Digital Dealer - July 2018 - 10

L e a d e r s h ip (Continued from pg. 9)

THE PROBLEM WITH TOO MANY PEOPLE IN
LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IS THAT THEY WANT TO LIFT
THEMSELVES UP ABOVE THEIR PEOPLE."
more likely to engage them
in the process. Just let them
know they are valuable and
essential to the project's
success because quite
frankly they are. When the
rest of your store sees this
team working together as
one team, it sends a signal
that there is buy-in at this
level (the top) and therefore
it must be something good.
I particularly like Earl
Stewart Toyota's dealership
motto (and the name of his
Hatteras sport fisher);
KAIZEN

Kaizen in Japanese
means "Continual Improvement" - a long-term
approach to work that
systematically seeks to
achieve small, incremental
changes in processes in
order to improve efficiency
and quality.
I was recently contacted
by a dealer who wanted to
increase his store's business. After laying out a plan
to do so, I reconfirmed that
in order to reap the benefits
his management team had
to be present in the learning
workshops I scheduled.
The dealer affirmed that he,
along with his management
team, would be in every
session. The morning I was
setting up the projector
and curriculum materials
for that workshop one of
the managers came in and
with bitter disappointment
told me his dealer said he
nor any of the managers
would attend. Even though
he gave his word to me and
his people about his 'topdown' strategy, he breeched
10

J U LY 2 0 1 8

everyone's confidence.
The result? Although the
entire team grew from this
workshop they all said: "it
must not be important to
management so why should
it be important to us?" This
dealer then lost four of his
most valuable people shortly thereafter because his
message essentially was; I
really don't understand what
good leadership looks and
acts like. Sadly, there are

an all-inclusive dealership
campaign. The truth is
there are a lot of managers
but so few leaders. And,
leadership is the single
most important element of
a dealership's growth that
has to be present for it to
be successful. Conversely,
without effective leadership,
it becomes like a rudderless
ship. The wind blows from
the west the ship goes to
the east. Usually, we end

I SEE STORES ALL THE
TIME GOING FROM 97
UNITS A MONTH TO 243,
FROM 159 TO 320, AND
YOU CAN TOO."
a lot of good people going
away because some dealers simply don't get it and
don't seek outside counsel
or don't care enough to do
the things that will encourage team and store growth.
"One of the greatest gifts
a leader can give others
is to lift them up to higher
ground. The problem with
too many people in leadership positions is that they
want to lift themselves up
above the people. What
is your agenda? To lift up
yourself or lift up your people?" - John Maxwell
In order for a store to
grow, it must have managers growing in leadership
skills before they can grow
their people. And, this
applies not only to sales
but service, parts, and
administration. You see,
leadership needs to be

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

up going in circles instead
of choosing the direction we
wish to head. Leadership...
choose it or lose it.
If you and/or your team
do not feel you have the
leadership skill strength or
detailed knowledge to set
forth the elements of this
first strategy, get yourself
someone to guide your
team through it. Preferably
someone with experience
from the corporate America
side of life coupled with car
business expertise, else
you run into the same ole
vicious cycle of tired car
stuff. You are looking for
the identifying processes
supported by and not driven
by technology. The team
needs to identify relationship enhancement between
themselves, their direct
report staff and the new
improved culture.

"There's a difference
between interest and
commitment. When
you're interested in doing
something, you do it only
when it's convenient.
When you're committed to
something, you accept no
excuses, only results."
- Ken Blanchard
Your business at this
juncture involves not the
transactions, but people
and the complex business
relationships between
them. I will leave you with
these parting thoughts;
You can take your team
and the store to higher
levels of success. Will it
take a little energy and
commitment? Sure, but the
efforts are so worth it! I see
stores all the time going
from 97 units a month to
243, from 159 to 320, and
you can too. It has to come
from the top though. Get
everyone on the same
team understanding there
will be some redesigning
of how you do business in
order to make it successful. The rewards will be
awesome.
If you would like to receive my eleven-point Total
Team Quality Management
Guidelines, send me an
email. Also, I would love to
hear from you describing
how your team is exemplifying leadership skills in
your store.
CHUCK BARKER is
president and founder of
Impact Marketing & Consulting Group in Virginia. EMAIL:
Chuck@impactgroupcrm.com
http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - July 2018
