Being a former Marine, part of my core values as an individual comes from my Marine Corps training. And no doubt a large part of my success in life comes from being well disciplined.

Many of my disciplines have come from being an athlete where you cannot achieve any level of success without discipline.

Without question people with a military and/or a sports background make better employees/team members because they are well disciplined.

Discipline shows up in many forms in the workplace including being on time, achieving assignments, how you dress, how you talk, what you say, how you say it and who you say it to.

It’s pretty much a sure bet that if you are un-disciplined in your work life that your personal life is no different and chaos has become your best friend.

Discipline is about controlling will power/self-control over one’s desires to do the wrong or easy thing. It’s about doing the right thing when the wrong thing keeps screaming “why bother.”

Focus on improving your discipline regardless of where you have come from and where you might be today. Observe others around you who you deem to be well disciplined and start to emulate them. Pretty soon others will start to emulate you and now the tribe becomes very powerful.

“The pain of discipline or the pain of regret.” You get to pick. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

One of the best leadership skills to focus on is to set the right example by always doing more than is necessary.

When in doubt as to whether you’ve given enough, give some more. As a leader it’s up to you to set the pace, to set the example. It should always be about “do as I do, not do as I say.”

Great Leaders:

1. They do more than they know is necessary.
2. They do more than they know is fair.
3. They do more because it’s the right thing to do.
4. They do more not expecting anything in return.
5. They do more even when they know it still may not save the day.
6. They do more even when they know it may not save the customer.
7. They do more because they know it’s a teaching moment.
8.They do more because they don’t want to leave this earth owing anything.
9. They do more because they can.
10. They do more because they see the big picture.
11. They do more because if not them, who? Maybe you!

Never forget everyone is watching you, that’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

That’s about it. Five max. That’s about the number of years a person can be productive and feel challenged in any given job.

Yes, there are exceptions, but for the most part somewhere between 3 and 5 years you need to move your managers around.

I know that’s hard to do especially in smaller dealerships. But, for those not in a small dealership you need to give it some thought.

Real leadership means making hard choices. Real leadership means giving people a chance to grow.

People can’t grow when they are not challenged. Doing the same job day in and day out can suck the wind right out of you.

Yes, there are some people who do an amazing job in one position for 10 years and beyond. That’s all they are interested in doing and there’s nothing wrong with that. Pay them well and give them a pat on the back.

Real leadership is always looking for opportunities to push people along. The more the team learns the easier the leader’s job is. The more a team is challenged the more fulfilled the team is. When the team is fulfilled, it’s win, win.

Lead from the front and push from the rear. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

1. Being up when you are down.
2. Picking others up when they are down.
3. Doing the right thing when it’s easy to do the wrong thing.
4. Being respectful when your instinct is to do the opposite.
5. Getting after it when you feel drained.
6. Making changes when staying the course is comfortable.
7. Doing what you have asked others to do.
8. Speaking softly when you’d rather make a lot of noise.
9. Making a lot of noise when you’d rather speak softly.
10. Showing up early when you know you can come in late.
11. Making tough decisions that others can’t and won’t make.
12. Delegating authority so others may learn and grow.

What great opportunities you have as a leader. That’s all I’m gonna say,
Tommy Gibbs

There are lots of people in leadership positions, but very few are great leaders. Great leaders are extremely rare. Great leaders are hard to find.

People who want to become better leaders study the great ones and emulate them.

Great leaders make believers of non-believers.

Great leaders make you want to please them.

Great leaders make you want to push yourself to the next level and beyond.

Great leaders make you believe in the team.

Great leaders talk the talk, then they show you how to walk the walk.

Great leaders have your back.

Great leaders make a difference. Even more important, they help others to make a difference.

Great leaders are special.

Great leaders are small in numbers. And that’s sad because it’s not all that hard to be a great leader.

You can be a better leader. You can be a great leader. I believe in you. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

Many, many years ago I was the Vice President and Sales manager for an F&I training company called ADR. We had 850 dealers in 7 southeastern states with a field force of about 40
composed of District and Regional Managers.

One of the things I always emphasized to them was “no surprises.” If we were going to lose an account they needed to know about it before it happened. If they didn’t know then they should have.

When I was a new car dealer we had the occasion to sell a customer a car that had been in a wreck. We didn’t know it and didn’t represent it as such. At some point the customer took their car to another dealer for service and they were advised it had been wrecked.

They returned to our dealership and the managers they had contact with more or less blew them off. At some point the lawyers got involved. Once that happened I got involved. I don’t have to tell you, but once the lawyers got involved it’s out of control and there’s not much one can do.

Expensive and painful is an understatement.

Back to the point about “no surprises.” Had the managers made me aware of the problem I would have no doubt done whatever it would have taken to make the customer happy.

But, they chose to do what they thought was right, which in this case was to do nothing. What they did was cause the company a lot of heartburn and a whole lot of expense.

I hate surprises and you should too. Let me suggest you remind your staff that the best surprise is no surprise. That’s all I’m gonna say. Tommy Gibbs

I’m often asked, do I write the newsletters or does someone do it for me? Really? Of course I write it. If you know my personality, you know I write just like I talk.

It’s important to keep in mind that if I’m not doing a workshop, coaching a client, or speaking at a 20 group meeting or convention, my mind is very much focused on two things:

1. How to help you sell more new & used vehicles.
2. How to develop better leadership skills for the industry I so love.

Most of my ideas and things I write about come from observations in dealerships, coaching conversations I have with many of you and from things I see and read. Something will happen in my travels and my brain goes, “Ahh, good idea for a Zinger.”

The second question that frequently comes up is, why do I give out so much free information? In part, it’s because I’m trying to remain relevant in this fast paced ever-changing auto world. If not for keeping score and the love of money, I would do it all for free.

But, what it really gets down to for me is it’s about giving more. I know that in the big picture of life the more you give the more you get. Great leaders know that this is an undeniable truth of the laws of great leadership.

You get what you give. Give more and you might just get more.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Recently I read an article in USA Today about Jim Harbaugh, the head football coach at the University of Michigan. The gist of the article was about Coach Harbaugh and his coaching staff attending 11 camps in 9 days in 7 states, including some in the backyard of the Southeastern Conference. Some of the coaches in the SEC and other states aren’t too happy about him invading their territory.

Jedd Fisch, the Wolverines quarterbacks’ coach said, “We are a full court press operation.” He further stated, “That is Coach Harbaugh, you’re going to attack and be aggressive. We’re going to push the tempo. That’s what makes it fun.”

Are you being aggressive? Are you attacking? Are you pushing the tempo? Are you having fun? That’s what real leaders do.

Or, are you sitting on your hands and letting the Jim Harbaughs of the world take your customers from you?

Being aggressive will sometimes annoy the competition. I’ve always found that to be fun.

Better to annoy the competition than one day find yourself owned by the competition. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs

Without question, some people are luckier than others. It’s not
always true, but some of the time it’s just a fact.

More often than not, luck is a by-product of being prepared.

The more you prepared you are, the luckier you get.

Being prepared means studying your craft.

Being prepared means making some mistakes and moving on.

Being prepared means willingness to change.

Being prepared means listening to other points of view.

Being prepared means getting outside of your comfort zone.

Being prepared is a constant thirst for knowledge.

Being prepared means having lots of residue on your hands.

Many have the will to win. Very few have the will to prepare to win. That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs