LEAD, FOLLOW OR GET OUT OF THE WAY!

Three Characteristics Of A Great Leader

By Brandon Prokupek

Leadership development has been a key factor in my success at the dealership level. It’s the magic potion that cannot be physically seen in the dealership but can be felt and seen on our P&Ls. The reason leadership development works so well is because inside the subject of leadership are skill sets and values that allow your employees to grow themselves professionally and it empowers them to be confident in decision making. Often, the best decision is the one made with speed and confidence.

Leadership gives employees the mindset as well as the compass to make decisions. Leadership starts at the top. That’s you, the owner or GM of the dealership. They say you can’t push a rope uphill, you have to go to the top and pull it up. People are always looking for someone with direction and they are looking for someone to take interest in their professional career. Once you do this you will motivate your staff to work even harder (and they will be happy about it) and thus your customer will have a better experience. This is the key to retaining what you have gained, the experience the customer receives when they walk in or call in to your dealership.

Character, Communication & Consistency

These three things are the foundation of becoming a great leader. Leadership develops daily, not in a day. If you think you can read one book or watch one video on leadership and think it’s going to make you a great leader, you might as well not even start. Leadership is a lot like investing, if you think you’re going to make a killing in a few days you’re going to be highly disappointed.

What matters is what you do day by day over the long haul. I’ve been on my leadership journey for over 6 years now and I still am learning and growing to become a better leader.

Character Leaders without inner strength can’t be counted on day after day because their ability to perform changes constantly. You can’t get much done if you only work on the days you feel good.

Character communicates potential. You don’t build trust by talking about it, you build trust by achieving results always with integrity and in a manner that shows personal regard for the people you work with.

Character communicates respect. Respect is earned by making sound decisions in regard to what’s fair for everyone involved in the situation. By making decisions that are not around your own personal interests or agenda you are showing your employees your true character and that you can be trusted to make the right decision no matter the circumstance.

To have and keep good character you must communicate. Communication is key to maintaining good character. If your staff don’t know what’s going on or what the common goal is, you will have a bunch of people just “doing their jobs” and not rowing the boat in the same direction.

Communication

Communication is the key in forging relationships and making your leadership as strong as possible. Communication is one of the most important things you can do as a leader. When you keep people in the “know” as to what’s going on in the dealership, where you’re going and what you’re trying to accomplish you keep everyone on the same page and then they see how they can help accomplish those goals.

Communication is also important because you have to be able to communicate when you mess up. Let’s face it, everyone makes mistakes and bad decisions. The key to becoming a great leader is your ability to admit when you make a mistake… and you have to do it quickly! People are forgiving and are willing to accept the fact that you made a mistake as long as you can put your ego aside and admit fault. This builds trust with your people and also opens up an environment of honesty.

Consistency

If your people don’t know what to expect from you, at some point they won’t look to you for leadership. Character communicates consistency and consistency is what people need from you to be able to trust that you will lead them in the right direction. If you show up every day and are consistent in your leadership and actions you will earn the respect from your peers and ultimately be trusted to lead your team to new heights.

What you don’t want to do is go full blast into any of these subjects if you cannot sustain it long term. Everyone is going to have ups and downs, that’s just life. What you want to do is find a speed for you that you can be consistent with day in and day out. Sometimes you’re going to have to push harder than others to get to that speed but remember what’s important.

We help Powersports Dealers drive traffic into the dealership, leads into the CRM and ultimately help close more deals. Our digital marketing strategies are proven to increase dealership sales. Our main focus is driving clients to the dealership’s website as well as in the front door.

www.motorsportsmarketinggrp.com

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