Gatekeepers of Culture: Leading and Protecting Teams with David Spisak

This episode of TimTalks dives deep into the essence of leadership, culture, and resilience, featuring David Spisak, president and CEO of Disruptive Growth Solutions LLC. Drawing on decades of experience, David shares his journey from running the most profitable dealership in America to now, emphasizing the critical role of leadership in an industry accustomed to cycles of change.

David and Tim explore the concept of being “gatekeepers of culture” and its significance to protecting a workplace’s environment and success. David highlights recruiting not just as a means to replace but to upgrade, advocating for emotionally intelligent and self-driven individuals.

The discussion serves as both an inspiration and a practical guide for leaders striving to create environments where their people and organizations can flourish.

Connect with David on LinkedIn.

[00:00:00 - 00:04:02] Introduction

Tim introduces the episode and guest David Spisak, reflecting on their relationship, Tim’s new role as a grandfather, and why leadership matters.

[00:04:03 - 00:05:58] Guest Background

Tim sets up the conversation asking David to reflect on his success in the industry.

[00:05:59 - 00:08:28] Leadership and Personal Milestones

David shares insights into owning the most profitable dealership in the nation with a less than a 3% turnover rate, citing mentorship and caring about the little things.

[00:08:29 - 00:10:55] Creating a Successful Culture

David stresses that culture and self efficacy as drivers for exceptional performance.

[00:10:56 - 00:12:12] How David Strove to Lead

David reflects on his task to raise the ceiling at the Mercedes store he stepped in to run, focusing on his people and importance of leading culture.

[00:12:13 - 00:14:39] Leadership Values

Tim shifts to the importance of resilience, staying calm during crises, and pouring into your people.

[00:14:40 - 00:17:27] Coaching Through Challenges

David expounds on Tim’s point, highlighting workforce shifts in the industry and talent needing additional support while navigating new challenges.

[00:17:28 - 00:22:53] Becoming “Gatekeepers of Culture”

David introduces the concept of being a "gatekeeper of culture" and encourages leaders to hire for values over talent, foster a collaborative team, and develop their teams.

[00:22:54 - 00:23:50] Hallmarks of Thriving Organizations

David argues that the hallmarks of a successful organization include: a strong culture and being data-centric, processes-driven, and obsessed with their clients.

[00:23:51 - 00:25:26] Hiring for Long-Term Success

Tim pushes deeper into “gatekeepers of culture,” asking David how to continue hiring the right people.

[00:25:27 - 00:27:23] Hiring the Right Person

David stresses to focus on long-term team cohesion over immediate talent, not stressing on hiring a person but the person.

[00:27:24 - 00:29:46] EQ Is the X Factor

David argues that the hiring “X factor” is a person’s emotional quotient, or EQ.

[00:29:47 - 00:32:50] Closing Thoughts

Tim closes the episode, thanking David for his time and further reflecting on what “gate keepers of culture” means to him.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 4:03 Guest Background
• 5:59 Leadership and Personal Milestones
• 8:29 Creating a Successful Culture
• 10:56 How David Strove to Lead
• 12:13 Leadership Values
• 14:40 Coaching Through Challenges
• 17:28 Becoming “Gatekeepers of Culture”
• 22:54 Hallmarks of Thriving Organizations
• 23:51 Hiring for Long-Term Success
• 25:27 Hiring the Right Person
• 27:24 EQ Is the X Factor
• 29:47 Closing Thoughts

Transcript

00;00;00;25 - 00;00;09;05
Speaker 1
In over three decades, I've learned that truly great car dealerships are only great because of one thing leadership. So I'm sitting down with the great.

00;00;09;05 - 00;00;12;09
Speaker 2
Men and women. Inspiring Automotive on Tim Talks.

00;00;12;12 - 00;00;21;02
Speaker 1
Automotive Leadership and beyond. You welcome everyone for yet another episode.

00;00;21;02 - 00;00;23;29
Speaker 2
Of Tim Talks. I'm giggling a little bit, maybe a.

00;00;23;29 - 00;00;29;11
Speaker 1
Little giddy today. I have on, our show.

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Speaker 2
Tim.

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Speaker 1
Talks leadership.

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Speaker 2
And beyond. One of my favorite.

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Speaker 1
People, although we don't talk every.

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Speaker 2
Day and and and, you know, compare notes.

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Speaker 1
We do talk a lot. I have a lot of respect.

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Speaker 2
For this human being. In fact.

00;00;43;19 - 00;00;45;00
Speaker 1
What you soon will.

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Speaker 2
Find.

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Speaker 1
Out. Tim. Talk listeners, is that, if those sex.

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Speaker 2
Brings that commercial back, the most interesting man in.

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Speaker 1
America is probably.

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Speaker 2
Going to be the one and only.

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Speaker 1
David Spease at David, welcome.

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Speaker 2
To Tim Talks, my friend.

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Speaker 3
Thank you. I appreciate you having me. It's, it's a pleasure to be here, Tim. And support anything that you're doing. You bring a lot of good into this world, so I'm happy to do it.

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Speaker 1
Right, I love you, I appreciate.

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Speaker 2
You saying that.

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Speaker 1
But, you know, I.

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Speaker 2
I, I don't even know where to.

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Speaker 1
Start.

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Speaker 2
You know.

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Speaker 1
You guys, this is.

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Speaker 2
It is a.

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Speaker 1
Mess. So this is a true statement. So. So if you're listening to this smooth.

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Speaker 2
Sounds, that is.

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Speaker 1
David Spees voice. We were at a conference together a year or so ago. I think it was two years ago. And I said, you know, I have a really 100% true. I have a really stressful job. You know, people everywhere, you know.

00;01;38;15 - 00;01;41;21
Speaker 2
Things burning down, things coming up, craziness. You know, would.

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Speaker 1
You speak.

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Speaker 2
Into my phone and.

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Speaker 1
And so I could just listen.

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Speaker 2
To that sometimes when I'm tired and, and sure enough.

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Speaker 1
David was so gracious. You're going to think we're really weird. I'm really weird now, but said, he.

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Speaker 2
Spoke on the phone and the recording was Tim.

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Speaker 1
You've worked hard today.

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Speaker 2
And went on and on and on.

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Speaker 1
And it was just the greatest.

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Speaker 2
Thing, and I used it, and somehow I had an ICO.

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Speaker 1
Issue. So you're gonna have.

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Speaker 2
To record another one of those.

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Speaker 3
David. You know, the truth is, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. But Tim, didn't want I think he didn't want to pony up the $7 a month for a com app. And so, yeah, he was willing to use me as a cheap alternative. So I think you called your own voicemail, and I left a voicemail.

00;02;27;21 - 00;02;47;13
Speaker 3
Just talking about the wonderful guy that you are. Yeah. And just, you know, just reminding you to, take a moment and just remember who you are and all the good things you do in this world. I think the time to breathe term and and, by the way, speaking of breathing. Yeah. You just became a grandfather.

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Speaker 2
I just became a grandfather.

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Speaker 1
I sure did, and.

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Speaker 3
In regulation time, what is the young, lady or young lady's name?

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Speaker 1
The.

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Speaker 2
Young lady, my little granddaughter.

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Speaker 1
Is Charlotte Grace. Good old southern.

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Speaker 2
Name, Charlotte.

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Speaker 1
Grace is Charlie for short. So,

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Speaker 2
Love that thing more than anything. If I could just squeezing her really hard.

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Speaker 1
That's that's my only problem.

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Speaker 3
To be arrested for that. So be careful. Don't do that when you're inebriated. Well, congratulations. You know, I there's nothing more important. You know, that is not more important. I think we all know that inherently, obviously, is is. I mean, we always hear about the. Why, you know, why do we do what we do?

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Speaker 3
Why does it matter? There's a great book by Marcus Buckingham. You know, now discover your strengths. First, break all the rules. Those books. And and one of the things in there is, is what I'm doing is the company I'm working for does have a purpose. And I think that oftentimes we forget about that. So I appreciate you doing this because leadership matters.

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Speaker 3
You know obviously our families matter. Why we do this matters. So I'm just happy to be here. Ask away.

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Speaker 2
Awesome.

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Speaker 1
So so let's let's start.

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Speaker 2
And look.

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Speaker 1
You're we were talking before this, and I was actually.

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Speaker 2
Talking to.

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Speaker 1
Patrick a bad yesterday.

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Speaker 2
Buying a car for my.

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Speaker 3
Favorite.

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Speaker 1
People, as a matter of fact.

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Speaker 2
Or helping.

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Speaker 1
And he was like, David's feedback is.

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Speaker 2
Literally one of my.

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Speaker 1
Favorite.

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Speaker 2
People. And he's like, did you know you as a comedian? I'm like, no.

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Speaker 1
He's like, did you know he played the guitar? I said, no, so he's like.

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Speaker 2
One of my favorite human. So not only.

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Speaker 1
Are you a a.

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Speaker 2
Funny man and a comedian and a have a great personality and musically.

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Speaker 1
Talented.

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Speaker 2
But you know.

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Speaker 1
As far as the automotive space.

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Speaker 2
You've done something that I don't know has ever been done.

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Speaker 1
Before.

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Speaker 2
So let's, let's and again, I know.

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Speaker 1
I tell people all the time.

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Speaker 2
We're going to have.

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Speaker 1
People listen. This podcast and.

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Speaker 2
It depends on, you know, some people wake.

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Speaker 1
Up.

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Speaker 2
You know, victorious, and some people.

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Speaker 1
Wake up.

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Speaker 2
A victim and.

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Speaker 1
They get the yeah, butts.

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Speaker 2
And they're going to hear your story. And then I'm like.

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Speaker 1
Yeah, but.

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Speaker 2
Not in my.

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Speaker 1
Market. Yeah. But that was a while back.

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Speaker 2
I'm going to.

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Speaker 1
Argue that people are still people and leadership is still leadership. But take us.

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Speaker 2
Back to your Mercedes.

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Speaker 1
Store. Several.

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Speaker 2
Many.

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Speaker 1
Well.

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Speaker 2
I'm not sure how many years.

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Speaker 1
Ago.

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Speaker 3
All those many years ago.

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Speaker 1
Oh, those many years ago. A 60 or 70 years?

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Speaker 2
No, no, no, it.

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Speaker 1
Was just long ago.

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Speaker 2
It wasn't that long ago. But number one, one of the most.

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Speaker 1
Profitable dealerships.

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Speaker 2
In the United States.

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Speaker 3
Was.

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Speaker 1
The most profitable dealership.

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Speaker 2
United States. And number.

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Speaker 1
Two.

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Speaker 2
And probably maybe.

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Speaker 1
More impressive, you had zero.

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Speaker 2
Turnover.

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Speaker 1
Or.

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Speaker 3
Less than 3%.

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Speaker 1
Less than three.

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Speaker 2
Percent turnover in your.

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Speaker 1
Dealership. So you've set the bar pretty high for people coming on. This podcast. So walk us through that. Like what did that look like? Why?

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Speaker 2
You know,

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Speaker 1
2.3%.

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Speaker 2
Turnover or even.

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Speaker 1
3%.

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Speaker 2
I mean.

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Speaker 1
How does that work? You know.

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Speaker 2
Can you walk.

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Speaker 1
Us through that? How you how you.

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Speaker 2
Empowered your.

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Speaker 1
People, led your people? Obviously, we don't have ours because you probably could.

00;05;54;26 - 00;05;55;22
Speaker 2
Write multiple books.

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Speaker 1
But just take us through that process.

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Speaker 3
Well, you know what it all means. You're going to love hearing this. And it's not surprising. This is not novel. This isn't something where somebody is going to, run their car, hopefully into a Paul, as I say, something prophetic, it's a matter of leadership. Right. And it didn't start with me, honestly. Bill Smythe, who was the patriarch of that store?

00;06;22;20 - 00;06;44;02
Speaker 3
You know, it really started with him, and he was somebody who just he was the quintessential gentleman, lead by example. Just there's things I'll never forget. I'll never, ever wash out of my mind. I poorly in 20 years forget my own name. But I will not forget lessons that Bill Smith taught me. And one of those things which is little things.

00;06;44;02 - 00;07;05;04
Speaker 3
I remember that we did walk around the dealership and if there is garbage, you wouldn't ask him to pick it up. He picked it up when he went by the customer lounge. You straighten out the magazine, he said hello to everybody. And you know, we had at one time early on, you know, maybe 125, 130 employees that swelled up to 350 plus 353, to be exact.

00;07;05;06 - 00;07;27;22
Speaker 3
And he taught me one of the things he taught me was you got to get out of your office and wander around every day. And, and I felt like so unproductive to him because I felt like I'm if I'm not doing something, you know, that has to do with revenue generation. I'm not being productive. Of course, we have that awful term in this business and a lot of businesses where you have, productive and nonproductive employees.

00;07;27;22 - 00;07;59;08
Speaker 3
That simply, of course, means productive, meaning variably com revenue generating versus non producing, revenue producing but terrible term. But I just felt like I wasn't being productive. And he taught me quite to the contrary having the opportunity to walk around to speak to people. And he would also say this. He said never talk to people about work. When you walk around, talk to them about them, talk to them about their passions, talk to them about their family, about their kids soccer game.

00;07;59;10 - 00;08;19;20
Speaker 3
Get to know them as human beings. And it's a tough position as, you know, leadership. It's, an old saying, it's lonely at the top. It is lonely at the top at times because as a leader, you can't pitch down. You can only be a job. And there's a point where if you get to the top of leadership, look up, there's nobody there.

00;08;19;23 - 00;08;44;09
Speaker 3
So that's why it's so critical to have kind of be a council. If you were a strong network of people you admire and you respect. But long story. Boring. He created a culture. He created a fat, fantastic foundation. Second thing is his son, Michael, who decided he didn't want to be in the car business long term and hence why I ended up where I ended up.

00;08;45;01 - 00;09;12;15
Speaker 3
But Michael made a decision that also was important. And by the way, for anybody listening, I think it's important that we slow down and we stop and listen to things. And but like, it's almost like, read between the lines or listen in between some of the words. Is that so? The patriarch set that that ground level of foundation, of kindness, respect, consideration, all of those things.

00;09;12;17 - 00;09;38;21
Speaker 3
Michael came along and saw an opportunity to bring in somebody by the name of Lou Tice. Tim, Pacific Institute of Seattle, extraordinary family, extraordinary organization. Him and his wife, Diane, took in at risk kids, kids that were born to, people that were addicted to crack, for example, kids that were dropped between the cracks, kids that were 11, 12, 15, not just, hey, I'm going to adopt a cute little six month old baby.

00;09;38;24 - 00;10;00;16
Speaker 3
They took all of them. And and it was very difficult at the time span even was battling cancer, which here's another lesson she was told by not one, but not two. I remember Lou telling us this, that it was terminal stage for cancer, and she was told to get her affairs in order than live 20 years after that.

00;10;00;23 - 00;10;27;23
Speaker 3
By the way, the power of the mind is extraordinary. When people tell me, like you said, I don't buy it. Or there was a different time, different place. I just would love to remind all of us that when we think things are unimaginable, it turns out they're oftentimes only unimaginable to us in that moment. Because the reality is, until and unless we can see it, we can see ourselves doing it.

00;10;27;26 - 00;10;54;01
Speaker 3
The human brain is is wired in such a way that we will not pursue anything, that we will not think that we can make happen. So there's actually a term for that called self-efficacy. So bottom line, great foundation. I was brought in to frankly, was a little bit of a country club environment, and I was brought in to to help along with other people raise the ceiling on the place.

00;10;54;01 - 00;11;24;22
Speaker 3
So, you know, we we ended up becoming a top five Mercedes volume store in the country. We went from doing 130 cars a month total to 500 cars a month. Our frontline only can handle 23 cars, by the way, was a difficult situation. 3.9 acres. Through our our technician staff from about 35 to 107 fixed gross from about 700 grand to 2.3 2.4 million a month in fixed gross, net to sales over ten.

00;11;24;24 - 00;11;55;21
Speaker 3
And most importantly, everybody wanted to talk about the profit. I wanted to talk about the people, because those people that that foundation was built and those people that we served every single day, those people that we were so, obsessed with creating this incredible work culture, sales culture, client culture. That's what really ultimately paid the dividends. You know, the money, the 29 plus million in net was a byproduct of leadership.

00;11;55;21 - 00;12;11;23
Speaker 3
A Bipoc product of culture and a byproduct of taking care of our people. And that, I believe, without a shadow of a doubt, allowed this incredible team of people to be able to go out and have equal obsession with helping our customers.

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Speaker 1
Now it's incredible. We all go through, I think, a.

00;12;15;08 - 00;12;17;05
Speaker 2
Key, and even in my own life.

00;12;17;05 - 00;12;17;14
Speaker 1
Is I.

00;12;17;14 - 00;12;22;12
Speaker 2
Sit and listen and, you know, we've had some incredible humans thus far.

00;12;23;00 - 00;12;27;13
Speaker 1
And obviously even today on on this talk, I have to.

00;12;27;15 - 00;12;27;20
Speaker 2
You.

00;12;27;20 - 00;12;29;02
Speaker 1
Know.

00;12;29;05 - 00;12;31;10
Speaker 2
Call myself in check sometimes because even.

00;12;31;10 - 00;12;35;00
Speaker 1
Today, you know, I got a migraine. You've got I had two.

00;12;35;00 - 00;12;35;28
Speaker 2
Things that didn't go my.

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Speaker 1
Way.

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Speaker 2
Had one thing that were, you know, you're constantly juggling as a leader.

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Speaker 1
But at the.

00;12;40;28 - 00;12;42;00
Speaker 2
Same time, you.

00;12;42;00 - 00;12;42;27
Speaker 1
Have to because we're all.

00;12;42;27 - 00;12;43;25
Speaker 2
Human. There's nobody.

00;12;43;25 - 00;12;44;13
Speaker 1
That goes through.

00;12;44;13 - 00;12;45;11
Speaker 2
Life unscathed.

00;12;45;11 - 00;12;51;15
Speaker 1
Right? There's nobody goes through life without, you know, you're either here or there or you know, you're at the top.

00;12;51;15 - 00;12;53;10
Speaker 2
Of the mountain, you're bottom of the valley, you're getting ready to.

00;12;53;10 - 00;12;56;17
Speaker 1
Go back up like it's a constant. And I do believe.

00;12;56;17 - 00;13;00;17
Speaker 2
That it is an art. And it's and it takes special people.

00;13;00;24 - 00;13;04;23
Speaker 1
And I have to work on that every day because you, you, you.

00;13;04;26 - 00;13;07;18
Speaker 2
When bad things happen, when you're in front of your.

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Speaker 1
People, it's show time.

00;13;10;07 - 00;13;12;26
Speaker 2
When you're in front of your, you know, you can be struggling.

00;13;12;26 - 00;13;17;17
Speaker 1
But like you said, you, you, you look up and.

00;13;17;17 - 00;13;18;26
Speaker 2
And who are you looking up to?

00;13;18;26 - 00;13;20;14
Speaker 1
These people are looking up to you.

00;13;20;14 - 00;13;26;26
Speaker 2
They need they need that calm leader, that during whatever storm. I mean, you know, we've.

00;13;26;28 - 00;13;27;16
Speaker 1
This this.

00;13;27;16 - 00;13;29;00
Speaker 2
Industry has gone through.

00;13;29;06 - 00;13;30;12
Speaker 1
Obviously to the two.

00;13;30;12 - 00;13;32;16
Speaker 2
Thousand and eight 2009 cash for.

00;13;32;16 - 00;13;33;07
Speaker 1
Clunkers.

00;13;33;14 - 00;13;33;25
Speaker 2
Oh my.

00;13;33;25 - 00;13;34;17
Speaker 1
Gosh, the world's.

00;13;34;17 - 00;13;38;20
Speaker 2
Going to end. And during the pandemic.

00;13;38;20 - 00;13;41;12
Speaker 1
Best, you know, from best profitability to everybody's.

00;13;41;12 - 00;13;43;17
Speaker 2
Chasing acronyms now trying to get their.

00;13;43;17 - 00;13;44;07
Speaker 1
Their.

00;13;44;10 - 00;13;45;13
Speaker 2
Their statements, you.

00;13;45;13 - 00;13;49;01
Speaker 1
Know, back to where they were two years ago. So we have these ebbs and flows.

00;13;49;08 - 00;13;50;00
Speaker 2
And we do need.

00;13;50;00 - 00;13;51;16
Speaker 1
Leaders that that pour.

00;13;51;16 - 00;13;54;11
Speaker 2
Into people. I heard someone say one time.

00;13;54;14 - 00;13;55;13
Speaker 1
That,

00;13;55;15 - 00;13;57;10
Speaker 2
And I think this is so and I heard it.

00;13;57;10 - 00;13;58;15
Speaker 1
Years ago.

00;13;58;18 - 00;14;00;15
Speaker 2
Can't even remember who said it. You know.

00;14;00;15 - 00;14;03;00
Speaker 1
It is incredible what.

00;14;03;00 - 00;14;07;19
Speaker 2
Happens when you start chasing significance in your.

00;14;07;19 - 00;14;09;19
Speaker 1
People's lives.

00;14;09;22 - 00;14;12;11
Speaker 2
Then success comes. So chasing significance.

00;14;12;14 - 00;14;13;07
Speaker 1
And again.

00;14;13;10 - 00;14;15;11
Speaker 2
Easier said than done. You know, it's.

00;14;15;11 - 00;14;15;25
Speaker 1
Easy.

00;14;15;25 - 00;14;16;08
Speaker 2
For me.

00;14;16;08 - 00;14;17;13
Speaker 1
As the old car dog.

00;14;17;18 - 00;14;23;20
Speaker 2
Sitting at the desk, you know, how many ups, how many, you know how many, how many demos, how many. But at the same time, it.

00;14;23;20 - 00;14;24;25
Speaker 1
Is miraculous.

00;14;24;25 - 00;14;25;05
Speaker 2
When.

00;14;25;05 - 00;14;27;24
Speaker 1
You pour and hear people about what.

00;14;27;24 - 00;14;28;08
Speaker 2
Things that.

00;14;28;08 - 00;14;29;20
Speaker 1
They care about.

00;14;29;22 - 00;14;30;28
Speaker 2
Everything changes.

00;14;31;06 - 00;14;35;05
Speaker 1
That that is just absolutely so, so true.

00;14;35;08 - 00;15;04;01
Speaker 3
Jim, it's interesting that you bring that up. You know, these things of those of us that have been in the business 20, 30, 40 for me, 45 years, things we've seen, some things we've gone through some things. And, and you learned some lessons from that. One of those is that, hey, we're still standing right. Foreign GM thought they were going to take over the dealer network or when Black Monday happened in 1987, or when you had the recession, as you remember in in oh eight.

00;15;04;04 - 00;15;25;13
Speaker 3
Right. E-com was going to ruin things. Social media was going to ruin things for us. Uber was going to destroy new cars. We're still standing. Yeah, right. And that's one. But the other thing is, is, you know, I think it's easy to forget or maybe even just not think about the fact that anybody that was there was that's less than, say, 38 years old.

00;15;27;08 - 00;15;51;26
Speaker 3
They've never been through any kind of turmoil or challenge. I'm not saying their life I'm seeing in the car business because the Forbes 2008, I mean, come on, credit was easy. And after you came after 2009, since then we've been on a, you know, normally bull markets historically last about seven years. And this thing is like nearly double that.

00;15;51;26 - 00;16;19;15
Speaker 3
So from 2009 until, frankly, the end of the pandemic and the chip shortage, it's been a pretty good time. It's been easy. Homes have been inexpensive. Interest rates are cheap. Gas is cheap. You know, it's just there hasn't been a whole lot of headwinds. And then all of a sudden post-pandemic, depending on the franchise, right. It started happening either late 21 or 22.

00;16;19;17 - 00;16;49;18
Speaker 3
And everybody sends Toyota and Lexus at this point. You know, it's been punched in the face. And so if you think about it, anybody under 30 eights never had experience having to navigate a boat through bad waters. Yeah. And so I think it's important again, from a leadership perspective that anybody that has the opportunity, first of all, to be kind enough to people to understand when people don't get things done, it's either a lack of ability or lack of will, right?

00;16;49;18 - 00;17;24;15
Speaker 3
If it's a lack of ability, we coach them. Lack of will, different conversation. But kindness matters. Respect matters. Dignity matters, and development matters. So taking the time to develop our people that have not been through those storms is incredibly important right now. I just got off the phone with the dealer group I work with a lot, and they don't have a single GM in a single store that is ever had to weather a storm before, and so they're just trying to figure things out as they're going through things in real time.

00;17;24;15 - 00;17;27;21
Speaker 3
It's tough for a lot of dealers out there.

00;17;27;23 - 00;17;28;29
Speaker 1
Yeah. It is.

00;17;30;17 - 00;17;31;24
Speaker 2
To that note.

00;17;31;28 - 00;17;40;21
Speaker 1
The dealers that have that incredible culture that have those, leadership skills that empower, you.

00;17;40;21 - 00;17;43;17
Speaker 2
Know, I love what Maxwell. And we've talked.

00;17;43;18 - 00;17;44;03
Speaker 1
It about.

00;17;44;03 - 00;17;48;16
Speaker 2
Men. We've talked about it many times on this podcast. One of my favorite.

00;17;48;19 - 00;17;49;15
Speaker 1
Books that he wrote.

00;17;49;15 - 00;17;50;22
Speaker 2
Is the 21 Irrefutable.

00;17;50;22 - 00;17;51;16
Speaker 1
Laws of Leadership.

00;17;51;16 - 00;17;52;00
Speaker 2
And the Law of.

00;17;52;00 - 00;17;52;22
Speaker 1
Attraction.

00;17;52;22 - 00;17;55;05
Speaker 2
And then the Law of Duplication, the Law of Attraction.

00;17;55;05 - 00;17;55;29
Speaker 1
Okay, this guy is.

00;17;55;29 - 00;18;00;03
Speaker 2
Doing something different. Everybody knows, you know, every town has.

00;18;00;03 - 00;18;06;24
Speaker 1
That store, right? Atlanta has that store or couple stores, you know, that everybody wants to either.

00;18;06;26 - 00;18;08;26
Speaker 2
Run from or run to.

00;18;09;01 - 00;18;10;01
Speaker 3
Or emulate, you know.

00;18;10;01 - 00;18;10;27
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah.

00;18;10;28 - 00;18;13;00
Speaker 2
And and and and and those.

00;18;13;00 - 00;18;13;21
Speaker 1
Types of leaders.

00;18;13;28 - 00;18;14;15
Speaker 2
You know, in your.

00;18;14;15 - 00;18;16;16
Speaker 1
Travels. David, David, obviously you speak all.

00;18;16;16 - 00;18;17;27
Speaker 2
Over the country. You're a consultant.

00;18;17;27 - 00;18;21;28
Speaker 1
To a lot of dealer groups. Is there a common like what are you seeing.

00;18;22;02 - 00;18;24;07
Speaker 2
What. And, and, and and your.

00;18;24;07 - 00;18;32;23
Speaker 1
Words with the leadership good bad ugly good whatever that that you were saying, you travel probably as much.

00;18;32;23 - 00;18;33;20
Speaker 2
If not more than I do.

00;18;33;21 - 00;18;35;06
Speaker 1
Like, is there a constant.

00;18;35;06 - 00;18;37;07
Speaker 2
Theme, a denominator, common denominator.

00;18;37;07 - 00;18;37;26
Speaker 1
That you are.

00;18;38;03 - 00;18;39;04
Speaker 2
Are seeing or is it just.

00;18;39;04 - 00;18;39;29
Speaker 1
All over the board? I'm just.

00;18;39;29 - 00;18;43;20
Speaker 2
Curious. And again, this is unrehearsed, unplanned. I'm just asking because I know you.

00;18;43;20 - 00;18;46;23
Speaker 1
Travel quite a bit and a lot of people look to you.

00;18;47;09 - 00;18;51;21
Speaker 2
For your leadership and guidance and, you know, consulting them to navigate.

00;18;51;21 - 00;18;53;06
Speaker 1
Through through this.

00;18;53;09 - 00;19;16;11
Speaker 3
So I'll start with this. You mentioned something about, you know, leaders don't panic, right? Nobody wants to hear that panic I was sharing with somebody fairly recently that when my 37 year old was born, I have a daughter. I'll be 41 in a couple of weeks at least. And my son, Trey's 37, and then, I took about 27 years off to rest.

00;19;16;11 - 00;19;37;07
Speaker 3
And I have two young sons. Jackson is ten and Jagger, who's eight. I was kind of hoping one of the older ones, if I waited long enough, they would raise the younger ones. But, it lasted. Didn't happen. But he had a lot of respiratory issues. And so we found ourselves in the year, on multiple occasions, unfortunately.

00;19;37;09 - 00;19;55;15
Speaker 3
And, and it was really interesting to me that when you go into an E.R., anybody who's ever been on E.R., especially with their kids, will notice a lack of emotion. So interesting, isn't it, to come in and frantic. Some of these items have been cut off. They can't breathe, you know, whatever. And these guys seemingly have no emotion, no compassion whatsoever.

00;19;55;15 - 00;20;12;02
Speaker 3
Hey, could you just. Yeah. I know you can't breathe, but can you just sort out the fire hose that we can't breathe is turning blue? Yeah, but you just. Can I just check that box, fill out that form saying that, and then they tell you, just relax, sit there and and enjoy some of these deceased magazines that a thousand people have looked at who are ill.

00;20;12;05 - 00;20;30;23
Speaker 3
And we'll go back and do what we did. And I used to think, man, that's so lacking of compassion and rude. And I didn't get it. And then I've been on many flights. I think you have. And I've had a couple emergency landings on commercial flights. Nothing to for effect, which is, you know, engine one at one time.

00;20;30;23 - 00;20;50;08
Speaker 3
Another time it got struck by lightning and take it down in McAllen, Texas, instead of landing in Houston. And of course, the pilot, if you're ever in that situation, comes on and says, hello, everybody. This is the pilot speaking. I hope you're enjoying your flight. You know, right out of the left window there's the Grand Canyon that's heading north.

00;20;50;08 - 00;21;10;14
Speaker 3
That's where we're about to crash. We've lost or and should I need to worry, I've been to this in the simulator. Just enjoy your incredibly large bag of peanuts, and we'll be on the ground shortly. Not where it says on the ticket, but, hey, we're at least we're on safely. You don't want leaders to to panic.

00;21;10;14 - 00;21;36;14
Speaker 3
You can't. Right. So let me circle back to your question. It starts at the top, right. Secondly, you got to remember from the very top and then it works its way down each and every one of those people. First and foremost, Tim has to be a gatekeeper of culture. You cannot let anybody into your store that is going to erode or decay a culture that you say is important to you.

00;21;36;17 - 00;21;58;24
Speaker 3
If you want to deliver spectacular experiences to your clients, if you want to have a culture where people want to come to work. I think of the Beaux Arts organization where it takes two years to get an entry level position, or most stores they can't find people. Well, why is that? Well, because people are dying to go to work there rather than dying to leave to find a different opportunity.

00;21;58;26 - 00;22;19;14
Speaker 3
So number one, it does start at the top. Number two, you have to make sure that you've got a formalized recruiting plan. And are you the kind of place that people want to come to work for? Right. Three are you only looking for people when somebody terminates when they leave on their own, or you terminate them? Or are you looking for people?

00;22;19;14 - 00;22;42;09
Speaker 3
I always say don't recruit to replace, recruit to upgrade. Cause to be looking for ways to upgrade your team, your staff. Another thing is development. There common theme in the best organizations is development. Another one is they don't operate on their gut. And yeah, I know some people are going to say, hey, I've been doing this for 35 years and I've been doing this.

00;22;42;09 - 00;23;09;24
Speaker 3
I'm an amazing, you know, an interestingly, it's 99% of those people don't ever have the resume or the results to back up that statement. But that notwithstanding, guys, it's 2024. Apple, Tesla, Amazon, Starbucks, Fedex, Nvidia. Pick a company. Any company you admire respect to is valuable. They are data centric and they are. They are process driven, data centric, process driven.

00;23;09;27 - 00;23;34;03
Speaker 3
If you want a theme, you've got leadership it protect their culture. Above all, they are obsessed with their clients. They don't ever let somebody come into the store. That's going to weaken the culture of that team. And they are data centric and they are process driven. When you combine those with the initial things I mentioned and development, it's a home run.

00;23;34;04 - 00;23;45;16
Speaker 3
Those organizations that you either fear or you hate or you wish you could be like them. I promise you, those are the hallmarks of those organizations.

00;23;45;19 - 00;23;47;03
Speaker 2
Now that that is incredible. In fact.

00;23;47;03 - 00;23;47;17
Speaker 1
I.

00;23;47;17 - 00;23;49;07
Speaker 2
I'm taking notes myself.

00;23;49;07 - 00;23;54;09
Speaker 1
I love the gatekeeper of culture. So I.

00;23;54;09 - 00;23;55;22
Speaker 2
Think that and.

00;23;55;24 - 00;23;56;28
Speaker 1
There are several dealers that.

00;23;56;28 - 00;23;57;28
Speaker 2
I know personally that.

00;23;57;28 - 00;23;58;10
Speaker 1
Are that are.

00;23;58;10 - 00;23;59;27
Speaker 2
Dear friends of mine that.

00;23;59;29 - 00;24;03;11
Speaker 1
That hired people that, that,

00;24;03;14 - 00;24;04;11
Speaker 2
You know, maybe it.

00;24;04;11 - 00;24;05;01
Speaker 1
Was a.

00;24;05;05 - 00;24;05;13
Speaker 2
Not.

00;24;05;13 - 00;24;06;15
Speaker 1
So great hire.

00;24;06;15 - 00;24;06;27
Speaker 2
And they.

00;24;06;27 - 00;24;09;29
Speaker 1
Weren't that gatekeeper keeper of.

00;24;10;02 - 00;24;11;09
Speaker 2


00;24;11;11 - 00;24;12;09
Speaker 1
The particular store's.

00;24;12;09 - 00;24;15;12
Speaker 2
Culture. And unfortunately, they they didn't last.

00;24;15;12 - 00;24;16;05
Speaker 1
How do you.

00;24;16;06 - 00;24;16;21
Speaker 2
You know.

00;24;16;21 - 00;24;20;29
Speaker 1
How.

00;24;21;02 - 00;24;22;19
Speaker 1
I've had bad hires.

00;24;22;22 - 00;24;24;21
Speaker 2
I'm sure you know.

00;24;24;21 - 00;24;27;00
Speaker 1
What do you do? You know the old.

00;24;27;00 - 00;24;29;02
Speaker 2
Saying,

00;24;29;04 - 00;24;31;04
Speaker 1
Hire slow, fire, fast, right.

00;24;31;06 - 00;24;32;03
Speaker 2
You know, is.

00;24;32;03 - 00;24;32;27
Speaker 1
There.

00;24;33;02 - 00;24;34;14
Speaker 2
You know, at your Mercedes.

00;24;34;14 - 00;24;35;17
Speaker 1
Store.

00;24;35;19 - 00;24;35;29
Speaker 2
Even.

00;24;35;29 - 00;24;39;07
Speaker 1
Now, like, have you seen.

00;24;39;09 - 00;24;40;09
Speaker 2
Sometimes we miss.

00;24;40;09 - 00;24;42;12
Speaker 1
Right every. Everyone's what.

00;24;42;12 - 00;24;44;09
Speaker 2
I call Miss America on a job interview.

00;24;44;09 - 00;24;44;18
Speaker 1
Or a.

00;24;44;18 - 00;24;45;23
Speaker 2
Software demo. Right?

00;24;45;23 - 00;24;47;22
Speaker 1
Oh, I'm seeing my dashboard.

00;24;47;22 - 00;24;48;23
Speaker 2
Oh. I'm there. And you try.

00;24;48;23 - 00;24;50;05
Speaker 1
To write, really ask great.

00;24;50;05 - 00;24;51;21
Speaker 2
Questions and.

00;24;51;23 - 00;24;52;06
Speaker 1
You.

00;24;52;06 - 00;24;58;26
Speaker 2
Get the ones you try not to ask, you know, what are your weaknesses? And I work too hard and I care too much and all the other crap. So, you know.

00;24;58;28 - 00;25;01;24
Speaker 1
What do you how do you as you're.

00;25;01;24 - 00;25;03;20
Speaker 2
Building that bench.

00;25;03;22 - 00;25;05;23
Speaker 1
Right as your, as your.

00;25;06;06 - 00;25;08;23
Speaker 2
Formalizing your recruiting plan and.

00;25;08;23 - 00;25;10;27
Speaker 1
As you worded it, how do you.

00;25;10;27 - 00;25;12;08
Speaker 2
Continue to make sure.

00;25;12;08 - 00;25;14;03
Speaker 1
That you're get the right people.

00;25;14;06 - 00;25;16;09
Speaker 2
And and less I don't know if anybody's.

00;25;16;09 - 00;25;16;20
Speaker 1
Batting a.

00;25;16;20 - 00;25;19;16
Speaker 2
Thousand here. I'm sure not.

00;25;19;19 - 00;25;21;25
Speaker 1
But how do you personally.

00;25;21;28 - 00;25;22;29
Speaker 2
Encourage to make.

00;25;22;29 - 00;25;23;21
Speaker 1
Sure that.

00;25;23;21 - 00;25;24;16
Speaker 2
You know.

00;25;24;25 - 00;25;24;29
Speaker 1
We're.

00;25;24;29 - 00;25;25;17
Speaker 2
Hiring the right.

00;25;25;17 - 00;25;26;26
Speaker 1
People?

00;25;26;29 - 00;25;49;09
Speaker 3
So a couple things. And, you know, this is something that I, again, I'm really proud of. It's never you'll never hear me kind of brag about the sales and the money or anything like that. It's those things are a byproduct. But yeah, I'm proud of that. The fact that we had under 3% employee turnover, I'm proud of, you know, the last time I've lost an employee to ask me, the last time I've.

00;25;49;11 - 00;25;52;17
Speaker 1
Lost an employee.

00;25;52;19 - 00;26;20;04
Speaker 3
Early 2000. I am a lost employee. Since then, I didn't lose one of my software company. I haven't lost one now. I haven't lost. And I remember the last time I lost one was. I think I went nearly 20 years without losing anybody. You can't do that unless you bring the people on. You can't do that unless, you know, we had all of our managers, the senior managers go to, leadership training with Disney and learn how to hire with Disney.

00;26;20;04 - 00;26;40;19
Speaker 3
And one of the things they did is they made sure that every hire, when it came down to the end, that they had to be interviewed by the three, three most senior managers or three managers, department managers and two others. If one of the three said less than 100%, you don't bring them on. I know that's painful. A lot of people want to hire a person.

00;26;40;19 - 00;26;58;16
Speaker 3
We want to hire the person, right? You don't want a person to raise your kids. You don't want a person to teach your kids. You don't want a person to work with your mom to sell them a car. You want the person, right? You don't want a person to marry your son or daughter. You want the person you know.

00;26;58;18 - 00;27;22;19
Speaker 3
Does that mean there's only one person? No, but it means that they have hallmarks in and of themselves. I mentioned hallmarks of stores. Let's talk about hallmarks of people say they're self driven, they're self actualizing. They're kind, they're humble. They're respectful. They've got work ethic like nobody's business. And so there's something called an X factor, which all of us have heard forever.

00;27;22;19 - 00;27;45;20
Speaker 3
Oh they've got the X factor. What is the X factor. Well I've come to believe that the X factor turns out to be E to emotional quotient, because people that have very high IQs have exceptional abilities to be able to calm a situation, to be able to navigate through tough times, to be able to handle, you know, adversity and obstacles.

00;27;45;22 - 00;28;05;20
Speaker 3
They also are prone to assess themselves. They're the ones that are going to buy the time. If they have an off month and you want to give them a good talking to, they've already had that talk with themselves. They don't look at the clock. They're self driven, self actualizing and prone to doing the right things. So I think IQ has been missed.

00;28;05;23 - 00;28;26;03
Speaker 3
I keep telling my dealers, could you please listen to that statement? Can we please have this be the last day that we're surprised by things that were 100% predictable? When you hire based on experience alone, why do we do that? Do you have experience in sales team? Yeah, absolutely. Ten years straight. What have you been averaging nine for as the month.

00;28;26;04 - 00;28;47;08
Speaker 3
So you have ten years of experience of being average okay. Yeah. All I want you please come aboard Jim and help reduce the value of my company. You know please. No. Why do you want. I would rather hire potential, Jim. I'd rather hire people that have high IQ and have that drive, that potential to want to get better.

00;28;47;11 - 00;29;09;00
Speaker 3
Because if I could do that, and I could build a team of people that genuinely care about each other, these people care about you, Jim. Even though you hired him, they care about you. They care about the people that they work with and they care about your clients. So I think that when we focus on those things and again, we started with people and leadership.

00;29;09;03 - 00;29;32;23
Speaker 3
Now we're over here on the associated side. And it's it's also about people first and last thing. I think it's important to keep in mind not all managers are leaders and not all leaders are managers. Some of the best leaders you have in your organizations around the country? Yeah, some not managers, but they're movers, shakers. They inspire people and people around them.

00;29;32;26 - 00;29;37;16
Speaker 3
Both managers and associates listen to them. Yeah.

00;29;37;18 - 00;29;41;10
Speaker 1
That is so good. It's I know it's good when I take a legal.

00;29;41;10 - 00;29;43;10
Speaker 2
Pad full of notes and a and a and a.

00;29;43;10 - 00;29;44;28
Speaker 1
Short podcast. So.

00;29;45;29 - 00;29;51;24
Speaker 2
This has been, this has been phenomenal. We're probably going to have to do around two.

00;29;52;12 - 00;29;53;14
Speaker 1
As we, as we.

00;29;53;14 - 00;29;54;23
Speaker 2
Land the plane.

00;29;55;21 - 00;29;57;10
Speaker 1
I just wanted to thank you for.

00;29;57;10 - 00;29;59;29
Speaker 2
Taking just a few moments. So many golden.

00;29;59;29 - 00;30;04;13
Speaker 1
I love gatekeeper of culture. Are you?

00;30;04;15 - 00;30;05;04
Speaker 2
Ma'am?

00;30;05;04 - 00;30;11;00
Speaker 1
Sir, are you a gatekeeper of culture in your business?

00;30;11;01 - 00;30;11;27
Speaker 2
In your.

00;30;11;27 - 00;30;12;26
Speaker 1
Dealership?

00;30;12;26 - 00;30;15;17
Speaker 2
Are you setting a standard?

00;30;16;19 - 00;30;18;20
Speaker 1
Doesn't mean you're perfect, but are.

00;30;18;20 - 00;30;20;02
Speaker 2
You setting a standard to.

00;30;20;02 - 00;30;27;19
Speaker 1
Where you're listening to your people? I love I love walking around, the dealership. In fact, the hardest part with me leaving the dealership.

00;30;27;19 - 00;30;28;26
Speaker 2
And you did the exact same thing.

00;30;28;26 - 00;30;31;26
Speaker 1
You left the dealership world. You went into the software world.

00;30;31;26 - 00;30;34;15
Speaker 2
I've done the same thing. And the difference is, I'm in.

00;30;34;15 - 00;30;34;25
Speaker 1
This.

00;30;34;25 - 00;30;37;16
Speaker 2
Office, and we have, you know, 200 and.

00;30;37;16 - 00;30;38;02
Speaker 1
50 people.

00;30;38;02 - 00;30;42;14
Speaker 2
Around the country. And I can't put my arms around them. Can't love on them. I, you know.

00;30;42;14 - 00;30;42;23
Speaker 1


00;30;42;23 - 00;30;43;21
Speaker 2
Often. So.

00;30;43;21 - 00;30;47;25
Speaker 1
So that part's difficult. So you have to text, you have to call, you have to, you know, do these.

00;30;47;25 - 00;30;50;13
Speaker 2
Types of things to keep them engaged and let.

00;30;50;13 - 00;30;51;21
Speaker 1
Them know that you do.

00;30;51;21 - 00;30;53;20
Speaker 2
Care. And, and,

00;30;53;23 - 00;30;55;25
Speaker 1
Anyway, I think it's so.

00;30;55;27 - 00;30;57;10
Speaker 2
So important.

00;30;57;17 - 00;30;57;28
Speaker 1
David.

00;30;57;28 - 00;31;03;06
Speaker 2
Thank you for taking the time. I know you're extremely busy, and, I learned a lot today.

00;31;03;06 - 00;31;04;04
Speaker 1
Hopefully you.

00;31;04;10 - 00;31;05;04
Speaker 2
Learned a.

00;31;05;04 - 00;31;09;03
Speaker 1
Lot today, too. Thank you for tuning. Yeah, I yeah, I you.

00;31;09;03 - 00;31;35;10
Speaker 3
Know, I wouldn't you can't, you know, crazy time. You can't teach people without learning. You can't give a compliment without feeling better about yourself. I mean, that's cool thing about life. So. And one last thing. Just don't be fooled. Anybody out there, don't be intoxicated or tempted to hire somebody because, hey, they sell 30 cars a month. At 30, come, a person can cost you 50 cars a month and a whole lot of culture and morale.

00;31;35;16 - 00;31;56;00
Speaker 3
So that's why this stuff that Tim's talking about is so critical and I, I appreciate you bringing this important subject and adding that this conversation to the industry. So wish you and and your team of 250 all the best with you and your new granddaughter, your newly expanded family. All the best and thanks for having me on.

00;31;56;02 - 00;31;56;28
Speaker 1
Awesome! I love.

00;31;56;28 - 00;31;58;04
Speaker 2
You brother. Thank you so much.

00;31;58;04 - 00;32;00;04
Speaker 1
We'll have to catch the next event.

00;32;00;24 - 00;32;03;26
Speaker 2
Listen, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for taking a few minutes out.

00;32;03;26 - 00;32;04;27
Speaker 1
Of your day.

00;32;05;08 - 00;32;06;11
Speaker 2
To tune in and look.

00;32;06;11 - 00;32;07;05
Speaker 1


00;32;07;07 - 00;32;16;29
Speaker 2
I'm just a hillbilly from Kentucky that loves on people, and I'm just trying to give back. I'm on the back nine, as they say, and I just want to pour into people's lives. If you can take one thing out.

00;32;16;29 - 00;32;18;05
Speaker 1
Of one of these podcast.

00;32;18;05 - 00;32;18;27
Speaker 2
And make your.

00;32;18;27 - 00;32;24;26
Speaker 1
Business better, make your life better. We talk about gratitude all the time. David spoke about it, you know. What are you.

00;32;24;26 - 00;32;25;10
Speaker 2
Waking.

00;32;25;10 - 00;32;26;12
Speaker 1
Up? Grateful.

00;32;26;19 - 00;32;29;03
Speaker 2
All the things that we're talking about, man.

00;32;29;06 - 00;32;32;06
Speaker 1
That is what life's about. What we say.

00;32;32;06 - 00;32;36;29
Speaker 2
Always on Tim talks. No one is smarter than everyone.

00;32;37;01 - 00;32;37;15
Speaker 1
We will.

00;32;37;15 - 00;32;38;14
Speaker 2
Just continue.

00;32;38;14 - 00;32;48;26
Speaker 1
To get better together. We will see you soon to I.

00;32;48;28 - 00;32;49;13
Speaker 1
You.