Season 1 | Episode 40: The Future of Sales Leadership in an AI-Driven World
Show Notes:
In this episode of C Suite Secrets, host Heather Parsons sits down with serial entrepreneur, sales strategist, and SaaS founder Charles Bernard for a focused conversation on leadership, revenue growth, and the evolving role of AI in modern businesses.
Charles shares his journey from growing up in the UK to building and leading two interconnected companies in the U.S., a sales consultancy and a SaaS platform designed to improve collaboration across revenue teams. Together, Heather and Charles explore what it takes to manage multiple businesses, why managing up is essential for scaling leaders, and how delegating responsibility rather than tasks can dramatically improve organizational effectiveness.
They dive into how AI is reshaping sales, customer experience, and internal decision making. Charles shares real world examples of AI driving measurable ROI through improved customer satisfaction and operational scalability, while addressing concerns about AI replacing human roles. Instead, he reframes the conversation around the need for leaders and sales professionals to evolve toward deeper subject matter expertise, consultative selling, and buyer centric engagement.
Heather and Charles also unpack leadership under pressure, discussing scarcity versus growth mindsets, the importance of honest communication during uncertainty, and why trust and transparency outperform false optimism. Charles draws on two decades of experience in a peer advisory group, highlighting the value of outside perspective, accountability, and avoiding the echo chamber that often traps founders.
The episode closes with practical guidance for struggling sales teams, including simplifying pipelines, addressing goal fatigue, and removing unnecessary complexity. Charles leaves listeners with a core entrepreneurial lesson: err on the side of action, avoid becoming the bottleneck, and empower your team to lead.
This episode is a must listen for founders, executives, and operators navigating growth, AI adoption, and leadership in an increasingly complex business environment.
To connect with our guest, click on the links below:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesbernard1/
Connect with me:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-parsons-cfo/
https://heatherparsons.com/links
Join the C-Suite Insiders Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/csuiteinsiders
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