Take the blame for failure. I’m
not afraid to take the blame
at all. I think you should take
the blame for all failures
because if you are at the top
and you have people that are
failing underneath you, then
you haven’t given them the
tools or the leadership or
information they need to
succeed. So, you have to
take the blame for that
because it all starts at the
top and works on down.
I was taught one thing.
When you make a mistake,
stand right up and say you
made the mistake. But, when
you are right, go all the way
with it. You have to take the
blame. If somebody fails in
your company and you have
given him all the tools, all
the instruction, everything he
needs to succeed and he
fails, then you have to take
the blame for it. Because
that person, either he wasn’t
the right person in the company or he didn’t get everything he needed.
That’s why you have to stay
close to your managers. You
have to feel the pulse of your
managers. You’ve got to
think what they think and
know exactly what they are
doing all the time.
No one likes to lose or fail,
but when it happens, you
learn from your mistakes.
You pick yourself up, you
brush yourself off and then
you try to do a better job. It
makes you a better person.
It’s a learning experience,
and you learn from failure.
Promote from within. When you
bring somebody in from the
outside, it’s like Ford Motor
Co. did awhile back. They
brought people in from
Westinghouse, and they
stepped on people that were
there for a long period of
time, and those people abandoned ship and went over to
Chrysler.
It’s the same way with a
dealership. If you bring
somebody in from the outside or is not familiar with
the way you run a dealership … you’d better be able
to have some thick skin.
Because, what happens is,
the employee resents him,
and he ends up leaving anyway. So, you try to make
sure you promote from within if you have the people
there that can do that.
[You need someone with]
strong character, [who] does-n’t mind working the hours.
This is a very stressful business. You better be able to
walk and chew gum at the
same time. You better be
able to multitask.
HOW TO REACH: Walker Ford Co. Inc., (800) 329-1788 or www.walkerford.com
