Not a happy thought is it? Firing someone is never easy. If you’ve done your job, the someone that needs firing will often fire himself.

But, there are times when you have to say goodbye and it should never be a surprise. Not to you. Not to the firee, not to the rest of the team.

I’m not talking about an incident based firing. I’m talking about the firing that you should have done a long time ago.

Sometimes it’s the lead bull that I wrote about a few weeks ago. There comes a point in time when enough is enough.

Often the fear is that you will lose a lot of production when you say goodbye.

The reality is there will be a massive cheer from the troops that you finally did the right thing. And, they will pick up the numbers you think you would be losing.

It’s not easy having your job. It’s not easy being a leader. It’s not easy firing someone. That’s why we picked you.

Now, go do your job and do the right thing. Fire someone that needs firing. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

One of the best ways to make sure you’re tuned into the conversation when dealing with issues, complaints or listening to other people’s creative ideas is to repeat what they just said to you.

I learned this technique many years ago when attending service training. When someone describes or says something to you, your interpretation may not be what they have said.

When you repeat what you think they just said it does a number of things:

1. Clarifies any potential misunderstanding.
2. Creates buy-in to your response because they know you were listening.
3. Ensures we have the facts before moving forward.
4. Slows the process down and improves your judgment.
5. Creates a bond and trust with the person you are engaged with.

I’m not gonna say it again, but that’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

In the 1974 James Michener novel Centennial, he discusses the “Lead Bull” theory. The Indians had to kill buffalo and had to do it without modern-day instruments. So they would get the lead bull running toward a cliff, and the whole group would follow.

The lead bull would be running with such momentum it would be impossible to stop as he approached the cliff. The lead bull would get pushed over the side and all the bulls would follow landing down below. The Indians would come up and kill them and they’d have their food and their clothing, etc.

The problem in your business is often your “Lead Bulls” want to run in a different direction. The more they run in a different direction the more disruptive it is for your younger, less experienced bulls.

It’s not unusual for management to look the other way when it comes to the lead bull. Allowing the lead bull to do whatever he wants is often justified by management because the lead bull is a producer.

The lead bull shows up in many places within a dealership and there is often more than one lead bull within the store and within the departments. It may be your top sales person. It may be your top sales manager. It may be your top technician. It may be your back counter parts person or it may be someone on the clerical staff. There are many lead bulls in any given organization.

Your job is to find them, seek them out, corral them, feed them, nurture them, and turn them into the lead bull they have the potential to be, not the lead bull they think they want to be.

Your best approach when dealing with the lead bull is to develop a one-on-one dialogue that allows you to appeal to the lead bull’s ego. It’s important for you to acknowledge to the lead bull that you understand they are the leader and you need their help in order to get the rest of the team doing the things we need as an organization to be successful.

Key words to use with a lead bull are “I need your help.” Your sales pitch to the lead bull is, we need you to follow our processes, not because we think you need them, but because all the baby bulls do. And, if they see you doing them then we all win. There is no doubt the lead bull ends up performing better by doing so. The lead bull has been tricked again.

A lead bull can be a very wild bull. Wild bulls have to be constantly pushed, nudged, and directed. Lead bulls like being around important lead bulls like you. They like being in the “in.” It gives them comfort and fuels their lead bull egos.

Don’t think for one moment you will do a little dancing with the lead bull and they know the steps. The lead bull will want to go back to dancing freestyle in a New York second. Partner dancing is based on Lead/Follow. The Lead Bull will follow you as long as you hold their hand. Turn the hand loose and they will go into freestyle dancing faster than you can say “Geronimo.”

This ain’t no Bull. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

Managing clutter is one of your biggest challenges as you go through your day. There are things coming at you from left and right.

At times, you feel like you are being attacked by a swarm of bees. Your ability to swat those bees one by one will often determine your progress and results on any given day.

You cannot let the clutter get you off your progressive track. The more you can do to control clutter the better. Clutter is just a bunch of little stuff that slows you down, moves you off your center, gets you off track, discombobulates you and messes up your entire day. You cannot let clutter control your production and performance.

Clutter is best dealt with by making sure you take a few minutes at the end of the day or first thing in the morning to map out your major tasks for that day. Swatting those little bees one by one and having an attitude of “next” will keep you on task and moving forward.

Staying on task and swatting the “clutter bees” at the same time is what separates the bee killers from the killer bees. Kill the clutter. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

I’m a big fan of making the team inclusive of what’s going on.

I’m a big fan of educating the team.

I’m a big fan of getting insight from those who are in the trenches.

I’m a big fan of listening to the troops.

But, I’m not a big fan of rule by committee.

Ruling by committee is an easy way to avoid accountability.

Ruling by committee allows us to blame no one when it fails.

Ruling by committee is a sickness designed to allow those in charge to accept responsibility for nothing.

Ruling by committee is a way to hide in the back room. Ruling by committee is peeking through the closet door.

Step out of the closet, come into the room and be counted. If you’re ruling by committee, stop it! You’re not running a democracy, you’re running a business.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

If you ask anyone in a leadership position if they truly care, naturally they are going to say they do. They will say they care about the organization, the team members and of course their customers.

But do they really care? Do they do the right thing 99.9% of the time?

Caring means making sure you hire the right people for the right job.

Caring means working harder to find, screen and hire people that fit your team’s chemistry.

Caring means getting rid of the wrong people and replacing them with the right people.

Caring means hiring people smarter than you.

Caring means coaching people up.

Caring means never letting team members abuse each other.

Caring means never letting a team member abuse a customer.

If you care, you’ll take it personally when others don’t care as much as you do. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Not a day goes by that I don’t read something in sports about a team excelling and/or winning a championship because they have great chemistry. In order to have great chemistry you have to believe in each other.

Time and time again you will hear team members say the number one reason for their success is they trust their coach and they trust each other.

These stories come from all levels of the sports and great business organizations. It’s no fluke that such a big deal is made of the word trust when it’s connected to winning and success.

There’s no one thing that creates great chemistry, but trust is a key component. Trust doesn’t happen with one statement or one goodwill act. Trust is something that has to be built every day.

If you’re going to lead, and if your team is going to have great chemistry then you have to be trusted. Trust begins with always telling the truth, even when it hurts and even when it may cause a temporary setback.

Team chemistry will always out perform individual egos. It’s the leader’s responsibility to promote and guard team chemistry.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Being an effective leader can be challenging if for no other reason than the workplace environment we often find ourselves in.

There is a well known saying “Familiarity Breeds Contempt.”

The more we get to know people, the more tolerant we become of their deficiencies. That applies to all aspects of life. If you are married or have ever been married you know that the longer you are with a person the more you tend to overlook those things that really bug you. (Or maybe not and you get a divorce) You just kind of go with the flow because it’s not worth the hassle.

Being in business and managing people is the same way. Most of my readers are in the automobile business and are around the same people for 12 plus hours a day. Talk about a familiarity breeds contempt problem!

The reality is that it’s much easier to run a large dealership than a small one. As a leader in a large dealership, you can delegate much more and separate yourself from some of the personalities that can cause the breakdown of discipline.

Do not take that to mean that you don’t need to be involved, friendly or whatever. It just means you have to separate yourself from the emotional side of the equation. If you are in a smaller dealership the task of separating yourself from the staff is even more daunting.

I’m often amazed that leaders feel that they can socialize with staff members and still be able to properly manage and lead them. How can you:

1. Have lunch with the same people all the time?
2. Have dinner with spouses and members of your team on a regular basis?
3. Have after work drinks with staff members?
4. Party with staff members?
5. Attend sporting events with staff members?
6. Play golf on weekends with staff members?

Any of these in and of themselves is not a bad thing. But, to do any of this with the same person on a consistent basis does nothing but create problems for you and them. Aside from the fact it makes it difficult for you to manage them (let alone fire them) it creates a perception of favoritism that will destroy morale and team spirit.

It’s undeniable that the more time you spend with staff members the more difficult it is to manage them in an unbiased manner. So, just how much in contempt are you? Only you know the answer to that.

Don’t be in contempt. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

You may have heard the story about USC head football Steve Sarkisian’s bad behavior and profane language at a team function this past weekend. (Not his first offense.)

His team was 9-4 last year and is ranked No. 8 in preseason polls. At this point he has not been fired and probably won’t be.

Often in the automobile business we tolerate bad management/bad behavior because they produce. Actually, what we tolerate is horrible leadership. Dealers will often look the other way and justifying doing so because they have a hotshot manager that is producing.

Without a doubt having productive management is important, but at what risk? At the risk of destroying the culture you’re trying to create and even worse a potential lawsuit.

I fired a lot of great talent over the years. People who could really get it done. It wasn’t worth the heartburn. It wasn’t worth all the crap. It wasn’t worth destroying the morale by keeping them around.

I would have fired Coach Sarkisian. Would you? That’s all I’m gonna ask? Tommy Gibbs

If you were in the military you know what the “chain of command” means. Even if you weren’t in the military I’m thinking you have a pretty good idea of what it’s all about. The chain of command is critical to success in the military, sports or business.

How often does the chain of command get broken in your dealership? It’s not unusual for the Dealer, GM or owner operator to have a special relationship with those who answer to others in the store. A breakdown of the chain of command and discipline occurs when they are allowed to do an end run on management.

How many times have you seen upper management allow the sales people to run off a good manager for no reason other than they don’t like the systems, processes and disciplines that manager is attempting to bring to the table? Upper management allows this to happen due to some special bond created over a long period of time with certain sales people or favorite employees.

That’s not to say that some of these managers shouldn’t have been shown the door in the first place, but to allow it to be done based on the tail wagging the dog is totally wrong. It is insanity to allow the inmates to run the asylum. A good friend of mine who referees in the NBA often uses that term to describe how the players run the league.

If you’re in upper management and aren’t going to support your management team, then why hire them in the first place? Everyone performs better when there is a solid chain of command. The management team needs to be allowed to succeed or fail on their own merit, not based on the likes and dislikes of those who answer to them.

That doesn’t mean you can’t have an open door policy. You can, but be smart enough to know when to say you need to go speak with your supervisor about that issue.

You cannot run a successful business when people are allowed to break the chain of command. The reality is the chain of command is actually broken by those in command. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs