Just ONE Thing
Auto Repair Shop Leadership: Are You Setting the Tone?
Episode 281
with Rick White, 180BIZ
Good morning. My name is Rick White from 180BIZ, and this is my Just One Thing. I want you to think about your thermostat in your house. You walk into a room and it's 65 degrees.
You want it to be at 72. So what do you do, right? What do you do? Do you accept the 65 degrees because that's what the room's giving you? Or do you set the thermostat to 72 and allow the system to do its job? If you're like most of us, especially my wife, I like it cold, she likes it warmer, right? You're gonna, you're gonna put it to 72.
Now think about your business. You have an employee that comes in with a bad attitude. You got a customer complains about something. Someone's make it, makes a mistake that costs you money, costs you time. Your day isn't going the way you planned. How many times does that ever happen, right?
Here's the question: Are you setting the temperature in your shop, or are you allowing everything and everyone around you to set it for you? See, I need you to understand that a thermometer reads the temperature. It tells you what's happening around you. That's valuable. Someone gets angry, so you get angry.
Someone becomes negative, you become negative. Someone raises their voice, so guess what you do? You raise your voice. How's that working for you, right? Something goes wrong and your entire day goes wrong. See, your behavior becomes a reflection of your environment. You're feeding off of your environment.
That doesn't work. Listen, a thermostat sets the desired temperature. It recognizes what's happening, but it doesn't allow those conditions to determine its setting. Think that through for just one sec. Somebody gets angry, but you remain respectful, right? Think this through.
Someone gets negative, but you remain focused on solutions. Someone makes a mistake, but you focus on learning and correction. Something goes wrong, but you stay focused on where you're going. See, a thermometer reacts to the environment, a thermostat works to change it. Now... You gotta be able to read the temperature before you can change it.
See, a thermostat can't do its job without knowing what the current temperature is. You know, this like mumbo jumbo, you know, be a thermostat or be a thermometer. D- cut it, man. You gotta recognize that the thermostat has a thermometer built in, right?
It can't do its job until it knows what the temperature is. It's the same with leadership. You need to recognize what's happening around you. Is your team frustrated? Is someone struggling? Is there tension between your team members? Is somebody discouraged? Is your own attitude making things work worse?
You can't fix what you refuse to recognize. That's the truth. But I need you to understand there's a big difference between recognizing the temperature and becoming a part of the problem. See, awareness tells you where you are, your standards tell you where you wanna go. The problem happens, when you allow where you are to change where you wanna go, where, where, where the problems begin, like where problems begin, right?
And, a- and when you allow them to change what you're focused on. That's the problem. See, your actions determine whether the temperature changes. Imagine setting a thermostat to 72 degrees, but the heat never comes on. So what happens? Nothing. Setting the temperature doesn't mean anything without the actions necessary to reach it.
Think about your shop. You want a positive workplace, but you complain about your team. You want accountability, but you avoid difficult conversations. You want respect in the shop, but you raise your voice when you're frustrated. Think about this. Is this hitting home for you guys yet?
Think about this. You want people to take responsibility, but then you go and blame others when something goes wrong. See, you can't expect your team to maintain a temperature you're unwilling to demonstrate yourself. Do you get what I'm saying here?
Here's another important point. A thermostat doesn't change its setting every time the temperature changes. It stays focused on the desired temperature and continues working toward it. This has gotta be the same with you. Your standards shouldn't change because your circumstances do. See... I need you to just take this, I wanna take this one step further.
What happens when your heating system isn't working? The thermostat's set to 72, but your bedroom stays at 65, right? Setting the temperature isn't enough. You've gotta make sure the system or systems responsible for reaching that temperature are working. In your shop, those systems could include your expectations, your communication, your willingness to correct and confront unacceptable behavior, your willingness to recognize and reinforce the best behavior, the right behavior.
Suppose you got a team member constantly showing up with a negative attitude. If you just let that fly, guess what? That becomes the new temperature in your shop, right? That's not good. The reality is you gotta refuse to let that attitude affect yours, number one, but then the second part of it is you gotta make sure that you address that behavior.
Because if you don't address that behavior, nothing changes. Being a thermostat isn't just about controlling yourself. It's about taking responsibility for the environment that you want to create, that you're willing to work to create. That's what really is important.
Being a thermostat isn't about controlling yourself. It's important. You gotta be able to do that, right? Instead, you wanna be able to, instead of react, you wanna be able to be more responsible, right? And that's what this is all about. But now you've also got to address what's going on in the environment.
Sometimes that means having conversations you'd rather avoid. So every day, people and circumstances are going to challenge you. That's a fact. There are gonna be problems. There are gonna be disappointment. There are gonna be people who do not behave the way you want them to. You can't eliminate those things, but you can ask yourself these questions.
Number one, what's the temperature right now? Recognize what's happening without judging or reacting. This is information gathering. Second, what's the temperature I want? This is where you remember what your standards, expectations, and desired outcome are. Then the last thing is, what action can I take to move us towards it?
You gotta be able to respond in a way that supports the environment you wanna create. You may not change the entire room immediately. You might not even be able to change one person's attitude, but you can refuse to contribute to the very conditions you're trying to change.
Think about the last time someone in your shop was upset, that upset you. Maybe they made a mistake, maybe they challenged you, maybe they came to work with a lousy attitude. Now I want you to ask yourself, did your response move the temperature closer to what you wanted, or did you allow the room to get even hotter?
Did you make the room hotter? Super, super important because that's the difference. A thermometer tells you what the temperature is. A thermostat determines what the temperature should be and then takes action to get there. So the Just ONE Thing for this week is to stop allowing the temperature around you determine the temperature within you.
Because if you wanna change the environment in your business, the first temperature you must take responsibility for is your own. If you got any questions with this, wanna talk about this, you're having problems with it, please reach out. Shannon will put the link in the comment section.
Would love to be able to sit down and talk with you, no pressure, see what's going on. Everybody have a great week. I'll see y'all next week. Take care. Bye-bye.
