CARS

Jul

2018

Car Repair Leadership

As I sat in his office I could tell there was a reason he owned multiple car repair shops. Instead of books on one of his bookshelves there were classic toy cars. I was sitting in the office of a man who had gone from owning one Meineke store to six within seven years.

This is no small task so I wanted to learn from him about leadership, specifically how to lead well as you are growing your business. We talked about multiple aspects of his business such as the change in thinking that needed to occur going from one store to three and how he had to let go of trying to control everything or he would hinder the organization’s growth. The has realized more he grows the more critical it is that he empowers key people.

When I asked what that looks like he said: “Know when 80% is good enough.” For a leader someone else may not do it 100% as well as you, but if they do it 80% as well and meet the goals then you are freeing yourself to lead more. Not only that, but you are helping the employee develop their leadership skills as they grow and close that gap between 80% and 100%.

Below are Scott’s three keys to leadership for his organization:

Higher standards than those you hire. This does not mean you look for low standards, but as the leader you should constantly be raising the bar on what you expect of yourself and those you lead. As I heard this it demonstrates leadership expert John Maxwell’s “Law of the Lid” which states your effectiveness can be no greater than your leadership level. If as leaders we accept mediocre work then those who follow us will work below that level and those that expect more than the leader expects will leave.
Integrity and Personal Responsibility. In an industry where it can be the norm to be less than completely truthful Scott expects himself and his employees to accept responsibility for actions and be consistent between actions and words. A very practical way he tries to demonstrate this integrity is how he sets up his shops. If at all possible he will make the facility feel open and even provide windows so customers can see in the work space.
1. This was not explicitly stated by Scott, but I saw it as a method to develop the second value. He shared about times that work has been not done completely right and says he accepts the blame first by stating “what can I do to help this not happen?” and often his employees will take ownership for their part in the problem as well. After this they fix the problem, learn and grow. In order to build trust both with employees and customers, he expects transparent communication. Scott models this to his employees by confronting issues that need to be addressed internally in a manner that still respects his employees.
Setting up Infrastructure. Since he works in an environment where equipment working properly is critical this is a high priority in his leadership. As the leader he feels a responsibility to create a physical environment that enables his employees to work effectively and efficiently and does not want his lack of resourcing them to create unnecessary challenges for them. As I listened, this is similar to the responsibility other leaders have to establish systems and processes for effective work and communication.

What about you? As you look at leading your team, organization or home how are you doing in these areas? Are you frustrated with the standards those you lead are living at . . . is it because you have allowed your standards to slip? Are you willing to accept responsibility and model humility and integrity? How do you need to improve your infrastructure to improve your results? Wherever you need to grow, take the first step today and lead well at work and home.

Apr

2018

What a Car Show Taught Me About Leadership: Part II

Last week I told how my son persuaded me to experience a car show where I talked to some of the exhibiters about what it takes to rebuild a car similar to the pictures you saw in my previous post. I gave four principles last time, but I want to expand on one of them in this post.

At one exhibit I was talking to the man who did all the work to rebuild one of the cars. As I said before, these cars often start out as rusty and quite rotten, but they transform them into a beautiful classic worthy of a showroom floor. I asked the man, how long does this take? I found his reply very pertinent to what I need to do in order to lead well at work and home. He said “I do a little bit everyday no matter what.”

After he said this it made me pause and think for a minute. No matter what industry we are in or what goal we are pursuing this principle is profoundly true. Our daily habits and disciplines determine the results we get. This man took a little time every day to do something on the car and eventually after a couple years turned it into what you see above. Do you want to lead better at work or home? What daily habits do you perform to help you get to your goal?

Time to Think – Create time and space to think in your day. I know we are all busy, but what if instead of scrolling through social media on our phones when we are waiting we allow ourselves to think freely. Who knows we may gain a new insight Facebook or Twitter may not have brought to mind. Block out a specific amount of time to intentionally think into your personal and professional growth.

Time to Read – I have heard it said that readers are leaders. Do you create time in your schedule to read books or other material that is mind expanding? Find out some of the books high level leaders read and get them in your hands to read and absorb. As a start authors like Jim Collins, Patrick Lencioni, Steven Covey, and John Maxwell are a few that have helped expand my thinking not to mention classics like Dale Carnegie and Norman Vincent Peale. Create the time, maybe just fifteen or twenty minutes while walking on a treadmill or some type of audio while driving.

Time to Listen – I am a doer and I have to intentionally create time to stop and listen to those who matter most. I may ask my wife or co-worker how they are doing, but do I have the habit of stopping to listen? If you are like me you may need to create the habit of intentionally slowing down to not just hear what others are saying, but actively listen.

Time to Do – We are all busy, but are we productive? Take time to evaluate what you are doing and make sure it creates the habits that will get you to your goal. Do you do the important, but not urgent activities that will give you more sales, develop leaders, build your relationships with those you love? Evaluate what you do so the seeds of activity become productive fruit.

Think through your habits today and decide if there is one you need to change, remove or add. You don’t have to do it all at once. A cathedral is built one brick at a time similarly a transformed life will be built one habit at a time. What transformational habit do you need to begin today?

Mar

2018

What a Car Show Taught Me About Leadership: Part I

A short time ago my son was in his room listening to a local radio station when he burst into my office excited about something. He really enjoys cars at this stage of his life and he heard about a local car show and he wanted to see. I checked out the cost and after seeing it was more than I was willing to pay I asked him if he was willing to pay for his ticket. Without hesitation he said “yes!”

A couple days later we get our tickets from the auto parts store that was sponsoring the event and drive downtown to attend the experience. Personally I am not as excited about looking at cars as my son, but we walk around and see cars ranging from classic cars to exotic race cars such as Lamborghinis. I must confess I did enjoy the experience more than I anticipated (it did help I was able to buy some fudge at a vendor).

During our time I was looking at photographs of a car in front of me that showed the process of rebuilding the car. I was intrigued so I asked him how he did it. After a brief conversation I found four principles from rebuilding a car that can be applied to leadership either personally or professionally.

Vision – In order to take something that looks to the common person as worthless and turn it into a display to be admired one has to have a clear picture in their mind of what the final result will look like. In order to lead anything one must have a clear picture of what the final result looks like.
Passion – Angela Duckworth discusses in her book Grit that a person who has grit or toughness exhibits two characteristics and one of those is passion. In order to take a rusted-out car and turn it into a showroom exhibit one has to have a lot of passion for the project. If your vision is going to come to fruition as a leader there must be passion that will fuel it or the vision will die from a lack of energy pushing it forward.
Strategic Plan – as I talked to the car owner I heard a plan that he had to implement in order to get a car with a rusted out bottom to become what eventually was a car that could be driven. This was not a random plan, but a specific process where certain aspects of the car were rebuilt first in order to get to the next step. As leaders we may have a vision and passion, but we must have a plan to follow which will have to be adjusted and will not be perfect. The plan will keep us focused on the purposeful work we need to accomplish so we lead intentionally.
Daily Action – One of the biggest concepts that arose from my brief conversation was that in order for him to accomplish this car rebuild he took daily action. He didn’t complete the project in one weekend. He did a little bit on a regular basis over a couple years. I know I get really impatient and want the vision fulfilled yesterday, but I need to remember that in order to accomplish anything worthwhile it will take daily habits that help me climb up the hill to my desired result.

As you look at these four principles where do you need to grow? Do you have a clear vision for what you are leading and are you passionate about it? If you have those is there a strategic (not perfect) plan in place? What is one daily action step you and your team need to take in order to fulfill the vision? Finally, who will hold you accountable to this next step? Keep leading well both at work and home with passion, vision, planning, and daily action and who knows what you will accomplish.