When I’m working with a client, one of the first things I want to know is the history of the store.

How did we get to where we are today? Who started this? Who put the original sweat in this deal? Who grinded it out during all those really tough years? Who took the risk? Who took the challenge? Who’s been carrying the mantle up to this point?

As a leader, you are responsible for the history of your business. Maybe you didn’t create all the history but you’re now part of it and you’re responsible for sharing the history.

Some of it may be rich history. Some of it may be even a bit bleak. It doesn’t matter. You’re a leader, you’re responsible for knowing the history and even more important, you’re responsible for sharing the history.

If you want your organization to grow, share the history.

If you want your organization’s culture to expand,
share the history.

If you want to build a powerful team, share the history.

Share the history. Be part of the history. Make some history. History starts with you. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Absolutes are a powerful tool toward creating a disciplined organization. As an example, an absolute would be saying “no cars over 60 days old” and meaning it.

The down side of absolutes is it chokes off the potential to have an acceptable exception.

Exceptions break the rule of discipline. Exceptions soon become the norm.

When exceptions become the norm chaos breaks out. The type of chaos I’m referencing isn’t actually like a bomb going off. This chaos is slow and gradual, often not recognized, and then – whamo – there it is, its ugly face screaming at you, “What the heck happened?”

Now here’s the real deal for those of you looking to become better leaders. You can have absolutes and exceptions in the same house. They can actually
hang out with each other once in a blue moon.

True leaders can use them both and chaos will never show its ugly face. Granting an exception and going back to absolutes is very doable. The problem with

leadership is that very few leaders have the skill to make effective use of them both.

Most people in leadership positions are stuck with one or the other.

At any given moment one is just as bad as the other. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Resistance is everywhere. It’s all those people yelling at you that it can’t be done. It’s you thinking, “I could never.”

It’s those around you throwing out the caution flag saying, “Are you sure, do you really think you can do that?”

It’s those friends, relatives and co-workers saying, “Hey, don’t leave us here, we like you being a part of our woes, please don’t run off and leave us.”

You have faith in yourself. You know you can do it. But, resistance keeps yelling at you from the far left hand lower corner of your brain, “Have you lost your damn mind? You can’t take such a chance.”

Momentarily you overcome the yelling, but then the yelling starts again, even louder, “You’re too old, you’re too young, you don’t have the experience, you don’t have the education, you haven’t been there and done that yet.”

Resistance is fear. It’s you being scared. It’s you being afraid to take a chance.

Resistance is as natural as the sun coming up each day.

Resistance is you being afraid to swing from your heels and go for the fences.

If you’re going to ever have your break out moment.

If you’re going to make it happen.

If you’re going to climb the mountain.

If you’re going to control your destiny.

If you’re gonna kick ass and take names.

All these ifs…

At some point you need to tell resistance where to go and get on with it. You’re smarter than resistance. I believe in you. A lot of people believe in you. You believe in you. Let’s go.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

I see some strange leadership models as I travel the country. One that I often run into is “Not Knowing.”

There are two sides to “Not Knowing.”

1. Upper management, owners, owner/operators or dealers have a plan in place to keep the staff in the dark. They only want them to know what they consider are those things that they think they need to know. They don’t teach, they don’t coach, they don’t lead; they just say do your little job, pat them on their head, send them on their way and frequently pay them very well.

In addition, upper management doesn’t seek out B players to help turn them into A players. And thus the B players don’t seek out the C players to help them get to the B level. The theory is by keeping people in the dark they will perform their assigned jobs better.

2. Managers don’t bother to learn. They don’t seek out information. They come to work, do their job and go home.

I’m often appalled, surprised and shocked when I ask questions at all levels and people don’t have the answers. It occurs at the top and down the chain of command. I’m not talking complicated questions.

I will sometimes ask the most basic question and people don’t know the answer. I’m left to assume:

1. They don’t care enough to know.
2. They just don’t have the knowledge to know.
3. People don’t know what they don’t know.

In all cases, these are the same people who complain about things that never get done around here. No one is held accountable. There are no consequences when people don’t perform.

What else can you expect when you don’t know? That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

Do you know who you are? Great leaders know who they are. They know their strengths and they know their weaknesses. They build on their strengths and they attack their weaknesses.

You cannot make use of your strengths until you have fully identified what they are. You wouldn’t be in the leadership position you’re in if you didn’t have strengths.

There are 3 keys to maximizing your strengths:

1. Identify.
2. Expand your strengths.
3. Make a concerted effort to use them.

Everyone has weaknesses. Sadly there are people in leadership positions who refuse to acknowledge their weaknesses. In a subconscious way it may be because they think their strengths will overcome their weaknesses.

There are 3 keys to improving on your weaknesses:

1. Identify.
2. Focus on making changes.

Do You Know
Who You Are?
3. Keep looking in the mirror.

Regardless of your strengths, if you ignore your weaknesses you will never know who you are. You will never be as good as you could be.

Fully understanding who you are will give you a leadership presence that will not only help you grow, but will help you grow those around you.

Who are you? That’s all I’m gonna ask, Tommy Gibbs

You Have The Power

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is
fighting a hard battle.”
Plato

As a person in a leadership position, you have amazing power. I’m sure there are days when you wonder about the power you have, but it’s a lot more than you think.

As Plato said, “Everyone is fighting a hard battle.” You can help their battles by saying the right thing at the right time. A kind word or two placed at just the right spot will do wonders to pick up a teammate.

When people are down, when they are not performing well, that’s when leadership steps up and lets them know they have confidence in them.

Bad leadership will often kick them when they are down. Bad leadership will say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Bad leadership pushes people fighting the hard battle out the door.

Today would be a great day to pick someone up by focusing on saying and doing the right things. You have the power. Use it. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

A wise man was once asked what the key to his success was. His answer was, “I’ve made lots of mistakes.”

And therein lies one of the keys to you becoming an even better leader. Allow yourself, and especially those around you, the latitude to make some mistakes.

The key is to learn from the mistakes. As a dealer for over 20 years I know I made a lot of mistakes and I’m sure I made some of the same ones twice. But, I’d like to think I learned something from each mistake.

Far too often when dealing with team members, leaders don’t use mistakes as a teaching moment, but as a criticism moment.

The key is to give your team enough rope to make some mistakes, but not so much that they choke themselves, and your business in the process.

When people are allowed to make some mistakes your organization becomes more innovative. Without innovation your organization becomes stymied. (Get innovated, join a 20 Group.)
It’s very difficult to be a great mentor when you micro-manage every decision that’s made.

When you micro-manage you end up with micro-growth. Team members like working in an environment where they feel like they are allowed to grow. When they grow, you grow.

Let the mistakes begin. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

When we think of being a leader we think in terms of a group following our leadership. We think of leading the troops. We think of teaching leadership and coaching skills along the way.

One of the things that great leaders have always found time to do is to be alone. It is often when you are alone that you develop your own personal leadership skills.

Your brain being on fire is a good thing, but you need to have a cool down period. It’s the cool down period where you put it all together. Being able to gather your thoughts from being on fire to the “sorting stage” is what helps you to see what the real possibilities are. You become a better leader when you take a moment to pause.

It’s a bit like bodybuilding. If your muscles are going to grow you have to allow an adequate period of rest.

My alone time is generally late at night or early in the morning. I learned this from my business partner, Ashton Lewis, Sr., when he introduced me to the Franklin Planner concept some 25 years ago.

Some of your most productive and leadership “inspiration time” is the time you spend alone. You do your best thinking by slowing down and concentrating. It’s impossible to concentrate with all the multi-tasking that takes place during the course of your daily routine.

Some of your best leading will occur when you are alone. It’s time to be alone. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

In many people’s eyes you are special because you are in a leadership position. If you’re in a leadership position it could also be said you are on top. You may have earned the title or it’s possible it was a gift.

The reality is that since you’re on top it should be much easier to be nice to people than not. I see the “than not” frequently in my travels. How can that be? It should be just the opposite.

When you treat people nicely, you’re more likely to encourage them to do what you want. People want to please their leader. They are more likely to do so when the leader is nice and treats them with respect.

If you want productivity to go up, trying being nice. You don’t lose respect by being nice. You lose respect when you’re not nice.

Being nice works best when you can show humility. In Rick Pitino’s recent book “The One-Day Contract,” he points out that “With humility, you are better able to enjoy and understand success, and you are better able to examine and handle failure.”

People on the top in sports, movies, celebrities and high profile people are often not very nice. You know the ones I’m talking about. They are often jerks.

Don’t be a jerk. Just be nice because that’s what real leaders can and should do. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs