In the first part of this series on why dealerships struggle, I covered some essential tips of hiring the right team members. Nothing happens until you have the right people. In this article, I wanted to elaborate on an element that always exists in struggling dealerships that must be addressed before you can hire the right team members. As simple as this is, the first element in getting the right team is the willingness to let go of bad or less-than-desirable team members you have now.
In every struggling dealership I have ever known, the dealer or leadership of the dealership has a false belief system that created their false reality around people and success. This belief system and ensuing reality is always based upon fear and scarcity.
The world is abundant. There is never a lack of desirable people, resources or money. There is only misguided belief systems centered on a mental position of lack. When leaders stew in a mental position of lack and scarcity, emotions become ingrained, which creates massive fear. False fears become absolute reality to the leaders, and are spread like cancer to the rest of the team.
Those fears manifest themselves around the ability get good to great team members, and result in excuses about why less-than-desirable to bad people must be kept and cannot be replaced. Winning dealerships are never created through fear, scarcity and tolerating less-than-desirable actions and people.
Struggling dealerships are run by leaders who come from a position of weakness instead of power. This weakness leads to a false belief system that you cannot expect more or better results because you might lose these people. The fear is centered on losing bad people! Tolerating bad things from bad people can become the norm, and even expected. Excuses rule the day. Here is my wake-up call for you if you are one of these leaders: There are no excuses.
Nature abhors a vacuum. If you have an expectation of getting great people, you must first be willing to let go of bad or underachieving people. If you take a glass of water and insert your finger into the glass, the water is dispersed around your finger. However, the moment you remove your finger, the water fills the void. This same principal exists around people. When you become ready to let go of bad people, the universe will allow you to attract better people.
In every single struggling dealership, there are people who do not have the talent, attitude or skills to do their job. Skills can be trained, but you cannot add talent that is not there. I have a saying, “You cannot put in what God left out.” As for attitude, I also have a saying: “People usually don’t change that much, so stop trying.” You must desire and accept champion attitudes and talent. People with champion attitudes and talents have “teachable spirits” and have a strong desire to grow their talents and add skills. Champions do not tolerate losing or less-than acceptable standards. Champions are not attracted to bad environments created by bad people.
Bad people do everything they can to run champions off because status quo is what they desire. Bad people have become comfortable stewing in their bad environments and have become professional victims, filled with excuses. Bad people never take responsibility.
Ask yourself, “What is this team member doing to better himself?” Consider these two concepts: In the Bible it says, “If you move towards me, I will move towards you,” and there is a Hindu proverb that says, “Pray, but move your feet.” The centerpiece of both teachings is in people taking action and with personal responsibility moving towards something rather than waiting for something to come to them. Champions do not wait for their ship to come in. Champions either swim to the ship or build their own ship.
Stop tolerating and making excuses for less-than-desirable people. When you do, you start to cultivate a champion environment. You must first be willing to let the bad go to be able accept the good. When you let less-than-desirable people go, you always wind up asking yourself, “Why on earth did I wait so long and why did I put up with that?” In that question is the magical answer. What emotion or need are you fulfilling by keeping people you should not keep? This is solely about you, not them. Create a different reality today by changing your belief system. Just let those who should go, go! You are doing them — and your business — a favor.