When staff members aren’t doing what you would like them to do it’s not due to ignorance. It’s due to the fact that they don’t care about what you care about.

Getting people to care about what you care about isn’t necessarily about having more meetings and training sessions. Of course that activity is a part of giving people what they need to know.

Knowing something and doing something is what separates the good companies from the great companies.

One of the best things a leader can give to his/her organization is to set the atmosphere for a defining culture.

Everybody has the same product.

Everybody has great prices.

Everybody has technology.

Everybody has trained technicians.

Everybody has good selling processes.

Culture is what will separate your organization from your competition.

Most of the time upper management “gets it.” The breakdown occurs at the next level. Far too often we don’t get enough influence from the core staff to make a real difference.

A few are talking the talk, but most aren’t walking the walk. People have to “see it” in order to start to “believe it.”

Your challenge is to get more of the “next level” involved, engaged, and believing they can make a difference.

Until you do so:

You’ll hold some nice meetings:

Do some nice talking.

Print some nice posters.

Create some nice name badges.

Feel good about yourself.

But, not much will change. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

I have a saying and it goes like this, “You’re never as smart as you think you are and you are never as dumb as you appear.” Some of you are feeling pretty smart right now.

It could be that you are really smart, or it could be that you got lucky because of a once-in-a-lifetime market shift in your favor.

And of course, there are times when you feel pretty dumb. Even that may or may not be true. You might be a victim of a bad set of circumstances.

Some of you have had bad franchises in bad locations or it could be that you’re a newer used car manager that inherited a hot mess for a used car inventory.

Or it could be you’re just dumb.

In any given set of circumstances, it’s important to maximize whatever you have. During the last few years, you may have maximizing things in spite of yourself or maybe you were smart enough to make some good moves.

It could have been you didn’t know what to do and by doing nothing you got lucky.

The most important thing right now is recognizing where you are, how you got there, and how to stay on this magical course you’ve discovered.

This business continues to be:

All about the basics.
All about the fundamentals.
All about your disciplines.
All about the processes.
All about understanding the data.
All about common sense.
All about your focus.

Never forget that sometimes when you get to the fork in the road you need to take it. It might be time to make a turn. Or you can just be dumb.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Why can’t we get it right?

These are questions people often ask when change happens in your organization.

Those are legitimate questions when you’re having people changes.

Changing people once in a while is part of being in business. Too frequent people changes will keep you on a roller coaster to nowhere. If you’re the leader and you’re having too many people changes, the common denominator is looking at you in the mirror.

That said, there are times when if you can’t get people to change, then you do need to change the people.

If you’re struggling when changing processes, selling systems, pay plans, procedures, etc. then it’s likely the culture needed to move you to the next level hasn’t been properly developed.

Besides establishing the right culture, the clearer you can be about the specific change you’re hoping for the more likely it is you’ll actually achieve it.

Getting buy-in is critical to enacting successful changes.

Of course, you may have the power to change anything you want, but that doesn’t mean you should always use it.

You’re not running a democracy, you’re running a business. But…

Most changes should start with a “trial balloon.” Toss it in the air with those that are going to have the greatest influence on the implementation and those who will be impacted the most.

It doesn’t mean you go with the wind.

It doesn’t mean you’re wishy-washy.

It simply means you’re figuring out how hard and how much groundwork you will need to lay in order to have the best chance for a successful change.

The most successful changes you will ever implement are when people think it was their idea.

The least successful changes you will ever attempt to make are when people think it was your idea.

When you’re through changing, you’re through.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

What happened to Southwest Airlines?

(I didn’t write this. I found it. I’m sharing it.)

I’ve been a pilot for Southwest Airlines for over 35 years. I’ve given my heart and soul to Southwest Airlines during those years. And quite honestly Southwest Airlines has given its heart and soul to me and my family.

Many of you have asked what caused this epic meltdown. Unfortunately, the frontline employees have been watching this meltdown coming like a slow motion train wreck for sometime. And we’ve been begging our leadership to make much needed changes in order to avoid it. What happened yesterday started two decades ago.

Herb Kelleher was the brilliant CEO of SWA until 2004. He was a very operationally oriented leader. Herb spent lots of time on the front line. He always had his pulse on the day to day operation and the people who ran it. That philosophy flowed down through the ranks of leadership to the front line managers. We were a tight operation from top to bottom. We had tools, leadership and employee buy in. Everything that was needed to run a first class operation. When Herb retired in 2004 Gary Kelly became the new CEO.

Gary was an accountant by education and his style leading Southwest Airlines became more focused on finances and less on operations. He did not spend much time on the front lines. He didn’t engage front line employees much. When the CEO doesn’t get out in the trenches the neither do the lower levels of leadership.

Gary named another accountant to be Chief Operating Officer (the person responsible for day to day operations). The new COO had little or no operational background. This trickled down through the lower levels of leadership, as well.

They all disengaged the operation, disengaged the employees and focused more on Return on Investment, stock buybacks and Wall Street. This approach worked for Gary’s first 8 years because we were still riding the strong wave that Herb had built.
But as time went on the operation began to deteriorate. There was little investment in upgrading technology (after all, how do you measure the return on investing in infrastructure?) or the tools we needed to operate efficiently and consistently. As the frontline employees began to see the deterioration in our operation we began to warn our leadership. We educated them, we informed them and we made suggestions to them.

But to no avail. The focus was on finances not operations. As we saw more and more deterioration in our operation our asks turned to pleas. Our pleas turned to dire warnings. But they went unheeded. After all, the stock price was up so what could be wrong?

We were a motivated, willing and proud employee group wanting to serve our customers and uphold the tradition of our beloved airline, the airline we built and the airline that the traveling public grew to cheer for and luv. But we were watching in frustration and disbelief as our once amazing airline was becoming a house of cards.

A half dozen small scale meltdowns occurred during the mid to late 2010’s. With each mini meltdown Leadership continued to ignore the pleas and warnings of the employees in the trenches. We were still operating with 1990’s technology. We didn’t have the tools we needed on the line to operate the sophisticated and large airline we had become. We could see that the wheels were about ready to fall off the bus. But no one in leadership would heed our pleas.

When COVID happened SWA scaled back considerably (as did all of the airlines) for about two years. This helped conceal the serious problems in technology, infrastructure and staffing that were occurring and being ignored. But as we ramped back up the lack of attention to the operation was waiting to show its ugly head.

Gary Kelly retired as CEO in early 2022. Bob Jordan was named CEO. He was a more operationally oriented leader. He replaced our Chief Operating Officer with a very smart man and they announced their priority would be to upgrade our airline’s technology and provide the frontline employees the operational tools we needed to care for our customers and employees. Finally, someone acknowledged the elephant in the room.

But two decades of neglect takes several years to overcome. And, unfortunately to our horror, our house of cards came tumbling down this week as a routine winter storm broke our 1990’s operating system.

The frontline employees were ready and on station. We were properly staffed. We were at the airports. Hell, we were ON the airplanes. But our antiquated software systems failed coupled with a decades old system of having to manage 20,000 frontline employees by phone calls. No automation had been developed to run this sophisticated machine.

We had a routine winter storm across the Midwest last Thursday. A larger than normal number flights were cancelled as a result. But what should have been one minor inconvenient day of travel turned into this nightmare. After all, American, United, Delta and the other airlines operated with only minor flight disruptions.

The two decades of neglect by SWA leadership caused the airline to lose track of all its crews. ALL of us. We were there. With our customers. At the jet. Ready to go. But there was no way to assign us. To confirm us. To release us to fly the flight. And we watched as our customers got stranded without their luggage missing their Christmas holiday.
I believe that our new CEO Bob Jordan inherited a MESS.

This meltdown was not his failure but the failure of those before him. I believe he has the right priorities. But it will take time to right this ship. A few years at a minimum. Old leaders need to be replaced. Operationally oriented managers need to be brought in. I hope and pray Bob can execute on his promises to fix our once proud airline. Time will tell.

It’s been a punch in the gut for us frontline employees. We care for the traveling public. We have spent our entire careers serving you. Safely. Efficiently. With luv and pride. We are horrified. We are sorry. We are sorry for the chaos, inconvenience and frustration our airline caused you. We are angry. We are embarrassed. We are sad. Like you, the traveling public, we have been let down by our own leaders.

Herb once said the the biggest threat to Southwest Airlines will come from within. Not from other airlines. What a visionary he was. I miss Herb now more than ever.

This should be a really great week.

It will only be a really great week if you make it a great week. It’s not going to be a great week if you stay in your seat acting like a computer geek.

You can make it a great week by getting up and moving around. You should be like a bumblebee on a pollination mission.

You’re here. You’re there. You’re everywhere.

You can’t just flap your little wings in place and think someone’s gonna sell a car. You have to move around.

You have to create the buzz.

You have to go from being weak and meek in order to make it a great week.
I don’t like things to be all about you, but this is all about you. This week is all about you. It’s about you making things happen.

It’s about you contributing as much in a week as you sometimes do in a month. It’s not about you giving 100 or 110%. It’s about you giving 200%.

It’s not about asking others to do it. It’s about you doing it. You sometimes think you’re important. Well, you are important. You’re even more important than you think. At least this week you are.

You may have to sting a few people this week. That’s ok. Some of your team could probably use a sting or two. A little stinging pain for a whole lot of car selling gain.

This is not the week for the meek and certainly not a week for a geek. It’s the week of the bumblebees. Let the stinging begin.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

I’m thinking you already know a lot about “Prime Time,” Deion Sanders.

A quick highlight of his career:

He’s one of the few people that have played two professional sports.

He played 14 years in the NFL, 9 years in MLB and was voted into the Football Hall of Fame in 2011.

“Prime Time,” is the only man to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series. He’s the only man to hit an MLB home run and score an NFL touchdown in the same week, and to have both a reception and an interception in the Super Bowl. 

Most recently he’s been the head coach at Jackson State University. Sanders led Jackson State to a 27−5 record during his three seasons at the helm. Within the last month he was named head football coach at University of Colorado Boulder.

I’ve attached a couple of videos of “Prime Time” meeting the members of the current Colorado team and saying his goodbyes to his players at Jackson State.

There are several takeaways in these video that I believe are critical to a leader’s success.

In the Jackson state video, it’s obvious how much his players love and respect him and the same from him to them. He’s able to have humorous moments and be able to get right back on task and talk about serious things.

When I owned dealerships, I often said to our new team members, “If you don’t have a sense of humor, you’re going to be very unhappy working here.”

A sense of humor combined with discipline is a powerful tool for a leader.

In the Colorado video he lays down the law. He’s dead serious and they know he ain’t kidding.

I love it when he says, “Some of you won’t make it here. Some of you will be gone.” Many leaders of today bend their rules so much that they end up with no rules and a list of meaningless processes.

No hats. No earrings. No Hoodies. His intent is to break them down just like they do in the Marine Corps.

The message is clear:

It ain’t about you.

It’s about the team.

We don’t need individuals.

We need strong teammates who are on the same page.

Say what you mean. Mean what you say.

At the very core of people respecting you is to do what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it. It cannot be any simpler than that.

“Prime Time” is smart.

“Prime Time” is a leader.

Be smart and lead like “Prime Time.” That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

Did you notice that you are getting really comfortable with having aged units around?

You’ve justified in your mind that it’s ok because you convinced yourself during the pandemic that you could sell anything at any time and make money on it. Since you think that’s a brilliant plan, please let me know how the ROI turns out for you when you let crap age on you.

Did you notice that the selling processes you think your team is using, aren’t the selling processes you’re using?

Some members of your management team are doing their “own thing.” If you don’t believe it, sit down individually with your sales people and ask them how each manager starts and works a deal.

Did you notice that you are no longer doing a “save-a-deal meeting” and “trade walk” each day?

You’ve accepted it as fact that everybody is so busy that they don’t have time to do it. You’ll be surprised at how many more deals you will make by doing a “save-a-deal meeting.” And, how many more used cars you will end up keeping and retailing when the management team does a “trade walk.”

Did you notice that the management team doesn’t understand Life Cycle Management?

Life Cycle Management starts on day one, not day 61. If you are having aged units and/or losing money on units wholesaled at the end of the life cycle it’s because they are not using “Early Warning Radar.” If you don’t think Life Cycle Management is important, go ahead and tell me the story on your oldest unit in stock. Yep, they all have a story. You ignored the story on day one so now you get to the rehash the story on day 61. Had you been focused on Life Cycle Management, that unit would have been gone long ago with little or no loss and maybe even a profit.

Did you notice that the sales and management team doesn’t do lot walks anymore?

Did you ever wonder why your sales people don’t sell more used? It’s because they don’t know the inventory. Know the difference between a lot walk and a trade walk. Now do them both.

Did you notice that you get lots of lip service on those processes you know need to be followed in all the departments?

Guarding the processes is one of the most important functions of leadership.

Did you notice that the average cost per used car in stock keeps creeping up and up?

The reason it’s happening is because you are not paying attention to it every day. Pressing the average cost down is a fundamental discipline. If every manager doesn’t know the number, you’re not doing your job. The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.

Did you notice that you’re back to selling vehicles for less than what you have them posted online?

That’s because the sales team isn’t sold that you have the best product at the best price. Before you can make the customer a believer you have to get the sales staff to believe. Tracking GAP will create a focus that forces you to hold more gross profit.

Did you notice that a lot of your problematic used cars in stock are either high dollar or purchased at an auction?

If you would print out a list every day of your 10 most expensive units in stock, and distribute to your management team, you would eliminate most of these problem children.

Did you notice that sometimes you just don’t notice? Your job as a leader is to notice what’s going on. My job is to keep reminding you. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Why You’re Winning

I’ve written several articles of late talking about how dealers have benefited from the law of supply and demand. Let’s think about this as two legs of a three-legged stool. The third and most important leg that I’ve not discussed is “smarts.” Archie Manning of the famed quarterback family holds a quarterback training camp each summer. Archie says, “The best advice I try to give to a young quarterback is you need to know what you are doing because if you know where to go with the football, you can get rid of it, and throw it, and you won’t get hit.” And that’s where your smarts have played a bigger role than maybe even you have given yourself credit for. Knowing where to go with the football has played a far bigger role in your bottom line than many have acknowledged. Today’s dealers are smarter, and because they are smarter, when the law of supply and demand balanced itself, the smart dealers have made the most money in the history of their businesses. When you combine the amount of data available to dealers today and the intellect to understand it, then you have figured out where to go with the football. In the long term, knowing where to go with the football makes you a lot more money than a favorable law of supply and demand ever could. Supply and demand will not always be in your favor. Being smart will. You’re not just winning because you got lucky. You’re winning because you’re smart. Stay smart. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs