We’ve all heard the saying “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” I have a different spin on it and it goes like this; “When the going gets good, the good get going.”

Many in the car business have turned the corner from some tough years and are making all time record profits. Let me caution you – you cannot be satisfied.

You can never be satisfied. Those sounds you hear behind you are the competition coming to gobble you up. If you take just one little break, take your eye off the ball for one second, or have one little hiccup it could be the very thing that starts a downward spiral.

As Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz reminds us, “Seek to renew yourself, even when you’re hitting homeruns.” How appropriate is that in today’s market?

Competition always makes you better. Those competitors running behind you are a good thing. Learn to appreciate your competitors and make it a point to learn from them. Use them to scare you into more heightened motivation and a stronger competitive mind-set.

Successful people often succeed out of fear. The fear of failure. The fear of falling back. The fear of giving up all they have worked so hard for. It’s that fear that causes the successful ones to keep pushing and to keep looking for new and better ways of doing things.

Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems once said “You either eat someone for lunch, or you can be lunch.” No truer statement has ever been made.

Competition is the very lifeblood of a driven business leader. Study it. Embrace it. Love it. Use it as success fuel. Use it to take you to the top of your mental game. Develop an unstoppable competitive mind-set, and it will push you so far ahead of the competition that you won’t have to worry about looking over your shoulder.

Competition is an extra spice that keeps life interesting, keeps us on our toes, and stimulates us to greater creativity and productivity.

The best leaders realize that when they are having success it’s easy for the team to become satisfied and complacent and it’s the leader’s job never to let that happen. A leader’s job is to push the team through the good times to the next level, and the next level and the next level. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

1. I need your help.
2. What can I do to make your job easier?
3. What do you think?
4. We can fix this!
5. How are you? (And mean it.)
6. Let’s get our heads together!
7. I trust your good judgment.
8. You’re the best!
9. Let’s make something happen!
10. You rock!
11. It’s not a problem, it’s an opportunity.
12. Gimme a high five!
13. Love ‘ya.

Have you got a key word? Come on, share it with me…
That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Great leaders guard what’s important. In their own special way they are anal about what’s important. As you progress through the stages of leadership what’s important to you may actually change or become refined.

Here are 4 of the top things that leaders most often conclude to be important.

1. The Team-those who they surround themselves with. I often hear top leaders say the reason for their success is picking the right people for their team. There is no denying that’s true. Picking the right people is critical but more importantly being committed to developing those people is as important if not more so.

2. Evaluating performance-there has to be a performance standard for the leader and the team. A team who is not held accountable for their performance is a team going nowhere.

3. Principles-Leaders have principles or core beliefs that they are not willing to bend on. They are smart enough to know that there are times when those principles may need adjusting, but to the core they never deviate very far.

4. Profit-is no doubt the ultimate measuring stick. As important as profit is to an organization great leaders know that how the profit is achieved is more important than the profit itself. An atmosphere of profit at any and all cost will jeopardize the company’s reputation and long-term success.

So, what are you guarding today? That’s all I’m gonna ask. Tommy Gibbs

Recently I was asked to speak at an annual kick off breakfast for a dealer group. The meeting was geared towards rewarding the top producers and kicking off the New Year. This is a great group with outstanding leadership.

As the group started to go through the buffet line, I couldn’t help but notice that the owner and the general managers were the last to get in line.

Somewhere between being a head football coach and a Marine I leaned the valuable lesson of eating last.

You always feed the troops first and you eat last. If you take care of the troops they will take care of you.

Whenever you find yourself in a gathering like this I would urge you to also make sure you sit with those you might not normally have a lot of contact with. The last thing you want to do is for the management team to sit together.

Leaders work the room. Leaders sit with the troops. Leaders make sure other leaders don’t sit with other leaders.

I’m not saying you have to eat last to be a good leader. I’m saying good leaders eat last. That’s all I’m gonna say.