Make 2023 Your Year With 3 Automotive Leadership Tips

Dec 29, 2022

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It’s the end of 2022, and you know what that means — it’s goal-setting season.

Many of us automotive leaders find our minds wandering this time of year, envisioning all the success that will come our way in 2023 and setting goals to get us there.

But the truth is, an estimated 91 percent of people fail to achieve their New Year's resolutions. The biggest reason why? They lack an emotional connection to their goal. Knowing why you want to do something is a huge motivating factor in getting it done.

The same applies when leading a team. We in the automotive industry are great at putting together the metrics and the numbers. But achieving success as a leader is also about articulating the why.

If you really want to make a change within your company culture and achieve your goals in 2023, simply declaring a goal is not enough. You’ve got to inspire, you’ve got to show why a goal is so important and you’ve also got to break it all down with your team.

In this special episode of the Automotive Leaders podcast, you’ll learn three things you can do differently in 2023 to ensure success.

Themes discussed in this episode:

What’s a temporal landmark and why they’re the perfect time to set new business objectives
Why we need to look to the past to achieve success in the future
How to inspire people around your goals and get where you want to go
Why culture and processes are integral to getting things done
How language makes a difference when holding your team accountable

Featured Expert: Jan Griffiths (Host)

What she does: Jan is the co-founder and president of Gravitas Detroit, an organization dedicated to cultivating authentic leadership in the automotive industry by providing courses, workshops, speaking events, and more. She is also the host of The Automotive Leaders Podcast

On leadership: “Leadership is [about] inspiring a team around more than the numbers. To be truly successful and reach the goal of a high-performance team, we have to inspire not only our team, but the people around us.”

Episode Highlights

Timestamped inflection points from the show

[0:57] The power of the restart: 2023 is about to begin, and you’re probably thinking about how you can be a better leader for your team next year. Repeating the same strategies year after year won’t generate success. How are you going to do things differently?

[3:55] Tip 1: Look in the rearview mirror: Why look back when we want to move forward? Reflecting on your team’s 2022 mistakes and accomplishments will go a long way toward ensuring future success — and it keeps your team engaged in the process.

[6:56] Tip 2: Ask the question, Where am I going?: Metrics and numbers alone won’t help you become a better leader. You need clarity and an emotional connection for your team to understand and execute your goals successfully.

[12:48] Tip 3: Articulate how you are going to get there: In the automotive industry, we’ve got the metrics for everything. But we need to work harder on the ‘how’ — how we’re going to improve our culture and boost efficiency to achieve our goals.

[17:05] Rethink accountability: We need to stop associating accountability with blame and instead with following up on our commitments. Accountability language matters. Be clear, be specific, and don’t accept wishy-washy language.

[20:00] A new realm of possibility: Make 2023 the year you step into your authentic leadership power. Lead from the heart and inspire your team. Most importantly, believe in yourself.

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Top quotes

[4:58] “We need to recognize accomplishments all the time. Whenever there's a win, take a moment to recognize that success. It fuels not only you as the leader, but it fuels the team and the team members to go take on the next success.”

[10:35] “You can't stand on January 1 … and say, we're going to launch all of our programs on time and in budget. Great. Love that. But how? How are you going to do that? What exactly are you going to change in your organization and the way that you do business to make that happen? Just declaring a goal doesn't make it happen. You’ve got to inspire people around that goal, [explain] why that's so important, but then start to break it down. ”

[13:03] “We're great in automotive at talking about the metrics and the numbers. We're really good at that … But it's the how part that needs more attention.”

[20:10] “I know that you can step up into your leadership strength. Be the authentic leader you know you can be and lead from the heart, inspire your team, and take them into an entirely new realm of performance and possibility.”