Before you rush to coach your team, consider the invisible barrier that often sabotages success: you. Many leaders assume that once they step into a coaching role, the hard work of self-evaluation is over. It isn’t. The best coaches begin by diagnosing their own game—how they respond under stress, mis-step in conversations, and hold themselves accountable. Only after you’ve coached yourself can you truly lead others.

With five workweeks left, Joey Frampus shares his 2026 playbook: fix systems, not symptoms; protect pipeline by prospecting weekly; swap vanity activity counts for quality metrics; build a quarterly reflection habit; and lead yourself before you lead others. He warns against “hope forecasting,” diversifies beyond top accounts, and uses simple win/loss debriefs to turn lessons into leverage. Ready to upgrade your sales system? Butler Street can help.

New logos get the spotlight and renewals get confetti—but the “middle months” of an account often get a quick “you good?” and not much else. That’s where revenue is won or lost. See common mid-cycle blind spots and how to replace ad-hoc touchpoints with a repeatable rhythm that keeps value visible, risk low, and growth compounding. If retention and expansion are priorities for 2025, don’t overlook the middle.