Digital Dealer - April 2019 - 19

Road Trip to DD26 | April 9-11, 2019 | Orlando

What traits are present in good
leadership, and can leadership be
learned?
JOHN: The best way to teach
leadership, of course, is by example.
If you're going to talk the talk, you
must be willing to walk the walk.
Good leadership is the ability to
transfer or inﬂuence your vision to
your other leaders and managers,
and have an open mind about their
ideas. Ultimately, you must come
together as one. Great leadership
comes from within, yet sincerity,
honesty, and principled eﬀorts earn
you the respect that truly moves
companies forward. I try to instill
in our managers to take ownership
of their own departments; the ones
who do, truly work better with other
departments and move the needle
together.
DEALER MAGAZINE: Are you
more of a hands-on manager or the
kind who sets the agenda and then
delegates?
JOHN: You have to be a little
bit of both. As dealers, we all make
hundreds of decisions a day. But, at
the end of the day, we train, so that
we can entrust and empower our
managers to make great decisions
and be accountable for themselves as
well as their team. Their leadership
is what is going to move us forward,
not mine. Obviously, I'll make
adjustments as I see ﬁt.
DEALER MAGAZINE: One of the
key challenges facing the industry
is building the right team. What
qualities do you look for when hiring
or promoting?
JOHN: You're right about that.
It is a challenge today. We get a ton
of resumes and go through them all
carefully. I'm a big advocate of hiring
dedicated people. Do I look to hire
people who are in the game to win?
Yes, but, more importantly, they
must have the instinct and drive and
willingness to continually educate
themselves.

As far as what I look for in
character, there's no doubt in my
mind that ethics and honesty are
top traits. You can teach just about
anything in this business, but to ﬁnd
sincere, honest employees is what we
look for and hope to promote.
DEALER MAGAZINE: You played
football in high school and college.
What lessons did you learn as a
football player that you've been able
to apply to your career?
JOHN: I had a coach at
Benedictine College in Atchison,
Kansas, who was passionate about
one's own accountability. He talked
about the importance of knowing
and liking yourself ﬁrst, more so
oﬀ the football ﬁeld than on. Being
accountable for yourself was number
one. Whether it came to not doing
your homework or missing that
workout, the bottom line is, you're
cheating yourself. He also talked
about improving yourself by doing
things that others won't, so that you
can achieve things that others can't.
I got hurt in college and sustained a
knee injury. He's the one who told
me to not let that knee injury stop my
success. I have used that knee injury
my entire life as a reminder and
as motivation to work harder than
anybody else.
DEALER MAGAZINE: You
already talked about your eﬀorts
in cross-training your employees.
How important is training to your
store's success, and can you cite an
example?
JOHN: Training is everything and
one of my hot buttons. I've always
been committed when it comes to
training, and I always believe we
can do more by training. I believe
employees limit their own potential
by not taking training seriously.
Likewise, they harm the growth
of the business when they do not
commit themselves to personal
growth. I'm not talking only about
taking classes, but having a thirst to

learn more on a daily basis.
For instance, I'm always
encouraging my team to take home
resources, such as Dealer Magazine.
I encourage them to read articles
to stay on top of what's going on
in our industry. Staying engaged is
part of the day-to-day training. It's
so important, because the world is
moving incredibly fast. We're in an
Amazon.com age right now and yet
some people want to stick with their
'old dog tricks,' even though those
truly don't work anymore.
I was in a tech meeting the
other day and the technicians were
complaining about how much
information they have to submit
for a manufacturer to pay them on
warranty work. I oﬀered to pay for
them to take a typing class, if they
thought that might help. Any type
of training is a beneﬁt to me and to
the dealership. But perhaps most
of all, it beneﬁts the person getting
the training. They acquire new skills
that become part of who they are no
matter where they go.
DEALER MAGAZINE: Could you
tell us more about your Connection
Center, what is it, how it works, etc.?
JOHN: Sure. The idea was born
one day when I walked into an Apple
store. I went up to their Genius Bar
with my iPhone and one of their tech
guys helped me out tremendously,
answering my questions. So, I started
thinking that with all the technology
included in our vehicles, wouldn't it
be great if our customers could come
in and learn more about their cars
after the initial delivery? Customers
are usually so excited about their
new vehicle, they often forget what
is being taught and demonstrated to
them about it at the time of delivery.
With our Connection Center, we give
them an opportunity to come back to
the dealership at their convenience,
so we can connect their cell phones
to their vehicle and expand their

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

Continued on pg. 20

APRIL 2019

19
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Digital Dealer - April 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - April 2019
