Stepping into an SDR leadership role can feel like being thrown into the deep end with no life raft.
On a recent episode of the MySalesCoach podcast, Catherine Olivier, VP of Global Sales Development at Cognism, revealed what it really takes to succeed in one of the most challenging and high-impact roles in modern sales.
With experience leading global teams, Catherine brings a rare blend of hard-won wisdom, tactical insight, and refreshing honesty.
Her conversation with MySalesCoach co-founder Mark Ackers was a masterclass in SDR leadership, filled with real stories, key frameworks, and actionable guidance that every current or aspiring SDR leader should hear.
Watch the full conversation here 👇
Here are the top 10 lessons, explained with full context and takeaways 👇
1. You can’t manage everyone the same way
Catherine emphasised that even a team of just seven reps requires tailored leadership.
As a first-time sales team manager, many leaders mistakenly assume they can replicate how they were managed or apply a one-size-fits-all style. But every rep is unique.
She shared how important it is to understand what drives each person - some respond to recognition, others to competition, or learning opportunities.
Being aware of these subtle differences helps drive better engagement, development, and ultimately performance.
Takeaways:
- Make time for structured one-on-ones that go beyond the pipeline.
- Learn what motivates each rep and adapt your approach accordingly.
2. The golden rule: No more than 7 SDRs per manager
Catherine’s golden rule is simple:
Keep SDR manager spans of control lean. She’s seen firsthand how having too many direct reports limits the coaching time and quality a manager can provide. In her current org structure, teams are capped at five to seven reps per manager.
Her experience confirms what many SDR orgs have learned the hard way - overloading SDR managers leads to reactive leadership, burnout, and missed growth opportunities for reps.
Takeaways:
- Push for sales team structures that prioritise rep development over pure efficiency.
- If you’re managing more than seven, reevaluate how you’re splitting coaching responsibilities.
3. Don’t chase vanity metrics - focus on outcomes
Catherine challenged the outdated mindset of equating high activity with high performance. In her words, “20,000 emails doesn’t mean it was a great week.”
She advocates for a smarter approach to sales leadership: measure what matters - meetings booked, pipeline created, and the quality of conversations.
She also highlighted how easy it is for leaders to feel like they’re doing their job just because dashboards are lit up. But without inspecting the outcomes, it’s just noise.
📊 Stat from State of Sales Coaching in 2025 Report: High-performing teams spend 38% more time reviewing conversation quality and outcomes vs. raw activity dashboards.
Takeaways:
- Build coaching cadences that focus on performance conversations, not just performance reports.
- Challenge your team to reflect on effectiveness, not just effort.
4. The first 90 days as an SDR leader: Observe before you act
When Catherine joined Cognism, her CRO offered her something rare: time.
Rather than jumping in to make immediate changes, she was given a quarter to observe, ask questions, and understand the business.
This gave her a powerful advantage: context.
She noted how too many new leaders try to prove themselves right away by shaking things up, often without fully grasping what’s really going on. That’s how credibility and momentum get lost.
Takeaways:
- Use your early days in leadership to listen, not lecture.
- Document what you learn, form hypotheses, and pressure-test them before executing changes.
5. Coaching helps you lead with confidence (and reduces imposter syndrome)
Catherine opened up about her experience with imposter syndrome - a feeling she says never truly goes away.
For her, the antidote has been coaching and community. Through previous programs at EDB and now working with MySalesCoach, who provide sales coaching for teams, she found that having a trusted sounding board helps her make better decisions and manage stress.
She emphasised that the best leaders aren’t the ones with all the answers - they’re the ones asking better questions and investing in their own development.
📊 Stat from State of Sales Coaching in 2025 Report: Leaders who receive regular coaching drive 30% higher team attainment than those without.
Takeaways:
- Model coachability as a leader.
- Seek your own coach, encourage your managers to do the same, and make vulnerability a strength.
6. Promote the natural mentors, not just the top performers
Catherine has seen companies fall into the trap of promoting top-performing SDRs into leadership without assessing their coaching ability.
Instead, she advises identifying those already demonstrating leadership behaviours, such as mentoring peers, contributing in meetings, or lifting the team's energy.
She shared that these reps are often overlooked because they aren’t always the loudest or flashiest. But they have the right mindset to lead with empathy and impact.
Takeaways:
- Track peer feedback and team contributions alongside performance data.
- Start leadership development conversations early.
7. Set boundaries early when leading former peers
Transitioning from peer to sales management is one of the toughest challenges in leadership - and Catherine doesn’t sugarcoat it.
She stressed that the moment you become the boss, your relationship with the team has to change. Not drastically, but meaningfully.
Favouritism - whether real or perceived - is poison to team morale. Catherine’s rule: no exclusive friendships, no special treatment, and no blurring of lines in social settings.
Takeaways:
- When you step into leadership, have a “new chapter” conversation with your team.
- Clarify your role and set new expectations.
8. Diversity in hiring drives innovation
Catherine’s SDR hiring philosophy is rooted in balance. While she values grit and competitiveness, she actively avoids creating monocultures.
Her teams include people from various educational, cultural, and professional backgrounds, because diversity fuels creativity.
Takeaways:
- Calibrate hiring to build cognitive and experiential diversity.
- Use structured scorecards to reduce bias and look beyond the obvious “sales DNA.”
9. Be ruthless with your time and clear with your team
As a mother and executive, Catherine manages her time tightly. She shared how important it is to create space in your calendar for visibility and connection, not just meetings.
When she’s in the office, she avoids back-to-backs and instead uses the time to be available for informal chats, coaching moments, and relationship-building.
Takeaways:
- Audit your calendar weekly.
- Block time for presence, not just performance. Your team will remember the five-minute hallway convo more than the deck review.
10. Use tech - but never at the expense of human coaching
While Catherine values tools like Gong and Outreach, she made it clear: coaching can’t be automated.
Sales tools can highlight what’s happening, but they can’t replace the human side of development.
Catherine urged leaders to use data as a starting point, not the destination. The real work begins when you sit down and help reps make sense of what the tools are telling you.
Takeaways:
- Combine technology with weekly coaching sessions.
- Invest in manager enablement so tools empower, not replace, coaching.
Final thought: Be your team’s champion - but challenge them, too
Catherine’s leadership ethos blends nurturing support with high-performance coaching. She protects her team but also holds them to high standards.
That balance is what makes her not just a manager - but a true coach.
That level of humility, openness, and curiosity is what great SDR leadership looks like.
