TimTalks: Automotive Leadership and Beyond

Mentorship, Culture & Community with Michael Speigl

• CarNow • Season 2 • Episode 18

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In this episode of “TimTalks: Automotive Leadership and Beyond.” Tim welcomes Michael Speigl, dealer principal of We Auto and industry leader. They dive into what makes great leadership, how to build a winning culture, and the power of mentorship in business. 

Michael shares insights on how his dealerships thrive by focusing on people, community, and core values, while Tim highlights key lessons on gratitude, growth, and success. 

Connect with Michael on LinkedIn. 

Subscribe & Listen: carnow.com/timtalks 


[00:00–02:11] Welcome & Guest Introduction 

Tim introduces Mike Spiegel praising his leadership and intelligence. Mike shares his enthusiasm for joining the show. 

[02:11–05:12] Early Days of CarNow 

Tim recounts how Mike Spiegel played a pivotal role in evaluating CarNow’s early technology, providing key feedback that helped shape its direction. 

[05:12–08:24] Leadership, Culture & Core Values 

Discussing the energy and leadership needed for success, Mike emphasizes the importance of culture and guiding principles in his dealerships. 

[08:24–12:19] We Auto’s Mission & Involvement 

Mike shares the mission of We Auto. He highlights their We Auto University and their extensive charity work. 

[12:19–16:23] Creating a Purpose-Driven Workplace 

Tim and Mike discuss how giving back to the community strengthens workplace culture, making employees feel part of something bigger. 

[16:23–20:38] Leadership Development & Mentorship 

Reflecting on their experiences, Tim and Mike stress the importance of mentorship in leadership. They discuss how coaching future leaders, such as Patrick Abad at Beaver Toyota, ensures sustainable success. 

[20:38–26:23] Growth, Recognition & Employee Development 

Mike shares how We Auto’s core values are integrated into daily operations, emphasizing clear career growth and employee recognition. 

[26:23–34:47] The Mindset for Success 

Tim explains his daily practice of gratitude and reflection, urging leaders to focus on serving others, continuous learning, and self-improvement. 

[34:47–37:32] Closing Thoughts 

Tim and Mike reflect on leadership lessons, encouraging listeners to focus on growth and community impact. 

00:00:00:11 - 00:00:22:18
Speaker 1
Welcome, everyone, to yet another edition of Tim Talks Leadership and Beyond. And, look, I know it might get redundant, but I'm pretty fired up today. Actually, I'm really fired up today because there's some people, I always talk about. We've talked about it in here multiple times. You know what it's like to be on the other side of you, right?

00:00:22:18 - 00:00:47:00
Speaker 1
Asking real questions as far as leadership. Are you a jerk? Are you? But there's some people in your life that you run into, and you just they make you happy, man. They they their energy, the way they look at life, their work ethic. And it's a beautiful tapestry of all the above. This this young man, I may say, because I am a few years older than him.

00:00:47:00 - 00:01:06:09
Speaker 1
You won't. Can't tell that. But, you know, that's a whole other. This young man has, has been a dear friend for a very long time. He's one of the smartest people that I've ever met in my life. You know, we were just talking before the show about suits, and, he is the educated version of Mike Ross.

00:01:06:10 - 00:01:22:03
Speaker 1
Truly one of the smartest human beings. One a dealer, principal, a dear friend, Mike Spiegel. Mike, welcome to Tim Talks. Brother, I love you so fired up to even roll up our sleeves and dive into some leadership talk and a little bit about your story too. Welcome, brother.

00:01:22:13 - 00:01:33:07
Speaker 1
Yeah. I don't think I've ever been called a tapestry before, so that's definitely a first for me. And it's a sign of endearment. Definitely. When you call somebody you love a tapestry. So I'm just as fired up as you

00:01:33:07 - 00:01:46:17
Speaker 1
are. Thank you so much for having me on this. You know, I feel like I've seen all my legends and idols on your talks before, so I just feel honored to be a part of this and, super excited to be here today and happy.

00:01:46:17 - 00:02:11:00
Speaker 1
for a definition, a a a tapestry. If you're googling it right now is a beautiful woven garment, a beautiful woven, maybe you could call it a Afghan. It is a it is taking a beautiful line of thread of generosity, leadership, work ethic, hence a beautiful tapestry. Mike Spiegel that's where I was going with that.

00:02:11:02 - 00:02:33:02
Speaker 1
I know you're educated at Michigan, so, so high of state guys might need to help you out with that a little bit, but, anyway, that's where I was going for you listeners that went to Michigan.

00:02:33:05 - 00:02:34:04
Speaker 1
Right.

00:02:34:04 - 00:02:54:21
Speaker 1
Some, just a little background. Not only is Michael Spiegel, a dealer principal, he is actually a professor at Michigan. And obviously during November, we we enjoy going back and forth in that, the big game. Right? The, the team up north and obviously, the team down south. But, let me just get right into it.

00:02:55:05 - 00:03:18:06
Speaker 1
A lot of people asked. I've been asked through the years. Look, every company goes up and down, but I think it's important, for people to know. And, and I won't spend a ton of time on this, but how Carr now started and Michael had a part in that, knowing or not knowing or everything. But when we started, I left the dealership, Hennessy.

00:03:18:06 - 00:03:36:29
Speaker 1
Lexus, the last day of November in 20 or. Excuse me. Yeah. And and, 2014 and I spent most of you that know me. I'm like a hamster in a hamster wheel. I spent about 2 or 3 days in my, base, an office that I created, my basement. And I was going absolutely crazy. So I took the software.

00:03:37:14 - 00:03:51:23
Speaker 1
If you do or do not know, we were the only. We were the first company in any vertical to add rich content, you know, videos and all this other stuff. And this is about a car now, but that's that's just what's going on. So I reached out to a friend of mine that I've known since she was 16 years old, Holly Arona.

00:03:51:25 - 00:04:11:07
Speaker 1
And I showed her, because I know she was out of this. She. I worked with her at the Lexus store. I showed her the software and she's like, oh my gosh, I need to show my husband, Tony, who has been involved in a couple software companies. And he's like, well, I need to show my best friend John Williams and those of you probably know those of you don't.

00:04:11:07 - 00:04:32:12
Speaker 1
John Williams is an incredible human being. Was the president of Southeast Toyota. And the first thing after I showed him and Tony the software, he says, I've got a really, really smart young man, running, a couple of my stores and, and he's my go to with all things tech. And that was the one and only Mike Spiegel.

00:04:32:12 - 00:04:52:03
Speaker 1
So I would argue Mike Spiegel, other than a few local friends in Atlanta, was the first person to see the technology, and we took his feedback early on. And, the rest is history. So thank you for that, Mike. Thank you for not shutting the door. Thank you for at least liking what you saw. But, you've gone on to some incredible things.

00:04:52:03 - 00:05:11:27
Speaker 1
So, in fact, that was the first, time I got on a plane, which is a whole other story, and actually went to train a dealer group was, your stores, you and Patrick Abbott, you know, Patrick Gabbard, who's been on this show, was at the Toyota store then. So it's just really cool to see you blowing up and being incredible dealer first.

00:05:12:09 - 00:05:23:18
Speaker 1
Principal, an incredible human. And then Patrick bad, you know, taking this, beaver. Toyota announced the largest dealership in Georgia. And it's just incredible to see your your, your walk. So, first

00:05:23:18 - 00:05:26:09
Speaker 1
of all, thank you. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

00:05:40:07 - 00:06:24:27
Speaker 1
Maybe 35 as of today. But no, God has blessed us. And we we I think as of today, I mean, I look at it not every day, but it's 5128. I believe the is the exact number as of this morning.

00:06:25:00 - 00:06:40:01
Speaker 1
Now there's almost 17,000 franchised dealers in the United States. So, what is that? You know? Hey, mister Michigan, what is that math? I don't even know. It's pretty cool. You know, we got a lot of work to do. We've got a lot of work to do, but all all is well, brother, let's just dive

00:06:40:01 - 00:06:40:21
Speaker 1
right into it.

00:06:40:21 - 00:06:59:09
Speaker 1
Because in all seriousness, like Patrick and others that have been on this show, ladies and gentlemen, we want to bring you, the vetted, you know, the best of the best. We talk about it all the time. There's a lot of people that, that, the Great people. But, you know, they're on Facebook, they're all over the place, and.

00:06:59:17 - 00:07:21:24
Speaker 1
And that's okay. But talking about leadership, talking about culture. But you have. I don't want to say quietly, but you have just dominated every place you have been. I notice the guiding principles. I don't think they're, right on either side of you. I don't think there's any coincidence, because I knew there was something different when I walked into Tampa.

00:07:21:24 - 00:07:50:03
Speaker 1
Honda, you know, a decade ago. And how you interacted with your team, how your team interacted with you. Let's just walk through a little bit of that because, again, we've said on this podcast so many times, success leaves clues. And, you know, maybe, you know, there's been some dealerships I've thought that that have done really, really well or I've seen do really, really well, and a lot of people take credit for it.

00:07:50:03 - 00:08:08:22
Speaker 1
And then, you know, they leave in it, it stays the same. And that's great. On leadership. But there was other things that happen. But when you do it at one store, then you do it in another store, then you do it at another store. There's something to that. So let's talk about, you know, your leadership style, why the energy is so incredible the majority of the time.

00:08:08:25 - 00:08:24:01
Speaker 1
Obviously people go through ups and downs, but you're you're guiding principles that are on either side of you one Subaru one or actually both Subaru right now, which is where you're at. Let's let's talk about that. What does that mean to you? And how do you implement that in the day to day in all four of your dealerships?

00:08:24:19 - 00:08:43:19
Speaker 1
Yeah. To back it all the way up to the beginning of the journey. You know? Graduated from University of Michigan over 20 years ago. Unfortunately, I am that old, Tim. We're probably the same age, and we just don't know it. But, you know, started out in 22 at 22, never having been in the car business. I don't have any family members in the car business.

00:08:43:19 - 00:09:06:12
Speaker 1
Really didn't know what I was getting myself into. And so that journey as a 22 year old all the way through today, has been the result of so many people working hard and a common goal. And so that's why we call our organization. We auto and, we're really proud of the culture that we've created. It's not one person.

00:09:06:12 - 00:09:27:07
Speaker 1
It certainly isn't me. And, there's a lot of people, there are a lot of people who every single day focus on trying to do the right thing and trying to live by our core values. So you know, behind us we have our standards, which are the standards of employment. So we have our guiding principles, but we don't have our core values and our mission statement there on the other side of the room, you know, maybe we'll do a tour of the room later.

00:09:27:07 - 00:09:51:06
Speaker 1
But our mission statement is we inspire people to grow, making our families, our team and our community proud. And I think that says it all when when we really talk about why we're here, we're not selling cars, we're not servicing cars. We're here inspiring people to grow, making our family, our team and our community proud. And I just want to point out a few ways that our team really makes that come to life.

00:09:51:06 - 00:10:14:03
Speaker 1
So that first aspect is we inspire people to grow. We have the we Auto University and in the we out at university, we teach everybody everything from life skills, personal finances, you know, health and wellness all the way to, you know, how to appraise a car, how to close a customer and finance, and all kinds of other leadership attributes.

00:10:14:03 - 00:10:41:04
Speaker 1
You know, last year we did over 55, we auto university classes, that taught everything to every associate, from technicians to salespeople to porters to folks in accounting. We really feel like inspiring people to grow. And that mission of people development is the core of what we're doing here. And then when we talk about wanting to make our families, our team and our community proud, we're a family first organization.

00:10:41:09 - 00:10:58:05
Speaker 1
You know, if ever any one of our associates are in any kind of trouble, the first thing comes out of our mouth is family first. Always. And that just speaks to why we're all here. You know, it is a family first organization as so many auto retailers are. And I'd say that's something that's unique to us as well.

00:10:58:07 - 00:11:20:19
Speaker 1
We just really love the business and we're advocates for everybody. We truly feel. And we've had a number of people come visit our organization, and we've gone and visited a number of awesome organizations when, when, when, you know, we're out there spreading, you know, what we do and inviting people in. The thing we often talk about is what an awesome industry this is and how lucky we are to be a part of it.

00:11:20:19 - 00:11:38:27
Speaker 1
There are so many. You know, you mentioned Patrick, but there are so many other great, awesome dealers out there doing the right things that I would love. And I hope that my kids someday go work for them. You know, fire for our kids. We have five kids and it is our why my why? But I don't want them to work for us.

00:11:39:03 - 00:11:55:15
Speaker 1
But I would love for them to get in the business, and I would love for them to work for so many other great dealers. So we want to make our families proud, and then we want to make our team proud. You know, our crew is driven by our team members and we have so many awesome team members. I can give a shout out to so many of them.

00:11:55:17 - 00:12:19:28
Speaker 1
But after family it is our team. And then finally, you know, it's our community. We want to be the organization, not just a, car dealership, but an organization that our communities want to be in. So last year, just in our Ann Arbor campus. So we have two stores in Ann Arbor and two stores in Nashville, and in Arbor, we did over 1000 hours of community service.

00:12:20:00 - 00:12:45:05
Speaker 1
We worked with over 20 different local organizations where we either donated our resources financially or our time with our members, but really partnered in a meaningful way. With over 20 organizations here just in the Ann Arbor community. So, you know, we inspire people to grow, making our families, our team and our community proud. That says everything about what we're trying to create and our mission statement of why we're here.

00:12:45:05 - 00:13:13:07
Speaker 1
I really don't have, I if I had it, I don't know how to drive at home more that nearly every single podcast we've done with it. And they have it all been. You guys know it hasn't been all dealer principles, has been a lot of dealer principles. There is something. And ladies and gentlemen, if you don't get this, I just, you know, you guys in the back row lean in a little bit.

00:13:13:09 - 00:13:59:05
Speaker 1
The dealers that we bring on here that are incredible leaders, incredible humans, they are creating environments, where that we had Troy Duhon on, and the title of the, of the podcast, a couple of the owner and founder of the Premier Auto Group, 40 dealerships and his his charity giving Hope with feeding a thousand people a day with everything that abadi's doing in his community, with local law enforcement and and now, I mean, you hear it over and over again when your people feel like they're not only going to work, to work, they're going to work and the work that they do helps other people in and around the community.

00:13:59:07 - 00:14:26:15
Speaker 1
It changes things. That's when culture starts to change, when they know that organization, their organization, people want to be a part of something. We talk about it all the time. It's it's the it's it's two of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of leadership from Maxwell. It is the, probably the most important one, the law of attraction. We as human beings want to feel like we're part of something bigger than ourselves.

00:14:26:17 - 00:14:51:01
Speaker 1
And so, dealer, principal, general manager, GSM receptionist. You can make a difference, you know, bringing something to the table, allowing, you know, the car dealerships sometimes get a bad rap. And I would argue, because a few make the mini, you know, it's like policemen and pastors and everything else. A few make everybody else. And the majority of them are incredible.

00:14:51:01 - 00:15:21:25
Speaker 1
Humans look bad. But it's people like you, Michael, that are giving so much back to the community and therefore creating an environment that people want to come to. Where it's no coincidence nobody talked about this. Nobody said, talk about your charitable. In fact, this is the first time I'm going even this deep with you on the charitable stuff that you guys do, but, the, the, the United States car dealer is the one that is, you know, sponsoring the baseball fields and the baseball teams in the high schools and giving back to the community.

00:15:21:25 - 00:15:42:21
Speaker 1
It's just it's just an incredible thing. And, it's it's awesome to watch, talk about a little bit. I want to go, like, what was you started very young, as you said. Would you talk a little bit about, I mean, and you rose pretty quickly taking the reins of the two Honda stores and then move, you know, what was your mentality like when you went in there?

00:15:42:21 - 00:16:03:14
Speaker 1
And obviously you had an incredible coach, John Williams, who is, he's another person that gives back, surprise. We probably need to have John on here one time. I mean, it's just over and over and over again. But take us early on in those early days of Wesley Chapel Honda and Wesley Chapel. Excuse me, Wesley Chapel Honda and Tampa Honda.

00:16:03:25 - 00:16:23:23
Speaker 1
Take me back when you started, how you really started getting cranked up. And again, for those of you, Patrick at the time, a bad who a lot of you guys know was at the, Toyota store, there that was the sister store of those two stores. So, ironic. These incredible humans came from the same coach, which is John Williams.

00:16:23:23 - 00:16:32:16
Speaker 1
So. But take us back early on and tell me, because you obviously didn't just poof. Hey, I'm, you know, running both these stores. Take us there.

00:16:41:04 - 00:16:47:11
Speaker 1
Yeah, I know a guy with the last name that. Yeah.

00:17:40:25 - 00:17:48:24
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:17:48:27 - 00:17:52:15
Speaker 1
Yeah. Hey, man. Yeah.

00:18:01:15 - 00:18:33:24
Speaker 2
You.

00:18:33:27 - 00:19:05:17
Speaker 2
You.

00:19:06:13 - 00:19:29:02
Speaker 1
Know. It was pretty evident. When you've got the, you know, the the you and Patrick coming out of that. And now you're you're pouring into. And Patrick's pouring into the, you know, Michael Lupica who's who who's his, his guy at at the Toyota store and really training up that next generation and you're pouring into people and and it's again, we talked about the law of attraction.

00:19:29:07 - 00:19:51:04
Speaker 1
And then, as important, once people say, hey, there's something going on here at We Auto, you know, it's the law of duplication and it's pouring into people, and being okay with it. I think a lot of times in this car business and I kind of bump my head, you know, or any in any business. And I've said it multiple times, but I believe it.

00:19:51:22 - 00:20:15:07
Speaker 1
Pride, and insecurity are the two and they're probably the same thing. Are the two biggest killers to any dealership. And quite frankly, any business, especially for someone either trying to climb that corporate ladder, somebody to make a name for themselves, it's quicker to maybe take shortcuts, to not worry about the person beside me stepping on, you know, that type of mentality.

00:20:15:07 - 00:20:38:23
Speaker 1
And then when people get some sort of success, whether they're the top sales person, top general manager, you know, with market share, whatever that they're, there's come something there's like this struggle inside people's brains that now I'm the smartest person in the room and they'll never say it out loud. But then they walk into the sales meetings, or they walk into the boardrooms and they let maybe they let people speak, but they never change their mind.

00:20:38:23 - 00:20:58:24
Speaker 1
It's keeping that open mind. Those are the people that humble themselves, that say, hey, I'm not the smartest person in the room. And I want to learn more and I want to learn. There's things that you can learn from your salespeople, from your receptionist, and having that kind of heart, I've seen it firsthand with you is, why do you think it's so difficult?

00:20:58:24 - 00:21:17:19
Speaker 1
And maybe this is a whole other level conversation and by the way, we did not give each other lists of questions. We're just randomly, you know, because this stuff's important, to people. Why do you think so many people, unfortunately, miss that? There's a lot of incredible stores. Your store, we have people on. But why do leaders miss that?

00:21:17:19 - 00:21:26:25
Speaker 1
Is it just the pride aspect or why? Why do you think, that a lot of dealers are missing the boat, or companies for that matter?

00:21:27:10 - 00:21:37:19
Speaker 1
You know what I would say to that is there are. Certainly. Are some companies missing the boat per se on that sort of, you know, team we dynamic. But there are also a lot

00:21:39:24 - 00:21:44:14
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:21:44:16 - 00:21:48:17
Speaker 1
Yep.

00:21:48:17 - 00:22:11:10
Speaker 1
at the end of the day, there is no one woman or one man who runs these bigger organizations. It truly takes a village. I mean, unequivocally, you know, the folks who are in detail, the folks who are in advertising, the folks who are, you know, running your finance departments, the sacrifices that everybody make for this common vision truly are the differentiator.

00:22:11:13 - 00:22:31:08
Speaker 1
And what I would say to go back to your original question, going back to to the way it worked for us, modeling it at a young age for, for us was just so important in that instilling the culture early on that it takes everybody and we're all going to grow up together and we're all going to be successful together.

00:22:31:10 - 00:22:34:11
Speaker 1
If I were to guess, some of those

00:22:41:07 - 00:22:47:19
Speaker 1
That's a great point.

00:23:08:15 - 00:23:29:12
Speaker 1
You know, you said something there, and. And I think it's spot on in kind of a light bulb went off in my little brain. I mean, I really believe that. I really believe, you know, I was brought up, not everybody. I had some great sales managers and some great dealer principals. Obviously, Don Moffitt, who was the vice president seat back in the day.

00:23:30:03 - 00:23:52:03
Speaker 1
He was a hero of mine. It was that whole there was something about those guys back in the day, man. They would come into the dealership and it was almost like there was a glow about them. I mean, they were like, oh my gosh, there's there's John Williams, there's, there's, there's Don Moffitt. But it was because even though they had these big titles with, with set, they came into the room and they listened and they cared.

00:23:52:03 - 00:24:05:20
Speaker 1
And, and I can remember Don Moffitt rolling up his literally rolling up his sleeve. And he owned the dealership and he was doing a lot parties and, and, he was a big dude. And we used to work out together sometimes and, and he'd arm wrestle technicians in the back. I mean, he was that guy, you know what I mean?

00:24:05:20 - 00:24:33:00
Speaker 1
And and that type of mentality, like an US mentality. But I also before I got to that dealership, I worked with, you know, the the guy, you know, crunching my, my, my worksheet up and throwing it at my face and go get more money and that, you know, you know, that type of mentality. And you're right. It had to I had to see it firsthand to figure out that this is if I ever am given the opportunity.

00:24:33:00 - 00:24:49:07
Speaker 1
This is the way I want to run a store. This is the way I want to run an organization with not being a pushover and singing Kumbaya every day, but creating a culture in which you have done, creating a culture that, people obviously

00:24:49:07 - 00:25:03:02
Speaker 1
want to hit their numbers. They obviously want to hit their financial goals. But is such that if they do mess or come short, sometimes they feel bad and they come to you and say, boss, listen, it's not going to happen again.

00:25:03:02 - 00:25:22:07
Speaker 1
This is what's going on. These are the four things that we're going to do to get better next time. And I really think that's the key. You know who's going to be that person, even if you did get brought up in this car business with the ladder, you know, the leadership on the other side that maybe didn't, you know, care as much.

00:25:22:07 - 00:25:45:18
Speaker 1
And maybe in was yelling and throwing things and, and that kind of thing. You know, that that just stuck with that be the one that makes the difference, be the one that breaks the chain, be the one when you get your opportunity. Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know how many more people we're going to continue to do in the podcast, but the the the theory is the same is come in create culture.

00:25:45:18 - 00:26:05:04
Speaker 1
I see the reason I mentioned, your standards and your guiding principles. You have them there for everybody to see. I think it's no coincidence that a bad has the same thing a lot of people, that's something we're working on in our organization. You know, career growth. You know, sometimes people want to grow. And look, we've made many mistakes, many mistakes.

00:26:05:04 - 00:26:23:20
Speaker 1
But but in your organization and others, it's right there if you want to get here. This is what we stand for and this is what you have to do. I think that, at least I have fallen short of that in the past, and that's such incredible to see. You want to talk about that? I mean, how many other places are that in it?

00:26:23:20 - 00:26:43:00
Speaker 1
Is there a process that you go through? You talked about the classes that you give? Is that part of the classes, that you pour into your people that they know your, your mission statement, they know your brand. They know what they have to do if they're a, you know, a ten minute oil change tech, you know, lube tech to to get to ask certified tech like, is there a process within your store.

00:26:53:09 - 00:26:57:07
Speaker 1
Sure. We'll have a part to.

00:26:57:07 - 00:27:04:26
Speaker 1
you know, when we when we started coming up with what were our core values and what did we want our mission statement to be?

00:27:05:00 - 00:27:31:14
Speaker 1
We did use an outside third party source kind of moderator over a few sessions that worked with our leadership team to kind of brainstorm, form and implement and think about what does it mean to be part of we auto and, you know, our core values are essential. And we do talk about our core values. At the beginning of all of our, training classes, one of the first slides you see is our core values.

00:27:31:16 - 00:27:53:07
Speaker 1
Our core values are up in our training rooms. All of our training rooms, our core values are up in our shops. Our core values are up in our accounting office. It's just one of those things that it's tough to be an employee for more than 60 minutes without seeing our four values, and why those are so important to us is because we all have to have the same vision.

00:27:53:09 - 00:28:14:27
Speaker 1
And in order to build that vision, we need to have those core values and where are we going? So even when we talk about, you know, are we care Awards, every year we do this really large celebration of employees. You know, we rented out the big house. We rented out Comerica Park for the Tigers play. We're running out the Henry Ford Museum.

00:28:14:29 - 00:28:35:17
Speaker 1
And it's just this award show to celebrate everybody. But we celebrate people in accordance with our core values. You know, those are the things we celebrate. We don't have, you know, a top production. This sales person sold the most, most amount of cars are created the most amount of gross. We have an award. That's the commitment to caring award.

00:28:35:19 - 00:28:59:21
Speaker 1
You know, the things that we celebrate more than you know, just who turned the most amount of hours last year as a technician. Not that that's not important. Production matters. I don't want to diminish that. You know, we we absolutely focus on that. The sales and net, the gross and being the number one Toyota dealer in the state, being the number one super dealer in the state and all those things, it matters for us.

00:28:59:24 - 00:29:11:26
Speaker 1
But the things that we celebrate and that we talk about and we really try to accentuate our, our core values, and our mission statement. And so we think it's fundamental to everything that we do.

00:29:12:26 - 00:29:17:25
Speaker 1
That is, ladies and gentlemen, success leaves clues. That is I. And I've been

00:29:17:25 - 00:29:36:10
Speaker 1
taking notes. I've got a whole, I'm. These are such good ideas, even for our organization, as we continue to try to get better commitment to caring. In fact, I don't know. I don't know if the camera can see it. Early on, you know, every year we have an annual meeting and there's a different theme.

00:29:36:10 - 00:29:41:11
Speaker 1
And, and the team, they're much better now, but the team always thought it was funny to make

00:29:41:11 - 00:29:53:02
Speaker 1
a goofy emoji of myself. And the first one was go forth and crush early on, but right behind, it was go forth and serve. Because I really believe when we have that

00:29:53:02 - 00:30:06:23
Speaker 1
servant mentality, it changes everything. I, I was just, I can't remember was I oh, no, I was just on a yeah, I was on another somebody else's podcast that was trying to, you know, we were talking about leadership.

00:30:06:23 - 00:30:27:00
Speaker 1
And I really think, something that has helped me and this isn't about me, but I want to help others. And we've shared a little bit about it today. I think it's mindset. I think there's so much noise going on when you watch the news and what's going on around the world. And are you red? Are you blue?

00:30:27:00 - 00:30:47:05
Speaker 1
Are you like all this stuff? And I really something that has helped my little ad 900 mile an hour typical car guy brain, even though I know you're much smarter than me, you're a. If you guys missed it, Mike was actual professor. Not only does he do 58 other things during the day and known for dealerships is incredibly Q man, he is a professor at at Michigan.

00:30:47:08 - 00:31:16:03
Speaker 1
But if we're really going to simplify it for me, and if I could just help you for a second, there's two things that I do on a daily basis that have really only been the last year that I've worded it this way in my brain, that hopefully will help you when you talk about serving, when you talk about that mindset and you talk about, the commitment to caring a word, you know, I have a quiet time every day, every single morning when I when the first thing get up, no noise, no anything.

00:31:16:05 - 00:31:36:02
Speaker 1
And I and I give thanks for what I'm grateful for. But even and I'm not talking about, you know, the company or, you know, even. But once we realize is human beings. Because at the end of the day, if you're human beings that work for your organization are better human beings, you're going to have a better organization. Period.

00:31:36:05 - 00:31:59:28
Speaker 1
And for my little brain, you know, I do realize that there are millions of people with all the problems we have. You, back row Baptist, lean in a little bit and listen up. No matter what problem you're going through, period. And I know it could be a lot. And I know it could be heavy sickness, divorce, drama, arguments.

00:32:00:01 - 00:32:33:24
Speaker 1
But listen, there are millions of people. This is what I realized in my brain. There are millions of people laying in hospital beds all over the world that would that are truly begging to have your problems. And when I start the day that way, when I start the day with a roof over my head and with it and and it goes back to Maxwell, my, my, the thing that I talk about all the time is just for today, because I have, ladies and gentlemen, you have today to be the best leader, the best salesperson, the best daddy, the best mommy, the best a significant other.

00:32:33:29 - 00:32:56:24
Speaker 1
We have today when we start the day with, I understand gratitude, and I'm thankful that I can even stand up on my own, that I can see when we start that day and then that. Just for today. Because just for today, allow me to treat more, others as though they're more important than me. That means the people that we work around, that means the people.

00:32:56:27 - 00:33:15:22
Speaker 1
For me, the toughest part is going to work in the car when someone cuts me off, right? And then at the end of the day. So a wake up with gratitude. Number two, when the day is done and there's no social media to post and there's no podcast to be on, you dead in the mirror. Look at yourself.

00:33:15:22 - 00:33:40:23
Speaker 1
The great philosopher Ofer Michael, who is also named Michael Michael Jackson. The great philosopher Michael Jackson once said, I'm starting with the man in the mirror. And when can you really ask yourself a start with gratification? Gratitude. Be go to bed and only and only you can answer this. Did I truly do everything that I could today? Did I make that extra phone call?

00:33:40:23 - 00:34:03:02
Speaker 1
Did I help my colleague when I should have? I should have done this. How did I do? And we take and we look at the game film and then we're like, okay, these are the adjustments to the to the plays I need to make the next day. What happens. It continues to roll. So I want to encourage you, for us simple folk that aren't professors at Michigan, I would encourage all of you to start the day that way.

00:34:03:02 - 00:34:28:03
Speaker 1
Do we fight fail? Absolutely. Do we fall down? Absolutely. But you want to create an organization. You want to be an incredible human like Michael. I'm telling you right now, that is a great place to start because we can we can pour into all the training we can do. You know, this and that. But at the end of the day, when the people that you work with are like minded and thinking that way, hold, hold the phone.

00:34:28:03 - 00:34:47:20
Speaker 1
It's on. So, just a quick commercial. That's the only way that I can do it, because it seems like so much, you know what I mean? And, dude, you're running for stores. You're. But it seems like so much. But when we literally water it down for today and treating people as though they're more important than yourself, I think it it, it takes shape pretty quickly.

00:34:47:20 - 00:34:48:29
Speaker 1
What are your thoughts, Michael?

00:35:14:19 - 00:35:17:04
Speaker 1
Amen.

00:35:17:04 - 00:35:31:02
Speaker 1
Awards. You know, our dealerships win or you win personally. There's always somebody better and there's always somebody with a better culture and a better fit. And so that gives us all the inspiration we need to continue to work every single day to be

00:35:33:08 - 00:35:39:07
Speaker 1
Amen.

00:35:40:00 - 00:36:01:21
Speaker 1
Well, I love your message, brother. And we're going to have to have a part two because I believe we're at time. Try to keep around 30 minutes, because that's the average commute to and from the dealership to and from your place of business. We hope that we've given you a little bit of hope today. Again, Michael, I in fact, I, I've got I'm going to when we hang up here, I'm going to look at my calendar.

00:36:01:21 - 00:36:23:10
Speaker 1
I'm going to figure out when I can get up there or maybe even Nashville, depending on when you. That's only 3.5 hours away from Atlanta. I'm. I'm landing the plane here, realizing that I need to, to surround myself with incredible humans like Mike Spiegel. Thank you so much, brother, for your time on our podcast and taking the time because, it's not like, you're not busy every day.

00:36:36:06 - 00:36:50:17
Speaker 1
I'm sure you're going to tell me.

00:36:50:19 - 00:36:58:15
Speaker 1
I love you so much, brother, I truly do. Ladies and gentlemen, we are bringing you the best of the best. We're bringing you the top

00:36:58:15 - 00:37:09:23
Speaker 1
1% in automotive. That is no frickin joke. Thank you so much for taking some time out of your day. Please hit that subscribe button. No matter where you find your podcast.

00:37:10:02 - 00:37:32:10
Speaker 1
Spotify is growing very, very quickly, among others. So, listen, hopefully, you know what we're trying to do. We're just trying to get a little better every single day. As we always say, listen, no one is smarter than everyone. Let's just continue to get better together. We'll see you next time.