Admit your struggles. You can’t stay positive all the time. And if you know you’re very stressed out and you’re very upset, sometimes you have to ask for their forgiveness because you are stressed out and going through a tough time. So just hang in there and apologize before you start. And just say, ‘I have to get this off my chest. It’s important that you people share some of this stress.’
And then once I get it out and it’s off my chest, then we have to work with the group. But the manager has to deliver the message. And sometimes if you say it, it’ll go in one ear and [out] the other. But if you have a lot of emotion, if you’re very upset and they see that, then they know it’s a real issue that people have to figure out how to get behind and solve the problem.
They’ll see that the leader is serious and they’ll see that the leader is upset and stressed out, and then they put the afterburners on to try to take some of the burden off of that one person: ‘How can I help you?’ and, ‘Let me get involved.’
Ask for help. They have to use each other. They have to use me, and I have to use them to get through these day-to-day extreme challenges. That’s why they call it a team.
I think you have to [tell] them how important it is to take care of each other: ‘Use each other’s talents and skills. If a manager’s not available right at that point, ask your buddy — have like a buddy system — to review something, or [ask], “Does this look like it’s doing the right thing?”’ And they help each other out.
You just have to keep instilling it into the group that we’re all into this together, nobody’s better than the other person, we’re all equal.
There are small teams within the large teams. There might be two or three salespeople that kind of work together; they try to help each other out. There are parts people that help out and pick up the phones when they’re ringing, greet customers. They automatically help each other with the phones and meeting and greeting the customers. If one person’s at lunch and a customer comes in, they will [say], ‘Hey, let me start with you, and I know he’ll be back in 15 minutes.’ It’s a team within a team.
How to reach: Mike Riehl’s Roseville Chrysler Jeep, (586) 859-2500 or www.mikeriehls.com
