The Automotive Leaders Podcast

Meet Kevin Browett, Kevin comes from a one red light town in Pennsylvania he rose through the corporate ranks to head up an $18 Billion P&L  and then……..the pivot, a magazine? tune in to hear his story it covers toys, drugs, start-ups, martial arts and more.In this episode you can expect to hear about a man who was born to serve, it’s in his DNA, it started with the community he grew up in and continues to be a driving force in his life today as he unites the community. Kevin supports the philosophy of “no man left behind” and practices servant leadership in his professional and personal life.  He holds several board positions, supports charity organizations and is proud to put family first, all of this with a strong sense of personal accountability and a strict workout routine starting at 3AM !Kevin speaks openly about failure, lessons learned from the experience and standing up in the boardroom to take the unpopular stand.There are valuable insights to share as we pursue our quest to find GRAVITAS.03:41 Kevin’s story07:11 We want somebody like you08:45 Financial bonus or something else - incentives11:47 It’s about trust12:27 Staying true to yourself when others are not19:09 Failure and lessons learned21:44 The pivot32:06 Personal accountability – 3AM ?37:09 Boards, charities and making it all work41:59 The GRAVITAS factor43:54 What’s your legacy ?

Meet Renee Harmon, they call her “coach”  and they acknowledge her with a slight tip of the head as they pass her by in the hallways and wide open spaces at United Wholesale Mortgage and you can feel the level of respect and warmth toward her servant leadership approach.In this episode you can expect to hear more about the coaching culture at UWM and the training program that supports over 500 + leaders and placed UWM in the top #5 ranking of training teams across the country.How technology plays a part in improving employee engagement and a very different approach to the traditional performance review.“We’re not the culture police” states HarmonThere are valuable insights to share as we pursue our quest to find GRAVITAS.01:38 Renee’s story03:37 The leadership development program05:58 People are our greatest asset06:31 Did she say retention rate of over 90% ?09:34 Not the culture police10:12 The team huddle12:50 Automotive culture – impact ?15:07 Service level agreements16:46 Where did the dance party idea come from ?23:28 Nurturing psychological safety24:54 Technology and the impact on employee engagement27:43 Advice to your 25 year old self28:24 What’s your legacy ?

Meet Laura Lawson, an authentic leader who takes her skills and creativity from her Hollywood job on the Ellen show and becomes the “chief architect of culture” for a mortgage company in Michigan hiring over 3,000 people in 2019.  Laura exemplifies the servant leadership model of leadership and practices it every-day at UWM.  Tune in to hear what this culture is all about and how they make it a reality at UWM.  Yes, there is GRAVITAS in Pontiac Michigan, a city once known for car production. 01:33 Detroit – the mortgage town ?03:20 Laura’s story05:33 The pivot08:18 Our first meeting09:28 Ascending to the C suite12:16 Culture14:30 Blame culture15:25 Fun and friendship16:45 Coming from automotive ?19:44 On-boarding21:18 Thumb pointer22:47 Coaching24:23 Technology28:05 Your time31:50 Dance party ?35:42 What about the metrics ?39:01 Advice to leaders going through cultural transformation42:47 Does Mat Ishbia have GRAVITAS ?45:40 Legacy

Meet Don Akery, a man who walks the talk when it comes to authentic leadership, a man who knows what it takes to take care of all of his stakeholders, customers, suppliers, owners, and most importantly, employees. We will explore today exactly how he does that and stays true to himself.When people come to work at TTI they tend to stay.  The values statement at TTI talks about providing a home and it hasn’t changed in 40 years, the culture has evolved with the times and retained its core values.A real southern boy from Atlanta Georgia who sold subscriptions to the Atlanta Newspaper and now runs a Berkshire Hathaway company, Don has valuable insights to share as we pursue our quest to find GRAVITAS.02:20 Don’s story03:49 Technology and leadership model changes05:40 Attracting Millennials07:07 Embracing social media13:09 The executive roadshow / with a waiting list ?20:52 That irresistible quality of leadership21:36 The TTI story / the American dream23:18 Working for Warren Buffett29:48 Positional power vs supportive / coaching leadership34:33 Creating a home for people40:07 Advice to your 25 year old self43:14 What’s your legacy ?

In this episode, Jan provides the background on her transformation from farm girl to Automotive executive and her passion for authentic leadership. You’ll hear about the questions that will be asked and answered during the podcast series and the type of guests we can expect to hear from as we launch the quest to find GRAVITAS00:27  Jan’s background02:45 Moving to America04:04 Dial it back, tone down the personality04:52 The dream job06:10 Now what? aligned to purpose?07:04 Start my own business, are you crazy?07:50 Launching Gravitas Detroit09:34 What is authentic leadership?12:28 Have you given yourself permission to lead?13:18 The industrial revolution model15:18 The types of guests you can expect to hear from16:06 Staying true to yourself

Welcome to the Automotive Leaders Podcast, where we help you prepare for the future by sharing insights, stories, and skills from leading voices in the automotive world.I’m your host, Jan Griffiths — that passionate, rebellious farmer’s daughter from Wales with over 35 years of experience in the auto industry. I’m on a mission to create a more authentic leadership culture, one in which people can thrive.“Command and control” as a leadership model is DEAD. Authentic leadership is in.It’s time to break the mold.So what exactly is authentic leadership and how do you practice it? What are the challenges facing auto industry leaders today?We’re in a transformational time. EVs and autonomous driving are entirely new product portfolios. But have our models of leadership and business culture evolved to meet the moment?You can’t have one without the other.In this podcast, you’ll hear in-depth interviews, powerful insights and fun facts from the people at the forefront of these groundbreaking shifts in the auto industry. We publish a new episode every 2 weeks, one long form guest interview between 40 and 50 minutes followed by a solo episode where I’ll deconstruct the guest interview and go deeper into the leadership traits discussed.As a listener, you can also access the 21 traits of authentic leadership pdf  to help you on your leadership journey.Download the 21 traits of authentic leadership e book Start your journey into authentic leadership today by digging in to our library of episodes with thought leaders such as Stephen M.R. Covey where we focus specifically on the automotive industry and explain why the C & C model is well and truly dead , the author Daniel Pink on the Power of Regret and how this applies to leaders in the auto industry, Sandy Stojkovski CEO of Vitesco, Steve Kiefer former head of global purchasing for GM and Stefan Krause former CEO of Canoo and a recognised leader in the mobility space and many more.You can find a complete list that’s easy to navigate on our website, theautomotiveleaderspodcast.com. Easily navigate our back catalogue of episodes Each episode has robust show notes to help you navigate the episode along with a full episode transcript.If you prefer to watch a video rather than pure audio you can find us on the Gravitas Detroit  YouTube channel Learn more about your host, Jan Griffiths in this short video Stay true to yourself, be you , and lead with Gravitas, the hallmark of authentic leadership.