WELCOME TO MY BOOK!
About The Book
Look Out!
Lucifer Leaders shines a light on a certain type of sales person who has the ability to derail an entire organization by inciting others on the sales team to engage in illicit activity. They are typically recruited because of their highly competitive and charismatic traits, but beware, these traits are tell-tale signs. Once employed, they seek out and corrupt the insecure and exploit their desire to be part of the inner circle at the expense of the organization.
Incredible Real-Life Stories
As they say, truth is stranger than fiction. Throughout the book you will read real workplace horror stories that provides the reader with insight into the behaviors of these Lucifer Leaders. The names and places have been changed to protect the innocent! Each story provides tell-tale clues to give you an idea of what to look for.
Lessons Learned
Each chapter ends with a Lucifer Lesson where the reader is provided with tips and guidance on what to do to help mitigate the risks when a Lucifer Leader lurks in the background. There are lessons for recruiters, hiring managers and trainers and business owners.
What people say about the book
Karen A. Connolly, Aramark, Regional Sales Trainer, Uniform Services
"As I read “Lucifer Leaders” I recalled many a training session with one or more “Lucifer” participants. I have over 20 years of Sales Training experience and have had one if not more “Lucifer’s” in my training sessions. Kathy Koultourides book provided me with the types of “Lucifer’s” but more importantly how much those participant’s deviant behaviors cost an organization. The breakdown of hidden cost was astounding and eye opening for me. This book has helped me identify the behaviors of each “Lucifer”, and the confidence to provide feedback early in the onboarding process to their Managers. I highly recommend this book to anyone who hires or manages a sales team. For those in the Training and Development field “Lucifer Leaders” is a must read book!"
Tony Petrucci, Academic Director of Leadership and Development, Temple University
"Kathy is the best at understanding the psychology of sales professionals and knows how to identify great sales professionals and provide world class sales training. This book provides invaluable tips in these areas. What I love is Kathy is a great story teller, and not only is the book filled with knowledge, but the book is very funny and entertaining. Anyone who has worked with sales professionals, and specifically been a part of sales training classes, will be entertained from start to finish while obtaining great practical tips on hiring and training sales professionals!"
Cassandra Yates, Chief Talent Officer, Performics US and Publicis Media Mexico
"As an HR professional I will be recommending this book to my colleagues and senior leadership! The real-life examples told in detail paint a clear picture of these Lucifer Leaders, and with wit and humor! Kathy’s knowledge and experience shine through in educating the reader on how to evaluate, be on the lookout for, and deal with this breed of leader! I chuckled when Kathy explained how onboarding new employees gives such great insight and she and her team became so good at predicting success. In the early part of my career when conducting new hire orientation, I began to be able to pick the bad apples out in the first hour and eventually made it a game for myself with each new group week after week as to how long some of them would make it and became pretty accurate with my timing predictions. A great relatable and insightful read!"
Amy C. Waninger, Founder & CEO of Lead at Any Level LLC and Author of Network Beyond Bias
"If it is true that culture is based on whatever behaviors your organization will tolerate, Lucifer Leadership brings this point into clear focus. Scandal after scandal, Kathy Koultourides zooms in on sales people and sales leaders who have gone astray. She also offers a wide-angle view of how these behaviors can impact your company’s culture and reputation. We may wish these stories were remnants of a bygone era, but we must be willing to acknowledge that no organization is immune to deviant and destructive forces from within."
Cathy Berlin, Sales Manager, Vogel Disposal Companies
"This is a must read for all sales leaders trying to build a winning team! Kathy Koultourides has seen it all and shares true stories about the evils of Lucifer Sales Leaders and the high cost of hiring them. These people will harm your sales organization and cost your organization lots of money. Beware sales management professionals of your hiring practices. In her unique way, she will challenge you to think differently about how you hire and offers lessons for how to make improvements in your selection process. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the read. I guarantee you will be glad you did!"
Kevin Gaugush, Chief People Officer at Varsity Tutors
"Kathy has taken her past experience across a multitude of businesses to show how it is easy to fall victim to outward appearances and superficial action if you do not delve into the details of a person's character. With clear and concise stories, "Lucifer Leaders" shows you how mistakes are made, the costs associated with those errors, and, most importantly, how to correct the situation and put in processes to prevent the vicious cycle from repeating. Behavior matters."
MORE TESTIMONIALS
John Hoskins, Author – Level Five Selling
"Kathy's ability to recount real-world examples of poor hiring practices will have more sales leaders and recruiters doubling down on their efforts to avoid the hidden and very tangible costs of making a bad hire. Kathy has lived in the crucible of the classroom with new hires. Like her, I know too well that feeling after the first day of a workshop. You retire to your room and ask yourself "Who the heck hired that guy?" In my work with selection assessments, nothing can trump the value and predictability of that training classroom. A fun must-read book, especially for frontline sales leaders."
Maureen Solomon - Senior Sales Leader, MBA.
"We have all met or worked with this personality type. The appearance is very "shiny" and appealing, and the team is instantly attracted to the glow. The damage that can be done by a Lucifer Leader is devastating and can be permanent if not recognized. Kathy's book gives us tools to identify this hiding charming "demon" and how to avoid bringing them in to the fold in the first place, she does this with a book that is full of engaging stories that make it hard to put down. I recommend this book to other sales leaders and anyone who hires rain makers."
Alicia Shevetone, Sales Enablement Executive
"Lucifer Leaders will shatter every pre-conceived notion you have about salespeople – in the best possible way! With cleverest wit and humorous tone, Kathy Koultourides distills a gaggle of evil seller persona down to a practical and digestible mix of dos and don’ts for sales leaders, trainers, and human capital staff. Spoiler Alert: the most gregarious extrovert at the party is NOT your best seller, nor remotely close to your clients’ zealous advocate. Invest in this pragmatic collection of war stories from a consummate master sales trainer, and save yourself from the nefarious sales demons lurking in your candidate pool!"
Jim Holton. Sales team builder, trainer and culture coach
"Lucifer Leaders will have a thought changing impact on you and everyone responsible for the true cost to recruit, support, train and manage salespeople. Kathy Koultourides shares her keen insight and experiences that will challenge your thoughts from the past and guide those who can look through a fresh set of lenses. It will make a significant change in your perception and thought process toward what is a great salesperson. Lucifer Leaders will challenge your ideas of great traits and skills in a Salesperson that can actually destroy a team with a financial impact of devastating proportions. . Eye opening with a roller coaster ride of emotions to the point where I could not put it down. Kathy Koultourides takes us behind the scenes sharing real stories with unexpected outcomes that could only be created by Lucifer Leaders."
Mike Monson, National Sales Manager of a Fortune 300 Company
"If you only invest one business book this year – make it this one. Every business leader I know says hiring and retaining the right sales talent is by far their biggest challenge. Kathy Koultourides has cracked the code and offers us her time-tested roadmap from many decades of successful hiring, onboarding and training in the corporate world. Her remarkable track record for teaching others how to hire, onboard and train the right people speaks for itself – and it’s all in this book. She outlines how to consistently make intelligent hiring decisions that serve the company and its customers for the long haul. Perhaps most importantly, she provides actionable steps to recognizing “a Lucifer” during the recruiting and interviewing process … before investing in a bad hire. If there was a Hall of Fame for great hiring decisions, Kathy would be its first inductee."
Dan Coben, Executive Coach and Career Management Consultant
"It’s been over a decade since Stanford professor Robert I. Sutton won the 2007 Quill Award for best business book with The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't. The recent near-collapse of Wells Fargo due to its deviant sales culture indicates the professor’s ideas have gone unheeded or were not accompanied by practical means of implementation. With Lucifer Leaders: The Hidden Cost of Deviant Behavior in the Sales Force, Kathy Koultourides has written a long-needed book that not only exposes the significance of the problem, but clearly details how HR, sales manager and sales trainers can implement preventative and remedial solutions that readers can take back to the office. KK stunningly reveals why many sales-driven companies with the best of intentions are still recruiting the wrong candidates, like sunbathers unwittingly exposing themselves to the cancer-inducing radiation of sunlight. And that alone makes her book a must-read!"