Just ONE Thing
The Real CIA: How to Lead with Control, Influence, and Acceptance in your Auto Repair Shop
Episode 208
with Rick White, 180BIZ
Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. My name is Rick White from 180BIZ, and this is my Just One Thing.
Here's the thing I want to talk about. It's CIA. And no, I'm not talking about that CIA—although I was telling my grandson this morning, I said I'm talking about CIA. And he said, "Customers in anger." And I thought that was actually pretty cool. But no, we're not talking about that today either.
What I want to talk about is control, influence and acceptance, okay? And what I mean by that is we’ve got to really understand—and it took me a long, long time to learn this—and I want to help you shorten that path. So what I want to be able to do is talk about this.
First thing I want to talk about is control, right? We think we have way more control than we really do. You know, one of my former wives would refuse to fly on a plane. And I said, why? What's the big deal? She goes, "Because I'm not in control." And I said, "Well, what's the alternative?" She goes, "When I'm driving, I'm in control." And I said, "Really? So what happens if the 18-wheeler coming the other way, you know, kind of wanders on top to where you're going? Is that control?" And it really isn’t.
See, control is an illusion, and that's what I want you to understand. Control is an illusion. The only thing you can control is inside your skin. The only things you can control are inside your skin.
What do I mean by that? Your attitude, your mindset, your expectations, your intentions, okay? Your effort, your actions, your reactions—those are in your control. Okay? How you see things—all of it—that you have in your control.
There's a lot of other stuff we don't have in our control, like the results we get. As hard as you want to work, you cannot force the results to go the way you want them to go. Doesn’t work that way.
What you've got to be able to do is recognize the results are the ruler of your effort, of your intentions. And if you want better results, you have got to put in better effort, more elegant effort, learn to do better, and then you'll get better. Does that make sense?
You know, it's funny. I've had people tell me, "Oh, I'm an advisor, a service advisor. I have 20 years of experience." And you know what I find out? They actually have one year of experience repeated 19 times. In other words, they just keep doing the same thing. They're not learning. They're not getting better at what they're doing. And that is a recipe for disaster. Actually, I think it’s delusional.
You've got to be able to recognize that results are not there to piss you off. They're not there to… they're not there. They're just a ruler. The results that you want are an arbitrary, made-up thing—which are great, because that's what we need as human beings. We are goal-seeking missiles.
But the results—we need, with results—not frustration, not anger, not bitterness. We need acceptance. We need to accept the result and then step back and learn from it. We need to dig into that result and learn: How do I control my actions? How do I control my intention? How do I control my beliefs? How do I control my emotions? How do I control how I communicate?
That's where the control is. So you need to understand that control is an internal thing.
Influence is the ability to help others. It is there for them to help you. It is getting—it's being able to work with others towards a common goal, but for each other’s reasons. Right? That's what leadership is.
Leadership is getting other people to do what you want—for their reasons. And if you can understand that and realize that this is all about influence—right?—when I'm working with others, I can't make someone show up. I can't make someone do something. I can't make people do anything. But I can influence them.
But here's the secret: I can't influence somebody until I know what influences them. I'm just checking my timer. I can't influence somebody until I know what influences them. That’s just not possible.
And you know what we do? Because we don't know what influences other people—because we all are influenced, every one of us are—and because we don't step back and learn what that influence trigger is, you project what influences you. And you know what happens? You get frustrated. Why? Because the result isn't what you want. Right?
I want them to do something. Well, show them why they need to do it. Show them why they should do it. But not for your reasons—for theirs. This is what makes a difference.
You can't make anybody do anything. But together, you can do amazing things.
I hope this makes sense, right? There are things happening outside in the world today that people are so frustrated with, and they are so angry because it's not going the way they want it to go—whether that be the political or the economic or whatever is going on right now.
But I'm here to tell you, that's the wrong place to focus. Be aware of what's going on out there, and then decide in here—in here—what you're going to do to make it better for you, for your world.
This is acceptance. It's adaptation. You're adapting to the circumstances, situations, events, and other people that you have no control over.
Now, there are some people—they're just poison. Man, I can't have them in my life. So the way I control that is I don't let them in. There are other people I let in a little bit. Then there's some other people—my inner circle—I let them in, right? And then there's my family, who are even closer.
So I hope this message works for you all, and if this makes sense, on a Memorial Day morning, I'm going to ask you to share this, please. Okay?
Understanding the acceptance part of this, okay, is such an important thing. Because when I can accept the result and then either celebrate or learn, that's really what it's all about. I've got to accept the result, and then I either celebrate that result or I learn from it.
And honestly, I want to celebrate all the results. Because even if it isn’t what I expect—right?—here's one of my core beliefs. Are you ready for this? There's a purpose behind it. There's a reason for it. And there's a lesson in it.
If you can really adapt that and adopt it and just embrace that thought process, it's going to make all the difference in the world.
Okay, please share this video. We also have our Shop Owners Round Table—second Thursday, June 12, 7 PM Eastern. We also have Pocket Business Genius Webinar Series. If you don't want full-on coaching, tell you what—that's a great way to get more information.
Thank you, everybody. Take care.
