Management By Strengths: A Success Story


This article appeared in the Hendrick Automotive Group's May 1995 Newsletter "Teammates".

Over the past decade, the Management By Strengths (MBS) program has become an important management tool for Hendrick Automotive Group. Fred Allen, general manager at Hendrick Motors in Hickory, NC, first introduced the MBS Program to Hendrick in 1984 after meeting MBS president Mike Postlewait at a Mercedes-Benz meeting. He was so impressed he invited Postlewait to conduct a training session at his dealership.

Since that time, Hendrick Automotive Group has become more and more involved with MBS. The recent MBS training course in Pleasanton, CA, hosted 270 managers and employees from 14 stores. From Florida to California. from Kansas to Texas and back to the Carolinas, Hendrick people are learning how to work better with their co-workers and customers based on the MBS philosophy of being considerate to the individual.

"Hendrick Automotive Group is in the people business and MBS is helping us develop and polish our people skills. Focusing on the temperament strengths of those around us empowers each of us to excel," says Human Resources Director Suzanne Wrenn. Postlewait demonstrated this with an example he shared at an Advanced MBS session in Olathe, KS. It's a perfect example of how the program works by considering the customer's point of view.

Dave Hosley, service director at Superior Chevrolet, recently had an encounter with a very upset customer. The man was shouting about a problem with his car's engine. Dave, who's a pretty intense "High D", as you can see from his profile, was getting angry himself when he realized the customer was also a "High D"...way out of control.

"Rather than getting mad, I just waited until he ran out of things to yell about, then got right to the point," Dave said. After Dave explained the customer's choices, he decided to have Dave fix the problem. The customer spent $2,000 and called back a week later to thank Dave ... and to apologize for the way that he acted.

"I hear stories like this throughout the organization from coast to coast," Postlewait says. "As people make an effort to think of the other person, they are able to accomplish what they need to do much easier. The most basic principle of free enterprise is, 'When you give, you will receive.' Recognizing and appealing to another person's point of view is not only considerate ... it's profitable."

"Hendrick Automotive Group is made up of thousands of individuals, working as a team to succeed. The principles presented in the Management By Strengths classes are a common thread that bind our different stores together," says Wrenn.

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