaled inside sales-led organisations.

The Sales Leadership Academy is for experienced sales leaders and CEOs who already know how to sell and want to lead people, decisions and revenue with influence and authority.

Every framework referenced on this site is fully defined and expanded inside the Sales Leadership Academy’s private glossary and schema system.