Leading the Way

In 2017, Motors Management welcomed team members from all dealerships to a brand new, year-long program, the Luther Leadership Academy. This program accepts team members from various positions who want to further develop their skills and learn how to become a leader in their dealership. Now, we are in the third cohort of the academy and celebrate the 28 individuals who graduated from the program this December.

The Leadership Academy is a year-long program that meets bi-monthly in person, beginning in February and ending inDecember. The program offers a blended learning approach. Instead of meeting every month, participants have ‘homework’ assigned to them that they can complete on their own time before the next in-person meeting. “It’s meant to give them accountability and responsibility to owning their own learning journey,” said Dan Sweeney, Director of Training and Development. 

There are three main categories the Leadership Academy focuses on: Leading Yourself, Leading Your Team, and Leading Your Business. Throughout the year, participants learn various topics within each category, from discovering their own learning style and communication skills to finding action items on how to improve their dealership. Various executives and guest speakers cover these topics. “It’s been very helpful to see how the front end works. Before the Leadership Academy, I never got to see the financial side of things,” said Nick Sparrow, Service Manager at Jaguar Land Rover. 

All the topics and categories covered throughout the year provide ideas and insight to participants for their final capstone project, which they’ll present to Luther’s executive team. The Capstone presentations developed by each participant range from process improvement ideas, cost reduction recommendations, to revenue generation concepts or employee/guest satisfaction initiatives. Some of the ideas presented this month are already being implemented at the participant’s dealership, with the potential to spread to other Luther stores. “We’re all in this together to better ourselves and come together as an organization,” said Lily Haas, Motors Paralegal. 

If you want to advance your skills and learn new aspects of your dealership through the Leadership Academy, talk with your General Manager to find out more. “The Leadership Academy was a great learning opportunity, and it allowed me to meet and connect with new people I wouldn’t typically see in the dealerships,” said Haas.