Transparency is critical to Generation Y and it starts with the job posting.  Dealerships should consider posting information regarding employment directly on dealership websites to include details on job responsibilities and expectations, compensation and benefit plans,…

One of the retail automotive industry’s greatest challenges is attracting educated and young talent.  Most career seeking university graduates overlook the automotive industry when considering employment.  Their distaste for the automotive retail industry is typically fueled by negative thoughts about long work hours and confusing, commission-only based pay…

Both automotive management and…

Let's Play Ball!!!

Wikipedia defines "Teamwork [as] the capability to comprehend and recognize the diverse strengths and abilities in a group setting and then applying them to one final solution The concept has spread from the world of sports where it is well known and accepted, to business, so much so that it is in danger of being considered by some as an empty buzzword, or a…

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"You don't get paid for the hour.  You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.” 

~ Jim Rohn

Recently, I had a day in which the time seemed to sit still.  I glanced at the clock for the tenth time and it was only 1:30pm.  How could this be?  I felt like…

Automotive management tasked with the job of recruiting car sales people in addition to their other duties, often find themselves underachieving in terms of production. …

I love going out to dinner when the wait staff remembers me and greets me like a friend.  The looks on my guest’s faces are priceless!!!  Everywhere I go; it seems the red carpet is waiting on my arrival.   Even my friends are eager to join me because via association they too get special treatment.  So, how did I earn my VIP status?  It was easy.  I just started treating each person I…

Each year, I make the pilgrimage from coast to coast to spend time with my family.  It is a journey I greatly anticipate as I find myself not only home sick, but in need of family time after a few months away.  I eagerly anticipate my work day to end and the voyage to begin with a dash to the airport.  This delight usually melts away like a snowman standing in the sun, by the time I make it to the TSA…

I have been fortunate in life in that I have been given the opportunity to have worn many hats.  Having a broad level of experiences in life has given my personality a great deal of depth.  I have always been a marketer in some role or another.  One of these marketing roles was that of an entertainer, in which I marketed what would become my signature brand of “fun, joy and ease" as a singer and…

Recently, I competed for the National Title of Ms. US Forestry Queen and heard several times over the weekend, “You are an extraordinary woman!”  I am humbled and appreciative of any complement, but this one makes me giggle a little on the inside.  Why do I giggle?  Thank about…

IIt is not my job, it is my duty to be inspired and inspire others.  Since my early twenties, I have said final farewells to nineteen brave patriots, heroes and friends.  Each paid the price for freedom before the rigors of life made them old and gray.  These are nineteen friends that I had planned to grow old with, but instead I honor their sacrifice to trade in their future as an investment in my…

I am a vertically enhanced female which I normally see as a benefit, except when I am trying to buy clothing.  Most of the clothing options for women do not come with a choice for inseam or length.  This often leaves me in the dressing room wondering if I can pull of this dress being too short or do these jeans look like capris or a fashion faux pas.  I am stuck in a world in which one-height-fits-all…

Dreams are often the seeds in which goals are grown from, but it takes acting on a dream to achieve a goal.  Sometimes big goals can be as overwhelming as a football field to a five year old.  Like that scared five year old, we can let a daunting task get in the way of our success because of a fear of failure. When engaging in…

Following in the footsteps of three generations of outstanding educators, I took on the career of a high school teacher in my early twenties.  Being the new kid on the block, I was given two classes out of five that were "at risk" students.  High school students don't usually relish in the idea of math class and most "at risk" kids seem to see math as a total…

Everyone has worked with Negative Nellie and Cantankerous Craig and seen how they can poison the waters of progress with their hater-aide.  Their less than inspiring attitude spread like a cancer through what was once an optimistic and forward moving team.  To managers and fellow peers, it is easy to identify the Nellies and Craigs and see the impact they have on team success.

There is…

“What is the number one challenge most dealers have with improving profits?”  1) Employee Turnover, 2) Capital, 3) Inventory, 4) Process, and 5) Recruiting Talent.  Of those polled, 30% answered “Recruiting Talent”.

It is not rocket surgery (it is easier to build a rocket than trouble shoot and repair one) as to how talent affects the dealership’s bottom line.  What puzzles me is why…

If the world was devoid of you, what would it be like and contrast that with if you were the whole world?  Which do you think would be the better place?

The above question was something that passed through my busy brain one night as I prepared for duty the next day at the office.  It seemed like an interesting way to…

IIt does not happen often, but sometimes I find myself bored.  This week I find myself working remotely with my toes in the sandy.  Without the distractions of the office, I am actually finding myself completing my normal task list with time to be bored.  So how does someone who is usually as busy as a bee handle boredom?  I have learned to embrace this simple and rare luxury as a gift to take a…

As an invited guest to the NAS Pensacola National Naval Aviation Museum, I had the honor of attending the "winging" of a group of young aviators.  Rear Admiral Mark Vance was the guest speaker to address this assembly of recently graduated Navy and Marine aviators with a welcome to the fleet speech.  I found myself feeling like I too was being given a "charge to order on the tip of the spear".  The…

“Deliver on your ideas.  Nothing silences critics like success.  Raise the bar for yourself and project a greater vision for those around you.”  When Tony Paragas shared this statement with me, I felt challenged to seize the moment and share a…