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The Foundation: Sales is Still a People’s Game, Even at Scale – Isoken Aigbomian 

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In every leadership role, one fact remains non-negotiable: the way you lead directly determines whether your teams deliver sustainable growth or not, whether your team will thrive or struggle.

Sales is not just about numbers on a dashboard. Strategy, process, and technology all matter, but people make the difference. At scale, your leadership style becomes the multiplier (or limiter) of your team’s performance.

Strategies matter, processes matter, but how you lead will always influence whether those strategies succeed. When I shifted my focus from simply managing results to leading with intent, I noticed a dramatic change in how my sales unit delivered.

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to share my experience with other leaders about what it really takes to drive growth through sales and how managers can build teams that are both productive and resilient.

Here are five leadership principles that transformed how my teams performed:

1. Communicate Vision, Not Just Targets

It’s tempting to throw out numbers and expect people to deliver. But numbers alone don’t inspire.

Before I assign a target, I make sure my team understands the bigger picture: why the target matters, how it connects to the company’s growth, and what role they play in achieving it.

When people see the “why,” the work becomes personal. Hitting a target shifts from being “the company’s win” to “our win.” That shift builds ownership, and with ownership comes motivation.

Practical takeaway: Don’t just say “Here’s your quota.” Show how hitting it helps the whole team and organisation move forward.

2. Master the Art of Active Listening

Salespeople are trained to listen closely to customers. You listen to their words, nonverbal cues and uncover those needs they have not even verbalised: The same applies to leadership.

As a manager, you need to listen with intention: not just to hear concerns, but to spot opportunities. For example, one of my team members once pointed out inefficiencies in how we tracked leads. As soon as they broke down the gap they had detected, I reviewed that particular process, and we ended up redesigning: that course correction saved us from an inefficient system.

When people feel genuinely heard, they become more engaged and more committed.

Practical takeaway: Don’t just wait for your turn to speak. Ask questions, listen deeply, and act on what you learn. Also, encourage your team members to speak out.

3. Balance Accountability with Support

High-performing teams thrive on clarity and ownership, not micromanagement.

As a manager, it’s your job to set clear expectations and then provide the support needed to meet them. This means:

  • Explaining how each person’s role contributes to the bigger goals.

  • Being clear about rewards and consequences.

  • Giving your team a safe channel to share strategies or challenges, and offering guidance when needed.

  • Encouraging autonomy, so people can make decisions and grow.

When accountability and support work together, you create an environment where people take ownership and push themselves to succeed.

👉 Practical takeaway: Hold your team to high standards, but back them with the tools, resources, and trust they need.

4. Build a Culture of Curiosity and Continuous Learning

Sales is constantly changing: new tools, new customer behaviors, evolving customer requirements, new competition. If you keep using yesterday’s strategies, you will lead your team to redundancy.

I train my managers to remain curious, try out new approaches, and learn continuously. For instance, when we adopted a new sales automation tool, I made it a point to test it with the team and show how it could reduce manual work. Within weeks, adoption skyrocketed because curiosity and learning were already part of our culture.

👉 Practical takeaway: Create space for your team to experiment, share lessons, and explore new technology.

5. Lead with Empathy

Empathy in leadership doesn’t mean being “soft.” It means understanding your team’s challenges and guiding them through with clarity and confidence. Your can be firm and empathetic, these two words are not mutually exclusive.

I’ve found that incorporating empathy helps me inspire trust in my team members. And when people trust you, they’ll follow you through tough targets and difficult quarters.

👉 Practical takeaway: Show your team you’re invested in their success, not just their output. That builds the loyalty and collaboration needed for long-term results.

Overcoming Challenges: The Reality of Leadership

No leadership journey is smooth. I’ve faced moments when:

  • Motivation across the team dipped.

  • Targets looked unreachable.

  • Competitors gained an edge.

In those moments, my role wasn’t just to push harder. It was to reframe these setbacks as learning opportunities and build a strategy to overcome these setbacks. I often share my own past mistakes with my team: not to excuse failure, but to show how to bounce back stronger.

Encouraging a growth mindset and focusing on solutions helped us keep momentum even in tough times.

👉 Practical takeaway: Don’t shy away from failures. Use them as teaching moments and opportunities to build resilience in your team.

What Next? Invest in People

If you’re managing a team today, remember this: processes and tools can only take you so far. People deliver the results.

  • Improve your communication skills.

  • Balance firmness with empathy.

  • Practice active listening.

  • Create a culture of continuous learning.

The Bottom Line

Sales success is not just about chasing numbers. It’s about practicing genuine leadership.

That sometimes means making tough calls, even when you’d rather be liked. Many new managers struggle here but real leadership is about making those decisions that will help your team succeed long-term, not just in the moment.

Do your team members see your targets as their goals too? If not, that’s your first leadership challenge to solve.

Isoken Aigbomian is a consummate professional who serves as Regional Sales Manager, Enterprise Network Sales Division at Moniepoint Inc

 

 


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Ugo Onwuaso is an ICT enthusiast. He believes technology should be used for general good. He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Lagos state University. Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

General News

NIMC Disowns Fake NIN Portal

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National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has warned Nigerians to disregard a viral online flyer claiming that a free portal has been opened for the correction of National Identification Number (NIN) data.

NIMC Disowns Fake NIN Portal

In a statement posted on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle, the commission described the flyer as fake and cautioned the public against using any links associated with it.

“The public is hereby advised not to use the above for modifying their NIN data. All modifications should only be done via the official channel,” NIMC stated, directing users to its authorised self-service portal.

The misleading flyer, which has circulated widely on social media, carries the logos of NIMC and the federal government, falsely claiming that authorities had launched a special correction portal in response to a “high level of complain.”

It lists services such as name, gender, and date of birth corrections, and provides links redirecting users to a suspicious “gvly.xyz” domain—an address the commission says is not affiliated with any government platform.

NIMC noted that the flyer has since been marked “FAKE” in red, indicating it is being recirculated as part of efforts to debunk the misinformation.

The Commission reiterated that all NIN data modifications can only be carried out through its official self-service platform, urging Nigerians to remain vigilant and avoid falling victim to online scams.


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Moniepoint Acquires Orda Africa to Transform Africa’s $50Bn Restaurant Sector

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Moniepoint Inc. (“Moniepoint” or the “Company”), Africa’s all-in-one financial ecosystem platform for individuals, businesses and their customers, today announced the acquisition of Orda Africa (“Orda”), a leading cloud-based restaurant management platform operating in Nigeria.

Moniepoint Acquires Orda Africa to Transform Africa's $50bn Restaurant Sector

Moniepoint

Under the terms of this acquisition, Orda will become part of the Moniebook platform, Moniepoint’s all-in-one Point-of-Sale (POS) and business management platform. Since launching its business management tools product in 2025, Moniebook has rapidly become the go-to platform for thousands of African businesses seeking integrated financial and operational tools, seamlessly unifying payments and bookkeeping in one platform.

With Orda, restaurant owners can now gain access to this proven ecosystem that creates unprecedented opportunities to scale operations, optimize performance, and access credit, as well as the extensive reach of Moniepoint which has powered growth for millions of African businesses.

The acquisition comes as Africa’s food service industry experiences unprecedented growth, with the sector valued at $50 billion and Nigeria’s market alone projected to reach $19.31 billion by 2030, growing at 11.73% annually. With Orda’s restaurant-focused capabilities now part of the Moniepoint ecosystem, the platform is well-positioned to capture this opportunity.

Founded in 2015 by Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike, today Moniepoint has grown into one of Nigeria’s leading distributors of financial services as well as a trusted platform for many of the country’s MSMEs especially in the informal sector.

The company has considerably expanded its offerings to include digital payments, business and personal banking, credit, cross-border payments, and business management tools with a customer base exceeding 20 million active businesses and personal banking customers and processes over US$250 billion in digital payments transaction value annually.

Tosin Eniolorunda, Co-Founder and Group CEO of Moniepoint Inc., said: “The food industry isn’t just about feeding people, it’s a major source of jobs and daily survival for many Africans. It highlights how vital the informal sector is, not just for the economy, but for everyday life across the continent.

Data has shown us that Africa’s restaurant sector is one of the continent’s most dynamic economic engines, yet the majority of food businesses still operate with manual processes and fragmented tools. By bringing Orda into Moniepoint, we are giving restaurant owners what they deserve: one simple platform that handles everything from managing their kitchen to growing their business. Our goal remains to create financial happiness for Africans, giving them the tools to reach their full potential and that’s exactly what we’ve built here.”

Founded in 2020, Orda was built to give Africa’s small and independent restaurants the tools they need to run more efficiently, providing a purpose-built software to businesses that had long operated without it.

Guy Futi, CEO of Orda, reassured existing customers: “Orda has found the perfect home in Moniepoint. We have spent years building deep expertise in restaurant operations, but we have always known that to truly transform the industry, we needed to connect that expertise with comprehensive financial infrastructure.

“That’s exactly what this integration delivers. For our customers, we are assuring a smooth transition with no disruption to the platform and retained access to the support you are used to. What changes is your access to opportunities.

“Over the coming weeks, being part of Moniepoint means you’ll have more tools, more reach, and more ways to grow your business than ever before”

Combining their respective strengths, Moniepoint and Orda deliver a purpose-built solution that empowers food businesses at every scale to manage orders, track inventory, pay suppliers, and access working capital, all in one seamless experience.

This move represents a demonstrated commitment to building a dedicated financial infrastructure designed around the unique complexity of Africa’s food economy.

For the millions of food entrepreneurs across the continent, from the everyday buka owner to the high-end restaurateur, this acquisition means less time managing multiple tools or carrying out arduous manual work and more time doing what they do best – feeding Africa.


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Tech Firms Sack over 45,000 so Far in 2026

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More than 45,000 jobs have been cut across the global technology sector in the first few months of 2026, according to data from RationalFX, signalling that the industry is still adjusting after a period of aggressive hiring rather than returning to a full growth phase.

Tech Firms Sack over 45,000 so Far in 2026

“In 2025, automation, artificial intelligence, and sustained cost-discipline measures drove much of the downsizing, with entire departments restructured or eliminated in favour of leaner, AI-assisted workflows. This trend has continued full steam into 2026,” said Alan Cohen, analyst at RationalFX.

According to the report, if the current rate of redundancies is sustained, total layoffs in 2026 could surpass the 245,000 recorded in 2025.

The majority of these layoffs have been concentrated in the United States, with major companies continuing to trim their workforce despite stable core operations.

Amazon has announced approximately 16,000 job cuts this year, while Block has also reduced thousands of roles as it tightens operations and shifts focus towards artificial intelligence.

There are indications that further reductions may follow.

Meta is reportedly considering additional layoffs as it increases investment in AI infrastructure, while PayPal and Klarna are reassessing spending and hiring strategies amid ongoing uncertainty.

Established technology firms are also undergoing restructuring. Dell has reduced its workforce by around 11,000 over the past year as part of a broader reorganisation, while Salesforce has cut approximately 1,000 roles in 2026 while aligning its teams more closely with AI-driven products.

Outside the United States, layoffs have been smaller in scale but more geographically dispersed.

Australia has reported around 2,650 job cuts so far this year, followed by Sweden with roughly 1,923 and Netherlands with about 1,700.

Other markets have also been affected. Israel and India have recorded approximately 1,539 and 1,520 layoffs respectively, with Israel’s startup ecosystem particularly sensitive to tighter funding conditions, while in India, both startups and larger IT firms have reduced headcount as global client spending slows.

In Singapore, around 1,016 layoffs have been reported, reflecting a softer hiring environment across Asia’s major technology hubs, where companies are adopting a more cautious approach amid uneven demand.

Across Europe, job cuts have been comparatively limited but still noticeable.

The United Kingdom has recorded around 1,000 layoffs, while Czech Republic and Germany have seen smaller reductions.

The broader trend suggests that technology companies are shifting towards leaner operations and more defined priorities following years of expansion. Increasing investment in automation and artificial intelligence is also reshaping the types of roles in demand.

For employees, the impact is becoming increasingly visible, with hiring slowing and becoming more selective. While opportunities remain, companies are taking a more measured approach to recruitment compared to the rapid expansion seen in previous years.

 

Further credit… .storyboard18.com

 


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