Blog

I’ve always loved the great coaching icons of American professional and college sports,  Lombardi, Landry, and Wooden, for what they taught us about playing the game the right way and not only winning, but winning Championships.

 What they taught their players about character and leadership also applies to business and perhaps to none as much as our own American franchised retail auto business.

While each of these coaches approached the game differently and had different coaching styles, they all built championship-winning teams. They took men of different temperament, skill levels, game experience, motivation, and discipline and molded them into champions and winners through consistent application of Process, Accountability, and Motivation to Excellence.

 John Wooden was the master of Process, and led his teams to four perfect 30-0 seasons, 88 consecutive wins, and 10 NCAA championships from 38 NCAA consecutive tournament wins! John Wooden, who taught what counts in life – and in the game, is what you learn after you know it all.

 He taught that fundamentals– mastering game processes and building character in his players– always brings a huge return to any team (whether it is on the gridiron or showroom floor). In his book They Call me Coach, he taught coaches to “Manage the Game...not the Score.”

 That lesson is very relevant to our business. If we manage our game (showroom floor) and not the scoreboard (sales board at month end), all of the success we desire will come our way. If we focus on process and not the end-result, we will have our head in the game and crush our competition.

If we focus on our Test Drive, Product Presentation, Manager TO, Service Walk, and Follow Up percentages, we will be running our store like John Wooden would run it, and we will be on our way to 88 consecutive wins and 10 NCAA championships...

Vince Lombardi was the master of Motivation, creating champions through excellence, determination, and commitment. He took over a losing Green Bay team that already had seven future Hall of Fame players on it and found the greatness in those players that had not yet surfaced.

After losing his first playoff game, he committed to his team that they would never lose another one. They won every playoff game they faced thereafter. Lombardi believed that you played every down as if it were the one play that would change the outcome of the game. How many times do we take a play off as a sales team (not calling the customer from last night that might still buy a car from you)?

As a leader are you constantly looking for ways to motivate your staff to be as determined and committed as a Lombardi team? Who is your team’s head coach and motivating force in your drive to excellence?

Tom Landry brought a unique form of Accountability to the Dallas Cowboys for 29 years as their head coach, creating “America’s Team” in the process. He compared management in business to a head coach by his belief that our job as managers (just like a head coach) is to “Get your people to do the things they DON'T want to do, so they can get the things they want in life.”

His players did not want to run wind sprints, practice in the snow and mud, or watch game film that showed poor decisions and missed blocks. He had to force them to do those things so they would be ready on game day to “beat an opponent who did not have that extra speed needed to win a game of inches.”

Do your salespeople want to make be-back calls or prospect their database for in-market customers? Do you make them do the things they DON'T want to do in order to get the things that they want? If Landry were running your showroom, you bet he would!

Consider these gridiron kings infused Process, Accountability, and Motivation in their leadership styles. Are you leading the charge in your dealership by combining all of these elements into a single unique management style that will lead your team to 88 straight wins --and never lose another playoff game while you are steering the ship?

Every coach and every team wants to win championships – but just a few are willing to do what it takes to make that dream a reality. Set your mind today to lead your team to victory and become the Master of your own Gridiron.