The Evolution of Sales Leadership

Recently, I was with some people who refused to believe I was in sales.  They thought, “How could somebody like him be a salesperson?”
The small group said I was too nice and too thoughtful to be a salesperson.  When I asked them why they thought that way, their response was uniform. Their view of a salesperson was somebody who takes advantage of others.
You can imagine the engaging conversation I had with these people about how I viewed the sales profession, and I think I was successful in turning their opinions around about salespeople.   After our conversation was over and we had all gone our separate ways, I couldn’t help but wonder about the millions of others who share the same feeling about salespeople as these people did.
Is sales and, in particular, sales leadership evolving?  I think so! No, I don’t have data points I can share to indicate it is