The Vatican’s Boldest Move Yet—And the Sales Coaching Lesson Behind It

From Vatican Strategy to Sales Team Performance

When the Vatican announced the selection of the first American Pope, headlines focused on geography. But the real message ran deeper.

This decision signaled a shift in how the Church thinks about leadership. Not only about where leaders come from, but how they are formed. While the symbolism captured attention, the strategy behind the scenes tells a richer story.

Jason Forrest sees this move as a case study in strategic leadership development. It reflects what he teaches every day: influence is built through structure, not status.

Table of Contents

Influence Is Not Inherited—It’s Installed

The world often views breakthrough leaders as destined or exceptional from birth. However, Jason Forrest rejects that thinking outright. In his coaching, greatness is never accidental.

Leaders are developed. They are shaped over time through identity, belief systems, and high-pressure conditioning. Just like the American Pope, high-level performers are not chosen randomly. They are intentionally formed through a plan.

This mirrors Jason’s foundational belief that influence can be taught. But it must be taught in the right order, with the right pressure, and at the right pace.

Coaching Pillars Are a Foundation, Not a Feature

One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is assuming influence comes from title alone. Jason Forrest’s work dismantles that idea completely. He teaches that consistent leadership stems from structured coaching pillars—frameworks that shape how people think and respond.

These pillars guide performance under pressure. They help high achievers focus on beliefs instead of tasks. While tactics win moments, beliefs sustain success.

Just as the Vatican developed their next leader over decades, organizations must use structure to grow their next wave. Without clear coaching systems, leadership stays limited to personality instead of purpose.

The Hidden Art of Onboarding Leaders

Most companies think onboarding is a checklist. Jason Forrest teaches that it’s an initiation into identity. The Vatican didn’t install the American Pope with a few meetings and a binder. They built his identity in layers.

Every interaction, every decision, every new level of access was part of shaping his worldview. This is what Jason calls onboarding with intention. It’s not about the role. It’s about the person becoming the role.

True onboarding should answer one question: who must this person become to perform at this level consistently? Anything less is short-term thinking.

Chunking Creates Growth That Lasts

Jason Forrest integrates cognitive psychology into his sales training methods. One of his most important tools is chunking. This technique breaks complex transformation into structured steps that can be practiced and repeated.

Chunking reduces cognitive overload. It creates emotional wins. It allows people to progress faster without collapsing under pressure. Leaders who absorb content in chunks retain it longer. They also apply it with more confidence.

In the Vatican example, leadership responsibilities were layered over time. This pacing allowed growth. The same principle applies in every sales organization. You don’t build leaders through immersion. You build them through intelligent structure.

Decision-Making Is a Muscle, Not a Moment

The ability to decide under pressure separates top performers from average ones. Jason Forrest argues that decision-making is not a talent. It’s a trained behavior, built like a muscle.

High-level leaders learn how to respond in moments of stress. Not because they are immune to fear—but because they’ve rehearsed how to think. The Vatican didn’t choose someone who hoped to lead. They chose someone who had made hundreds of decisions, under pressure, with precision.

Jason’s programs are filled with decision practice. Role plays. Scenarios. Objections. All engineered to build belief and clarity. That’s how pressure becomes productive.

Developing From Within Isn’t Sentimental—It’s Strategic

The Vatican didn’t outsource its next leader. They promoted from within. This wasn’t nostalgia—it was calculated trust in institutional preparation.

Jason Forrest echoes this approach across every client engagement. His coaching reinforces the idea that internal talent must be nurtured. External hires may offer novelty, but internal leaders carry cultural memory, team loyalty, and tested behaviors.

When leaders are developed from within, they create cascading impact. They don’t just perform. They influence others to perform.

However, this only works if coaching is consistent. Promotion alone doesn’t develop skill. Ongoing belief-based coaching does.

From Vatican Strategy to Sales Team Performance

JOIN US: The 5-Day zoom LIVE ‘Unstoppable Sales Warrior Challenge’!

The Real Work Happens Before the White Smoke

The ceremony is the result, not the process. Before the white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel, years of quiet coaching shaped that moment.

Jason Forrest teaches that leaders are built in private long before they lead in public. This principle holds true whether you’re building a new VP, a regional director, or a frontline sales warrior.

What the world sees as readiness is actually rehearsed response. That’s what coaching produces. Coaching prepares the person before the moment arrives. And when it does, they don’t hesitate.

They lead.

Jason Forrest: Building Breakthrough Leadership for the Real World

Jason Forrest has worked with some of the most pressure-driven professionals in America. From new home sales teams to Army recruiters, his methods deliver more than tactics. They build belief.

When the U.S. Army needed to rebuild recruiting performance, Jason was called in. Within 90 days, recruiters quadrupled their output. More importantly, every soldier was removed from suicide watch.

This was not a morale boost. It was an identity reset.

Jason Forrest is not a motivational speaker. He is a performance architect. He shapes leaders who act with clarity under fire. His methods are built on psychology, structure, and decades of real-world data.

His message to sales leaders is simple: if the Vatican needed a plan to develop a breakthrough leader, so do you.

The Difference Between Symbol and Substance in Leadership

It’s easy to confuse position with preparedness. Too often, organizations appoint leaders based on external traits—seniority, charisma, or even public approval—without asking the deeper question: have they been internally shaped to carry the weight of leadership?

Jason Forrest confronts this issue directly in his coaching. In his words, “Symbol gets attention. But substance sustains performance.” The Vatican’s decision to install the first American Pope was a symbol of change. But it only worked because the person behind the robe had already been prepared, tested, and structured for success.

The mistake companies make is hiring based on optics and hoping for substance to follow. Jason reverses that. He builds substance first—through belief, repetition, and behavioral coaching—so that by the time someone assumes a title, they’ve already become the person worthy of it.

This is what separates high-impact cultures from high-turnover ones. One invests in the being of the leader. The other reacts to the doing after it’s too late.

From Vatican Strategy to Sales Team Performance

FREE DOWNLOAD: Discover How to Sell More Homes to 55+ Buyers – Without Pressure or Objections

Emotional Endurance Must Be Trained

One of the least discussed traits of elite leadership is emotional endurance. That includes the ability to withstand rejection, maintain composure under scrutiny, and stay centered in prolonged uncertainty.

The Vatican’s American Pope faced years of political, cultural, and media tension—not after being appointed, but long before. Similarly, Jason Forrest trains leaders to expect pressure before the promotion. Through structured role plays and belief-based conflict preparation, he builds mental endurance into every layer of the coaching process.

Sales professionals, especially, deal with daily emotional volatility. Objections, delayed deals, pricing concerns, and internal politics compound over time. Without emotional coaching, even technically skilled professionals will burn out or retreat.

Jason’s programs integrate emotional conditioning into every phase. This isn’t about surface-level motivation. It’s about teaching the nervous system to respond with intention when everything feels urgent.

As with the Vatican, true leadership isn’t the ability to give answers under pressure—it’s the ability to ask the right questions without losing control.

Why Institutional Memory Matters in Coaching

Raising leaders from within isn’t just efficient—it’s culturally strategic. The American Pope carried with him decades of institutional understanding. He didn’t have to learn the nuances of doctrine, hierarchy, or global impact. He already embodied them.

Jason Forrest calls this “institutional memory,” and it’s a critical part of his coaching model. Leaders who rise from within carry not only technical knowledge, but emotional credibility. They know the company’s history, its people, its internal language. That allows them to lead with both empathy and authority.

When companies skip this step—choosing external flair over internal depth—they create cultural confusion. The team must now educate their new leader while also trying to perform. This erodes momentum and creates distrust.

Jason’s approach integrates coaching strategies that help internal leaders make the leap from peer to authority without losing connection. They aren’t just respected because of their past—they’re trusted because of how they’ve been coached to lead into the future.

From Vatican Strategy to Sales Team Performance

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get Jason’s Free Warrior Selling Book

Coaching Is the Competitive Advantage

The Vatican’s decision was shocking in its optics. But beneath it was a decades-long coaching journey that made it possible. Likewise, Jason Forrest’s clients experience breakthroughs that seem sudden from the outside—but are always the result of structured, layered coaching that begins long before results show.

For companies, teams, and individuals who want to become something more—Jason offers a path. Not through hacks or hype. But through identity, belief, repetition, and trust.

Coaching isn’t a perk. It’s not a box to check. It’s the competitive advantage of every great leader who refuses to leave their potential to chance.

Build Purpose-Driven Performers With Jason Forrest

When you’re ready to develop leaders who think clearly, sell boldly, and perform under pressure—Jason Forrest is your coach.

His identity-based method goes beyond tactics to transform belief, behavior, and long-term performance.

Don’t settle for surface-level training. Contact him now!

Ready to revolutionize your sales team?

Elevate your recruitment, training, and leadership with our expert guidance. Say goodbye to stagnant sales and hello to unprecedented success! Book a Meeting today and take the first step towards dominating your market!

Related Posts

Book My Meeting

Select Your Track to Increase Sales