The Most Successful Auto Repair Shops Build Cohesive Teams

by Rick White, President 180BIZ                                                             (Estimated Read Time 4 minutes)

Today I’ll talk about teams. A team is a group of people. That's pretty simple, right? But what constitutes a team? What makes a team different than anything else? It's a common purpose. It's a common destination. When you have a group of players that come together, they become a team when they go to win. When they understand the rules, they know where they're going. They know what's important. They know what each is doing. Each person has to know that they're a part of the collective and that the collective is going toward a purpose, a destination.

People will be part of your team but for their reasons.

They will be there for their reasons. That's just a fact. But I'm telling you that you can find people who want to be a part of your team, to be a part of your journey, to get on your bus. That's what's super important to understand. I was at ASTE last weekend and it amazed me how many people wanted to hire a tech or an advisor. They talked about bringing individuals in and then wondered why they couldn't succeed. We wonder why we can't succeed at the level we want to. And it's because you're hiring people, not team members. And that's what I think is so important. I think if you could change your perspective from hiring a tech to hiring a team member who is a tech, it would make a big difference.

The other thing that's super important about a team is that everyone knows what to do and when. When you have a bunch of individuals in a business, you get people bumping into each other. There are egos, there is blaming, etc. But when you can get people that all want to go the same way and they know why it's important and they know what they get for doing it, then you end up with a lot less bumping and a lot more in sync with each other.

You can't do it all yourself.

So, the first thing you must do is instead of having a group of individuals, I want you to start thinking about your team, about where you're going. Understanding you can't do it by yourself. You can't achieve everything that you are meant to achieve by yourself. You're there to do it with others. That's the beauty of the business.

And then the second part of this is getting everyone to know where they're going, know why they're going there, get them bought in and a part of it, and then everyone knows what to do and when to do it. I believe the key issue with shops today is they're hiring individuals and that's hurting the shop. That's what's killing the morale, and the focus, and it's creating all the confusion in the shop. It’s because as a leader, foundationally, you need a team. We have to hire people who are going to be a part of the team. A team has an orchestration to it. You conducting. You're orchestrating the moves and you're getting it to work and to groove.

When you have a cohesive team it's pure MAGIC!

When you have that team, it's magic. And sometimes you hit it by accident and then you spend the rest of your time frustrated because you can't repeat it. But I'm telling you, it's really simple. It's not easy. It's simple. You need a great destination. You need to know why it's important. You need to get others on the bus with you who value where you're going and understand why they're doing it. No one does it for your reasons. They do it for theirs. Understand what their reasons are, and help them learn what their reasons are. But then you get everyone orchestrated and it's just magic.

I would rather have a group of mediocre players who care than a group of superstars who are just worried about themselves. It's better to be a lamb led by a lion than a lion led by a lamb. That's what it's about. I want you to understand the difference here.

How are you leading and orchestrating?

How are you orchestrating? How are you leading? How are you building that focus with the team and getting more synchronicity instead of friction? It's a good question for the week.

If this message resonates, please share this video. Also, we have our Shop Owners’ Round Table every second Thursday at 7:00 PM Eastern time. If you want to get this whole webinar join up for our Pocket Business Genius. You're going to love it.

God bless. Stay safe, have some fun, and go make some money.

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