Automotive Shop Owners are Teachers

Teachers by Rick White, President 180BIZ

I want to talk about the fact that we are all teachers. That everyone in your life as a teacher. I want you to think about yourself. As a teacher, you have two options. You're either going to come in as an example, or you're going to come in as a warning. Be aware of what kind of lessons are coming into you so that you learn from them, not react to them.

If you're not careful, you will project outward what coming in. If you allow a lot of negativity, warnings, people that aren't doing the right things to come in you’ll do the same. If you're surrounding yourself with negativity, you’ll project negativity. Be aware of the input. What kind of lessons are coming at you, warnings or examples? That's the first thing.

The second thing I want you to be aware of is the lessons you’re putting out. I want you to know what lessons you're putting out intentionally because everybody's a teacher.  They are either a warning or an example.  And that is completely true.

But the reality is you can have one person be the same thing. You can have one person that in one area is an example, and you can have another, that is a warning. And I'll give you a perfect example this morning, my grandson and I are up, and Brenda was lying in bed. I was running late, but I still took the time to make breakfast for my wife. To me, it wasn’t a big deal. I slice up a banana, make some toast, and I pour her a cup of coffee.  But she didn't think I had time. And it just was a special thing. That really lit me up because my grandson was able to see what a real man should do as far as treating the woman in his life, his partner. And for me, that was a great example moment. But last weekend, they came over with their mom and I was being a grump. There were some other things going on and I projected anger everywhere. At that point I was a warning.

Be careful about what we're projecting. So, I'm going to ask you to be more intentional this week about whether you're coming to everything you do as an example or as a warning. And the reason why I'm saying this is because if you don't pay attention to this, I can almost guarantee you you're going to be more warnings than examples. I don't want to see that happen. So I want you to step back and be a great example for your team this week.

I want them to see you take great care of a customer. I want them to see you step up and take a bullet for the team. I want them to see you stop what you're doing and show them that they matter more than what you were doing. I think that's important. Because that's how you create the culture. Everybody wants this environment, the culture to be amazing, and that culture will never happen until your team knows you have their back all the time. So be intentional about who you bring. Be intentional about how you respond. If you're reacting, I'm telling you right now, you're a warning. But if you give yourself a breath and you say, “What's the outcome? What do I want out of this?” Now you become the example.

It's easy to see whether you're an example or a warning.  Are your people coming closer to you? Are they drawn toward you? Then you're being an example. If they're becoming more and more disengaged and they're just not being a part of it, you're being a warning. You're not doing anything to pull them in. And it's not something you do. It's who you are. That's what makes this work. So we need great teams today. You guys and gals you're busier than you've ever been. Your stress levels are high. You must be the example. Set it up and be there for them.

So that is the lesson for this week. Be the greatest teacher that you can be. And remember, everybody's a teacher. I was watching my one-year-old grandson yesterday. He was teaching my wife the gift of joy. She was making funny faces at him and he just had that baby laugh. Do you know what I'm talking about? That belly laugh. It is so infectious. Everybody's a teacher. So, look for your lessons this week that you can learn, and then look for all the opportunities that you have this week to be the best version of yourself.  To be the greatest teacher you can be.  And I'm telling you, it will make a difference in your business this week.