9. Hunters and Unicorns – 202020 Mastery Mission – Florian Baeuml

Welcome to Hunters and Unicorns, 202020 Mastery Mission. 

20 topics, 20 guests for 20 minutes. 

We’re here to unlock tribal wisdom from tech sales legends to help you get one step closer to mastery. 

Today we are joined by Florian Baeuml, VP EMEA South at Zscaler, the market leader in cloud-native network security. 

In episode 9, Florian talks on the key Playbook theme of Coachability and the fundamental importance of developing and inspiring this character trait throughout his career.  

As someone who was reluctant to accept advice in the early days of his career, Florian reflects on the negative consequences of having a “coachability blind spot” and explains how his transition of focus from relationships and emotion to improving business outcomes enabled him to accept guidance from his leaders and align with both personal and professional goals. 

“Why is he spending so much time with me on that? Why is he giving such specific topics and guidance to me? Is it because he wants to bully me? Or is he actually interested in the positive outcome that could be achieved?” When I stepped back and kept my emotions out, I thought, “Maybe it’s the second thing.” 

Offering our listeners advice on how to cultivate a coachability mindset, Florian discusses the science behind making new behaviours automatic and highlights the potential in all of us to reach new levels of success through self-reflection and a willingness to learn. 

Sharing key insights and experiences from his own career, Florian shares his thoughts on leadership and explains how to create the right environment for feedback to drive positive outcomes and inspire and motivate your team. 

Listen to our story session to discover more on how to apply Florian’s strategies to real business scenarios and learn tactics, tips, and best practices for changing employee behaviour, overcoming challenging situations and reinforcing coachability from the top down.