Too many operations manage by crisis instead of systematically learning and implementing changes. Today, I’m going to look into the two different mindsets of leading an organization: Reactive versus Proactive. Proactive A proactive leader is always looking to improve his or her operation. There is a constant yearning to learn something new and implement it. This type of person is probably a reader that reads several books per year - or listens to them (that’s what I do). There are two major components to being a Proactive Leader: Learning and Doing. Learning There are several ways to learn new ideas. I’ve already touched on reading. Don’t think that you have to read books or articles that are specific to our industry - any leadership or management material contains ideas that could be adapted to fit the Automotive Recycling Industry. The idea here is to constantly be trying to learn something from anything that you read. Figure ways to adapt ideas or suggestions to your opera...

Service Creates Loyalty Is there a such thing as loyalty these days? Are the customers simply shopping for price? Does our level of service influence the chances that a customer will order another part from us? I believe it does! It takes years to build a reputation with a customer, yet it can be lost in a matter of a few interactions, if not sooner. We all know this statement is true, yet we don’t train our people to think this way. Let me explain how two interactions with a new car dealership service department caused us trade our car in for a car from a different manufacturer. In 2018, we bought a new Volvo XC60 for my wife to drive. We loved the car. It performed well, it had lots of cool technology. We actually decided that it was a better car than the 2017 Mercedes GLC300 that we traded in to buy it. After zero issues for the first 10,000 miles, it was time for a free oil change. My wife attempted to schedule the oil change only to learn that there were no technicians on du...