The Automotive Leaders Podcast

Sign up for The Automotive Leaders Letter In its debut season, the "Automotive Leaders Podcast," hosted by Jan Griffiths, takes you on a journey to explore the essence of authentic leadership. With a diverse array of guests, Jan leads you through conversations highlighting the significance of staying true to oneself in a corporate world where authenticity often takes a backseat. You'll encounter inspiring stories and profound perspectives from various leaders throughout the season. They collectively emphasize the importance of upholding one's values and consistently delivering one's personal best despite the competitive games and ego-driven behaviors that often plague the corporate world. Notably, the podcast explores the critical role of leaders during crises, drawing from real-life experiences like the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. These stories exemplify how authentic leadership truly shines when facing adversity. Beyond leadership, the season also addresses pressing societal issues, including the profound impact of the Black Lives Matter movement. This broader perspective extends authentic leadership to encompass general social and moral responsibilities, underscoring the significance of leaders engaging in these essential dialogues. As the season concludes, it imparts valuable wisdom, providing a clear understanding of the fundamental principles of authentic leadership.Themes discussed in this episode:Authentic leadershipValue of continuous learning and adaptabilityLeadership during crisesSocietal issues and responsibilitiesDifferent perspectives on authentic leadershipPersonal Best and ValuesCommunication and TransparencyFeatured: Jan GriffithsWhat she does: Jan is the founder and CEO 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.Mentioned in this episode:Phil Ideson, Founder Art of ProcurementEpisode with Don AkeryEpisode with Laura Lawson, EVP, Chief People Officer at UWMEpisode with Renee Harmon,  VP Leadership Development Team at UWMEpisode with Kevin Browett, Former CEO, Renaissance Media SolutionsEpisode with Jeneanne Hanley, Board Member of KLA, Former President of Lear E-SystemsMary Barra, CEO of General MotorsEpisode with Nick Skislak, Founder of SS Digital MediaEpisode with Kristy FerchoEpisode with Heather Klish, Former President, Dura AutomotiveEpisode with Cathy Mott, Emotional Intelligence ExpertEpisode with Nick Norris, Navy SEALBook Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink, The C4 FoundationEpisode with Mira Griffiths, Co-Founder and Podcast Host at The Mind TakeawayEpisode with Jim Bianchi, President of Bianchi Public RelationsEpisode with John Anderson, Founder, Replace Retirement“Who will you become after the Crisis?” with Dave Sanderson, Author of Moments MatterEpisode with Ryan Berman, Co-founder of CourageousEpisode with Michael Chime, CEO of PreparedEpisode with Katelyn Davis, Ambassador for Millennials and MobilityEpisode No. 1 & No. 2 with Ann Carter, C-Suite Supply Chain ExecutiveEpisode with Paul Humphries, former President of Reliability Solutions at FlexEpisode with Todd Ballard, former Chief Marketing Officer at GoProEpisode with Dr. Andy Palmer, former COO of Nissan and CEO of Aston MartinSeason 2 Episode with Clint Bruce - Former Navy Special Warfare Officer, NFL Player and EntrepreneurEpisode Highlights:[00:57] Podcasting odyssey: Jan's journey from podcasting novice to the culmination of Season 1, embracing challenges and growing in the podcasting environment.[04:46] Mastering authentic leadership in a competitive world: A recap and summary of the key principles of authentic leadership discussed throughout the season. Reflecting on the wisdom shared by diverse leaders

Imagine starting your career as a draftsman in the automotive industry in the UK, and then…….. you become the CEO of one of the most iconic car companies on the planet. Andy shares his leadership journey that takes him from the more aggressive style of leadership we saw in the industry in the early eighties, through to his experience in Japan and how he's taken the best of all of that leadership experience to become who he is today. He openly shares his vulnerabilities, what he does to deal with those vulnerabilities, how he inspires a team, how he galvanizes a team around a mission, and much more.02:18 – Andy’s story10:20 – Leadership style – the evolution15:42 – Command and control19:16 – Best team experience21:08 – Creating psychological safety22:48 – It’s ok to fail26:45 – Wales29:13 – Authentic leadership31:20 – Napoleon vs. Wellington36:11 – Gravitas37:51 – Galvanizing a team behind a vision42:02 – Keeping it real49:27 – The daily routine51:12 – Advice to your 25yr old self57:16 – The legacy

Todd Ballard, the former Chief Marketing Officer for GoPro possesses that unique combination of an entrepreneurial spirit, creativity, and authentic leadership. Todd spent 13 years at GoPro where he strategically directed the global marketing, brand development, and media vision for the company, taking it from a start-up to a publicly-traded $1B+ consumer electronics business. Todd shares his leadership insights and best practices to build high-performance teams in this fast-paced, high tech, growth environment.In this episode, you’ll hear all about Todd’s leadership journey, his offsite meetings, and the “5 dependencies” approach, how he builds collaboration, and why “ building high ground for low days” is important to him.02:09 – Todd’s story05:50 – Leadership style evolution07:16 – Avoiding silos09:24 - What’s your job?14:10 – The Tombstone test22:36 – Authentic leadership25:44 – The toxic employee29:05 – Building high ground for low days32:24 – Managing creatives40:10 – Advice to your 25yr old self

Paul is the man responsible for inspiring my bone-deep commitment to authentic leadership, he was my first boss back in Wales in the early ’80s as he modeled authentic leadership with every fiber of his being and this was well before the term “authentic” became a thing. Paul has experienced tremendous success in his career and now runs a significant portion of a $25Billion+ company and he hasn’t changed a bit from those early days back in Wales. It’s my honor and privilege to share with you the leadership insights from one of the most down to earth, real and authentic leaders the corporate world has ever seen.In this episode, we share personal stories from the early days, screw-ups, vision, innovation, attracting talent, and much more.00:00 – Paul’s story07:14 – Screw ups11:47 – Learning to fail13:23 -  Innovation18:17 – Attracting talent21:17 – Vision & purpose33:25 – Giving back36:32 – Advice to my 25yr old self40:18 – The legacy

Download the 21 traits of authentic leadership e book Ann Carter is the leader people love to follow and if you listened to part 1 you’ll know why. In this episode, we have an open and candid discussion about racism in the workplace. I was reluctant to record this episode because quite frankly I didn’t know where to take the discussion and what questions to ask. I had to be open and honest about that feeling, so I put myself in a safe space with Ann Carter, and we had the conversation. Our intent is to encourage others to have similar conversations and make strides towards eradicating racism.  00:50 – Why I didn’t know what questions to ask04:59 – The term to use07:02 – Advice to leaders in the corporate world13:54 – The conversations white people have15:19 – Racism, discrimination, and bias17:38 – The recruiting process27:38 – The process of promotion32:40 – Being silent34:15 – Advice to the younger generation38:22 – The value of diversity

Download the 21 traits of authentic leadership e book Ann Carter is the leader people love to follow. Don’t take my word for it just ask anyone who has worked with her.  Ann has experienced tremendous success in the C suite and across multiple industries, Automotive, Oil & Gas, Chemical, Aerospace, and Healthcare, she sees no barriers to success and leads the charge in the area of supplier and workplace diversity and inclusion, it's her mission.This Harvard grad has a story to tell and one that will inspire you on your authentic leadership journey. She is a compassionate leader who has the confidence to inspire, but also the humility to be respectful and encouraging. There is a part 2 to this podcast, tune in to part 1 to find out why.  I had to be vulnerable in part 2, more to follow.02:26 – Ann’s story12:49 – Automotive to Healthcare14:23 – Authentic Leadership19:00 – Aligning and breaking down silos23:09 – The games we play in the boardroom27:46 - Mentoring31:35 – Advice to your 25-year-old self36:27 – Leading through a crisis43:16 – Employee engagement49:25 – Fun in the workplace53:11 – The legacy

Download the 21 traits of authentic leadership e book Katelyn Davis believes passionately about the future of the Automotive Industry and her dedication has never wavered even during the difficult times of the downturn she persevered and encouraged others to share her passion. In this episode, you’ll learn about Katelyn’s story, her automotive roots, and her leadership beliefs. Katelyn dispels some of the myths of the Millennial generation and shares with us how she approaches social media and how she embodies the header on her LinkedIn profile as “Storyteller for the Automotive and Mobility Industry”Katelyn is currently a director at Lambert, a nationally ranked top-5 automotive and transportation public relations firm, supporting a number of key accounts in the automotive and mobility space. Prior to joining Lambert, Katelyn was the director of MICHauto, Michigan’s automotive and mobility industry association, and she held corporate affairs and communications positions with a Tier 1 automotive supplier and an OEM. During her career, Katelyn’s projects were recognized with four national awards which included internal communications campaigns and a user-generated social media campaign. Katelyn is a board member of the Automotive Public Relations Council, a co-lead for the Women in Mobility organization, and a graduate of Leadership Detroit Class XLI.You can reach Katelyn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/katelynsdavis/01:50 – Katelyn’s story06:50 – Leadership style11:41 – Influencers13:48 – The leadership model for the future / Millennials – dispel the myth19:06 – The power of the One on One meeting22:16 – Being personable and maintaining respect24:11 – Your voice on social media30:50 – Gravitas31:37 – Energy34:55 – Mary Barra37:35 – Continuous learning39:08 – Advice to your 25-year-old self41:44 – The legacy

Move over Millennials, Gen Z is coming through! In this episode, you’ll get inside the mind of a Gen Z CEO, Yale student, football player, and purpose-driven leader.Michael Chime is the CEO and founder of Prepared, a company on a mission to pursue a safer world for everyone. Michael and the team created an App that connects schools and emergency services in real-time during crisis situations where every second counts.In this episode you’ll learn about vision, passion, courage, defying conventional wisdom, and leadership from a Gen Z point of view.https://preparedapp.com/02:13 – Michael’s story06:39 – Football, the passion, the selection process, the decision16:01 – The visualization process20:39 – Yale22:38 – School shootings, the impact, the purpose29:37 – Being authentic34:11 – Building the company culture42:15 – Personal brand47:30 – A typical day50:57 – Influencers55:41 – Advice to non-Gen Z listeners

“Every company should have a potential future fear because fear leads to growth” – Ryan Berman. NOW is the time to face that fear of the unknown and a very uncertain future, NOW is the time to unleash COURAGE in our organizations.  “What could the future of your company look like with an infusion of courage?” – Ryan Berman In 2019 Ryan sparked the courage movement that set out to reinvent businesses by galvanizing people, inspiring leaders, and celebrating courageous action in life and in business.  In this episode, you’ll meet Ryan Berman, once an intern at MTV, now a major thought leader in the world of leadership change and branding and, very much an authentic leader. Ryan is the founder of Courageous, a change consultancy that develops Courage Brands and trains companies on how to operationalize courage through Courage Bootcamp. Ryan has spent a career developing meaningful stories for household brands—like Caesars Entertainment, Major League Baseball, New Era, Subway, and UNICEF—and he believes that courage is the ultimate competitive advantage for any willing business, being or brand. Ryan used the courage methodology detailed in the book Return on Courage to launch his own Courage Brand called Sock Problems, a charitable sock company that socks different problems in the world. https://www.couragebrands.com/ https://www.returnoncourage.com/You can reach Ryan on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/courageousideas/04:41 How we met06:56 Ryan’s Story, with a few twists and turns14:18 Millennials, change, and the New Normal18:58 Back to Ryan’s Story38:24 Interviewing leaders for the book, Steve Wilhite, Russell Weiner, Eric Ryan and more47:59 Time to put your business in timeout49:51 Back to work, where do we start?53:49 Fear of failure, trust, and vulnerability57:45  Take the mask off59:22  Get the rallying cry behind your why01:01:57  Advice from Ryan 

We are starting back to work soon and there’s some anxiety around our “New Normal” and exactly what that means, but first a question we must ask and answer for ourselves. A question that holds the answer to how we plan to live the rest of lives, it’s simply this -  How has this crisis changed us?  We explore this topic from a man who has lived his life in 2 distinct parts – BEFORE the plane went down on January 15th, 2009, and AFTER.In this episode, you’ll meet Dave Sanderson, the last passenger on US Airways flight 1549 that ditched into the Hudson River.  Dave made many interesting personal leadership choices during that experience but perhaps, more importantly, he made a personal choice on HOW to live his LIFE after the incident. Dave is an inspirational survivor, speaker, and author of the book “Moments Matter”. His thoughts on leadership have made him an internationally sought-out speaker. The last passenger off the back of the plane on that fateful day, he was largely responsible for the well-being and safety of others, risking his own life in frigid water to help other passengers off the plane. Despite the hazards to himself, Sanderson thought only of helping others and emerged from the wreckage with a mission: to encourage others to do the right thing. Today, he travels the globe sharing his inspirational and motivational leadership messages to help people make a difference in how they do business and live their lives.https://davesandersonspeaks.com/You can reach Dave on LinkedIn at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiredavesanderson/03:00   Dave’s story11:45   Throw the baby! / when people freeze14:33   It’s not always the person with the title17:12   You asked General Norman Schwarzkopf - what?21:42   Life Before and after January 1536:19 No one dies today42:17   Challenging bureaucracy51:31   The morning routine1:00:03  I made a choice