I am reminded of a story shared by a finance manager recently. F&I production was not great at this store in past years. This finance manager took a different approach, put in a big effort, and significantly increased back-end gross, especially in the first eight months of the current year. During this time the department was short staffed and he was working long hours.

The finance manager shared how he was tired and that not once in past year had the general manager acknowledged his efforts. The straw that broke the camels back, however, came when he missed his numbers in the ninth month while was going through some personal issues. Instead of inquiring how he was doing the general manager reminded him that he missed his numbers and that he expected him to do better in the next month.

The general manager was right, the finance manager had missed his numbers, but his approach, lack of care and empathy, was not helpful.

People who are in charge tend to be competitive. So, being right naturally makes them feel good. Being right feel like a win. Unfortunately, being right also has the potential to puff up while it takes away from others, especially if being right comes at another’s expense.

Remembering that the goal of leadership is to get the team, not oneself, over the finish line [together], being right should not be something a leader fights for. Rather, if time allows,  it is often, if not usually, better to be helpful, sharing what you believe to be right, and letting others discover what is actually right. In the process others will feel respected and built-up. At the same time you allow room for the possibility that there is a better way or even that your thinking is flawed in some way.

Leaders accept their own humanity and resist the urge to fight for being right. Great leaders work at getting themselves out of the way so that the team can win. In fact, great leaders, accept responsibility when the team loses and give credit to the team when celebrating a win.

Good Leadership Rule: Be helpful, listen, be the last to speak, give away credit, let others recognize [on their own] when you are right, and never say “I told you so.”

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

 

 

Merriam-Webster defines mistake as a wrong action or statement proceeding from faulty judgment, inadequate knowledge, or inattention.

William McKnight, the legendary chairman of 3M, said, “The best and hardest work is done in the spirit of adventure and challenge…Mistakes will be made.”

Maybe it was this kind of culture that led to the invention of the Post-It note…by mistake!

According to Wikipedia, in 1968, Dr. Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M in the United States, was attempting to develop a super-strong adhesive. Instead he accidentally created a “low-tack,” reusable, pressure-sensitive adhesive.

For five years, Silver promoted his “solution without a problem” within 3M both informally and through seminars but failed to gain acceptance. In 1974 a colleague who had attended one of his seminars, Art Fry, came up with the idea of using the adhesive to anchor his bookmark in his hymn book. Fry then utilized 3M’s officially sanctioned “permitted bootlegging” policy to develop the idea. The original notes’ yellow color was chosen by accident, as the lab next-door to the Post-It team had only yellow scrap paper to use.

Great leaders understand that mistakes are an inevitable by-product of imperfect people trying new things and challenging past achievements. Great leaders recognize that innovation is birthed in the realm of the unknown.

Hence, great leaders don’t dwell on mistakes, but rather see them as opportunities [even celebrating them] to expand knowledge, build wisdom, and increase intentionality in themselves and others.

Even repeats of the same mistake are seen as revealing a pattern and providing an opportunity for action.

Moment of Reflection:

As a leader, how are you handling mistakes? Do you react, get angry, and dole out punishment? Or, do you respond by encouraging people to push established limits and use mistakes as coaching opportunities?

How you react or respond impacts on your organization’s culture and will either expand or limit its potential.

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

 

People often use the words react and respond interchangeably, but these two concepts are not the same. The differences are subtle but significant, and lead to very different outcomes, especially when you react when you should respond, and vice versa.

Merriam-Webster defines the words, as follows:

• Respond: to say something in return : make an answer
• React: to move or tend in a reverse direction

Both reacting and responding involve behaviors following an impulse. The difference ultimately comes down to whether time is available and/or taken to gain awareness in order to shape the best possible behavior.

In his book Triggers, Marshall Goldsmith presents a model he calls the Circle of Engagement, suggesting that all people are triggered by different things, which lead to impulses and behaviors.

Being REACTIVE involves a trigger leading to an impulse and a behavior. It is a shorter loop, which is appropriate when time does not allow for gaining additional awareness. Most times these behaviors take on a negative overtone such as fight, flight, or freeze, which are appropriate when faced with an emergency situation, but not when collaborating with others.

Being RESPONSIVE also involves a trigger leading to an impulse, but with the benefit of additional awareness to help choose the best possible behavior. As a result responsive behaviors tend to be viewed in a more positive manner and typically result in better outcomes.

Great leaders choose to respond, reacting only when there is not enough time to gain additional awareness and to choose a better behavior.

TIP: Take a breath before acting on an impulse.

Any time you feel triggered, and especially in non-emergency situations, take a breath before acting. Even a short breath will do two things: allow emotions to settle down (dissipating cortisol from your system and reducing the fight, flight, or freeze urge) and provide time to gain awareness.

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

 

By Herb Mast

(Published in Dealer Magazine – October 2018)

At the end of a coaching session with the management team of a large dealership, where the focus was teamwork, the Finance Director came up to me, thanked me for the materials I had shared, and captured the essence of why he feels so many dealerships struggle with teamwork, when he said, “we’re all mercenaries.”

I had been contemplating similar thoughts for some time, but he captured the essence of the issue in a simple, succinct, and insightful statement, “we’re all mercenaries.” Without realizing the profoundness of his statement, nor the response I was about to give, I said without hesitation, “then maybe we need to start hiring more Patriots!” And there it was, the way to become a more functional team—increase patriotic behavior.

According to Google, a patriotis: a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors. Patriots are driven by internal factors—a cause, a mission, a vision…something beyond themselves, and something more significant than money. Sure Patriots want [and need] money. They have needs and wants like everybody else. In contrast to mercenaries, however, their main motivation is internal and they are not willing to sacrifice their values for a few extra dollars. Hence, once they are bought-in to the values of the organization they are loyal and protective of the culture.

In a previous article, The Chameleon Effect, I explain how an environment has a way of changing new hires to become more like the people already in the organization; a melting-pot of sorts. Hence, while hiring more patriots is a good step, at least in the short term, to truly have an impact the environment must also change to support patriotic efforts and so that the patriots don’t lose hope and morph into mercenaries. To have a lasting effect there must be a culture shift—to one that is more patriotic.

From Here to There

The good news is, when supported from the top, Patriots have a way of establishing boundaries that generally keep mercenaries in check and provides the structure necessary to appropriately channel mercenary behavior.

Ultimately, I believe that the majority of mercenaries will comply with the boundaries of a patriotic culture provided it is consistent, predictable, and doesn’t unreasonably stifle their livelihood. Even mercenaries find such an environment more enjoyable and fulfilling. Most hardcore mercenaries, however, will typically self-select and leave, preferring the ‘freedom’ of an unstructured, albeit dysfunctional, environment where they can do their own thing with little accountability and where they can get a greater advantage for themselves over others.

From Good to Great

I estimate that 10-20% of the industry gets-it and are actively practicing and reinforcing patriotic behaviors. These are generally stores that are in the top 10% along with those who fall just short of top 10% honors.

There is extensive research which validates how a patriotic environment increases teamwork, reduces dysfunction and staff turnover, and increases customer loyalty—which ultimately all serve to increase productivity and profits.

My hope is that this conversation will add perspective and context to something you have sensed for some time, but couldn’t explain, while providing solutions and courage to address dysfunctions that have been tolerated for far too long.

Vicious Cycle

It is a vicious cycle. Regardless of how we ended up here, I believe the car business continues to attract, breed, and reward mercenaries—and the result is a public stigma and a loss of trust in our industry.

Consider, the following elements which are often influenced by mercenaries: pay plans, spiffs, bonuses, un-priced vehicles on the lot, artificial sales, the negotiating process, stealing trades, hype-only filled sales meetings, paying birddogs, emphasis on numbers/daily docs instead of behaviors, pressure to up-sell, etc.  These practices are not bad in and of themselves and in the right context, but in combination with each other, and without a strong commitment to organizational values, they create an environment in which mercenariesand dysfunction subsist.

Let’s be clear, there is nothing wrong with making money, even lots of it. I once heard a Dealer put business in great patriotic terms when he said, “make as much money as you can, but earn every penny of it.”

The distinguishing factor between mercenaries and patriots is whether they see money as the goal, and will sacrifice values in order to get just a little more, or whether they see money as the reward for a job well done and the byproduct of pursuing a transcending purpose.

Baseline

So, how do you move your culture towards a more patriotic one and glean the benefits that come along with it?

First, it is helpful to establish a base line, by identifying what kind of culture you currently have. To do so rate your team’s behaviors in the following four areas by assigning a score between 0 (never) and 5 (always):

____       Do your sales consultants willingly call customers after the transaction to say thanks and answer questions?

____       Do your service advisers ask permission to undertake a multipoint inspection and then take the time to review it with the customer from a vehicle health perspective rather than just a selling tool?

____       Do you have a good we-owe process in place that ensures you are following through on commitments?

____       Do your service advisers make every effort to keep customers informed of their vehicles repair status?

Add up your scores to these four questions. A score of less than 10 suggests you have a mercenary culture. As score above 15 suggests you have a more patriotic culture.

7 Actions that Lead to Better Teamwork

Here are seven actions that will help build a more patriotic, and team-oriented, culture.

Action 1: Make the decision to instill patriotic values into your dealership and formalize a list of values.

The most important step is always the first one. If you don’t take the first step the others won’t matter. So, decide what kind of culture you want and write a list of values which reflect that culture and which you want the team to aspire to and align around. If you don’t write them down it will be hard for the team to know what they are and to commit to them. Further, without a written list it will be hard for the team to hold each other accountable—and without accountability the values won’t become culture.

Action 2: Declare your values and don’t waver.

Once you have written a list of values announce them to the rest of the organization. Then hold everybody accountable to the same standard, including yourself—lead by example.

Leaders always get what they create and what they allow. Create the list of values and don’t allow your values to be compromised.

Use every opportunity to talk about your values and recognize staff for behaviors that are aligned with those values. You can’t just announce the values once, just like you don’t advertise just once. You need to reinforce what is important to you whenever there is opportunity—in your words, your actions, and all corporate communications.

Action 3: Pursue vulnerability-based trust as the foundation upon which to build a more cohesive and aligned team.

Patrick Lencioni, in his book The Advantage, essentially defines what patriots look like in business, when he describes functionalteam players—those who are willing to be vulnerable in order to build trust, who embrace healthy conflict in order to achieve alignment around values and common goals, and who are not afraid to hold others accountable.

Lencioni goes on to say that functional teams are aligned around common and shared goals, psychologically aligned around whythe organization exists, and behaviorally aligned around how the team behaves. In other words, they share a common purpose and set of values and don’t believe that any individual is above the team. Unfortunately, none of this is possible without a foundation of vulnerability-based trust, which gets ego and self-centeredness out of the way.

You know you have vulnerability-based trust when staff are willing to own their mistakes, ask for help, and are quick to apologize.

The key to building vulnerability-based trust is for leaders to go first and lead by example. To be sure, if a leader struggles with vulnerability so will the team.

Action 4: Adopt a longer-term perspective.

In a speech entitled, “Nobody Wins” (check it out on YouTube), Simon Sinek compares and contrasts the characteristics of finiteand infiniteperspectives.

Mercenaries tend to have a finiteperspective, which is short-term and involves doing whatever it takes to win, including bending the rules, stepping on toes, and throwing others under the bus. Most of their effort is transactional in nature. Sure they make a lot of sales, but don’t have a good track record of turning those sales into repeat customers. Unfortunately, since they apply a lot of pressure to get the sale, at almost any cost, those buyers tend not to come back in future.

And as soon as the customer drives off in their new or pre-owned vehicle the mercenary promptly turns their efforts to the next sale. That is why it is so hard to get most car guys to follow-through on things like we-owes and to make post-sale follow-up calls—they see their job as done once the customer leaves the lot. Not surprising is how their transactions also come with a fair amount of “heat.”

Patriots on the other hand tend to have an infiniteperspective, which is long-term and involves building relationships and doing the right thing. They see the saleas a natural byproduct of serving people and putting the customer’s best interests first. Everything they do is focused on making life-long customers who will come back for future purchases while referring their friends and family. Patriots impress and earn trust with their authenticity and genuine display of care for the spoken and unspoken needs and desires of their customers. They are masters of listening and follow-through before, during, and after the sale, because they authentically care about the customer and the mission of the organization.

Action 5: Walk the talk and own your mistakes, before asking how much it will cost—even when it hurts.

Patriots simply walk the talk. They admit their mistakes and errors, regardless of cost. In fact, they own their mistakes and make things right. That’s why they are so highly trusted and create so many long-term customers.

Patriots don’t compromise their values simply to save a few dollars. At the same time they won’t allow themselves to be doormats.

A good approach after an issue arises is to talk through the situation to discover the facts before talking about dollars—talking about dollars just complicates the conversation and makes it harder to get to the real issue(s). Once the facts are known take ownership of the aspects that you caused and gently request that the customer owns their piece. You don’t have to own things that are not your fault. It is ok to push back and hold your ground when others are being unreasonable. Reasonable people don’t expect things for free nor do they respect those that pander to them.

Action 6: Recognize the importance of emotions.

We are emotional beings, but for some reason when it comes to business, and especially the car business, many don’t think emotions are relevant. Instead they try to deal with everything rationally—price, features, quality, and time. In fact, money is the main rational tool that seems to be used in virtually every situation, with both staff and customers, whether it is in the form of commissions, spiffs, bonuses, discounts, birddogs, etc. And, at its extreme, money is seen as a cure-all, when in many cases there has actually been an emotional offense, which cannot be resolved with money.

To this point neuroscience reveals that our emotional brain (Limbic) has three times more impact on our decisions and behaviors than does our rational brain (Neocortex). Yet most of our effort and current business practices represent external [extrinsic] stimuli, like the monetary rewards and penalties, which only connect with the rational brain.

To have greater effect and bigger impact we need to start focusing on internal stimuli, the things that connect with people emotionally, like: trust, respect, relationship, responsibility, autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

Action 7: Create an environment in which people feel safe to question anything and everything.

When a team is not achieving desired results and is not asking questions you can be sure they don’t have clarity and they don’t feel comfortable and/or safe to admit they don’t know.

It is incumbent upon a leader to recognize this disconnect and ensure their team has clarity so that they can buy-in and execute without wasted time and effort. Further, accountability is only possible when there is true buy-in—everything else is just policing.

The best way to ensure clarity is to encourage questions. But the catch twenty-two is people will not talk unless they feel safe. That’s why a foundation of vulnerability-based trust, in which the leader displays an appropriate degree of vulnerability themselves, is so important.

In her book Multipliers, Liz Wiseman suggests that the best leaders tend to be debate-makers—not just allowing questions, but mining for them and creating debates so that everybody feels comfortable speaking their mind and asking questions.

Start now. There will never be a better time.

Every day is game day in the car business. So, it is not realistic, nor practical to shut down the store while you retool and hire more patriots. Nor do I think it is necessary to replace all your people who display mercenary behaviors—not all people who act like mercenaries are actually mercenaries and not all mercenaries are hardcore.

A conscious focus on patriotic principles, starting at the top and working through the seven actions detailed above, will allow a dealership to transform its culture and people over time, while improving teamwork and performance.

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Herb Mast is President of HealthyDEALER an initiative of COHESION, inc. and is devoted to helping Car Dealers engage their ultimate potential and get better results by doing things with greater intentionality in the areas of leadership, culture, communication, teamwork, and organizational health. Additional insights and practical solutions are available on Herb’s blog at www.HealthyDEALER.com. © Herb Mast 2018

I have found that people with an attitude of gratitude maintain greater positivity, have greater energy, are less stressed, recover from negative events quicker, think clearer, communicate better, are able to learn and retain more, etc…all attributes of great leaders.

Gratitude has a way of shaping perspective – the lens through which we see the world, events, other people, and ourselves – to provide a more positive outlook. Stephen Covey captures the essence of this when he talks about the abundance mentality in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Gratitude is not just a good idea, but scientific studies have found that gratitude is associated with:

• Greater happiness
• More optimism and positive emotions
• New and lasting relationships
• Better health
• More progress toward personal goals
• Fewer aches and pains
• More alertness and determination
• Increased generosity and empathy
• Better sleep
• Improved self-esteem

Do you want to be a more effective leader, and gain the advantage of the scientific benefits listed above? The key is increasing your level of gratitude. One way to do so is by utilizing a gratitude journal.

Try this exercise for the next 30 days and see firsthand how an attitude of gratitude can transform your life and the way you lead:

• Place a notebook on your bedside table (this will become your gratitude journal)
• Every morning before you get out of bed write five [new] things that you are grateful for.

It’s that simple. Give it a try and see what happens!

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

#HERBISM

What are right-guy, wrong-guy conversations?

It was at the beginning of a coaching session with a service manager. I asked him how he was doing. He replied, “it has been a tough week!”

I probed as to why it was a tough week. “I had to let two people go,” he stated.

I probed further and asked why that was tough. I took a risk that he would misconstrue my comments as heartless, but I wanted to get his attention and make a point. “It is always tough letting people go,” he admitted.

“Would you like an approach that would make it easier?” I offered. “Absolutely!” he responded enthusiastically.

“The key is to start letting people go the day you hire them,” I said. I paused for effect and then explained how to have Right-Guy, Wrong-Guy conversations:

• The day a person is hired you explain that you hired them because you believe they are the right person for the dealership and the position. You ask them to validate that they also accepted the offer because they see the dealership as the right organization for them.
• You go on to say that since the two of you are still in the process of getting to know each other it is quite possible that new information arises in future that causes one or both of you to question this decision.
• You ask the person if they are willing to enter into an additional agreement where you mutually commit to addressing each other when something arises in future, whether informational or behavioral, that causes doubts and so that you can work through the concerns together.
• If no concerns arise in future no Right-Guy, Wrong-Guy conversations are needed and everybody goes about their business without having to wonder if all is well.
• If concerns arise you simply request a meeting, remind each other of this commitment, and talk through the concerns in an open, honest, and transparent manner. Both of you use it as a coaching opportunity and move forward without lingering concerns.
• If concerns repeatedly arise and too many Right-Guy, Wrong-Guy conversations are needed it is fair to come to the conclusion that the fit is not right after all and you part ways.

This approach opens the door for open, honest, transparent, and healthy conversations where one of two outcomes is made possible in a productive manner in the shortest period of time:

1. A new hire is given the benefit of the doubt and developed as an individual to become a productive member of the team.
2. A new hire is exposed to the real culture of the company and afforded the opportunity to buy-in or self-select out.

Typically Right-Guy, Wrong-Guy conversations don’t happen because one or both of you wants to avoid conflict. By agreeing upfront to openly address concerns as soon as they arise you open the door to a healthier and more productive relationship where concerns are not allowed to fester and poison the environment.

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

 

Accountability—one of the most valuable, yet often misunderstood and misused, concepts in the car business.

Every wonder why, in spite of all the talk about accountability, most accountability efforts do not produce desired results?

Accountability and policing are both forms of oversight, ensuring that people do or don’t do something. I am convinced, however, that most people have the two concepts confused, thinking they are interchangeable, when they are not. Hence, they approach situations the wrong way.

True accountability, is more effective than policing, but can only take place when an individual has bought-in or agreed to the thing for which they are being held accountable. Oversight without buy-in is policing.

Great leaders welcome accountability knowing that a culture of mutual accountability and transparency will only exist amongst the team when the leader openly demonstrates a willingness to be held to the same standard.

The challenge for most leaders is taking sufficient time to explain “the why” behind the directive and obtain agreement/buy-in.

The car business can be such a fast paced environment that most managers claim they are too busy to provide an explanation for the orders they give. Further, most managers believe people should just follow orders and do what they are paid to do. Hence, for expediency, and probably not knowing better, most managers tell people what to do, impose expectations, and are then surprised and frustrated when their expectations go unmet.

So, they reiterate their expectations, but with increased emphasis and volume. Unfortunately, this approach, which is the definition of insanity, takes even more time, increases stress, and produces inferior results than explaining properly and getting buy-in the first time around. Another way to think about this is that telling is like giving people fish—feeding them for the day—while explaining why and getting buy-in is like teaching others to fish—feeding them for a lifetime.

For more insights and practical recommendations on this subject read the full article Why Most Accountability Efforts Fall Short .

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

 

 

In the words of Abraham Lincoln, “Whatever you are, be a good one.” In other words, be authentic and make the best of who you are.

Great leaders embrace who they are and strive to be the best they can be. Likewise, great leaders embrace who others are and help them to become the best they can be.

A great leader’s formula for success is simple:

1. Be authentic,
2. Choose authentic people who are good at their craft and passionate about the vision,
3. Foster an environment of mutual trust that allows people to function at their best with appropriate boundaries and accountability.

In the process, remember that trust is 25% rational and 75% emotional.

Rational trust is established when a person is competent and reliable. In other words, when they are capable of doing what they say and when they follow through and actually do what they say they would.

More importantly, however, and often overlooked, is emotional trust, which is established when a person is authentic and cares. In other words, when they embrace who they truly are and when they put others’ interests before their own.

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

 

According to the practice of intentionality, leadership is defined as intentional influence. See https://healthydealer.com/intentionality_model/

Great leaders do not force others to do things, rather they appeal to a person’s sense of purpose (plant a seed) and support them (water) as they pursue it—understanding that people do more of what they want to do than what they have to do.

Farmers understand this principle well: they create ideal soil conditions, plant seeds, water, and patiently nurture growth over time.

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.

 

Values cease to be values if they are negotiable. We refer to non-negotiable values as core values.

By definition, a [core] value, is something that we hold as more valuable than anything else, such as our principles. They come from our core and define who we are as people. They form our character, provide foundational boundaries, and regulate how we behave regardless of whether others are watching.

Values in business, together with shared vision, operate like glue to create a strong team bond. But to have that effect there must be clarity, of what the values are, and commitment to stay the course, regardless of the obstacles, hurdles, and temptations that inevitably come our way in any worthwhile endeavor.

When defining core  values be careful not to include aspirational or permission-to-play values as core values. Rather, define them separately as aspirational or permission-to-play values so they can  still have directional value.

Aspirational values are those that you would like to see as part of your future core; something you aspire to. But they are not core today if they are not evident in the way your team behaves today. To misstate aspirational values as core creates cynicism within the team and keeps them from committing to true core values because of how inauthentic it makes they organization and its leaders appear.

Also be careful not to include certain basic values like honesty, integrity, etc into your list of core values. These basic values are called permission-to-play values as they should be self evident in every organization and do not serve to differentiate the organization.

If you have not yet defined your core values commit to doing so in the next three to six months. Your team will benefit greatly from the clarity. It is not an exercise, however,  that should be taken lightly. Often it is helpful to utilize the services of a culture specialist as they come from a neutral standpoint and can hold a team accountable to completing the task.

Defining core values will not only help in giving direction to your current team, but will help you in hiring the right people who share those same values and are committed to following them, thereby strengthening your culture.

Herb Mast is Leadership Coach and Employee Engagement Specialist. Learn how he can assist you in implementing the principles and concepts presented here.