As many of today's auto-retail titans mentor the next generation of leaders, they recall the guidance they once received from likely — and not-so-likely — sources.
Penske Automotive Group Inc. Chairman Roger Pen- ske had his father, Jay, as a mentor and benefactor. Jay Penske lent his life savings to his son so Roger could buy his first dealership.
Dealers Don Flow and Rick Ford list former AutoNation Inc. COO Mike Maroone as one of their key teachers. And dealer and former White House Chief of Staff Mack McLarty has three big-name mentors. Perhaps surprisingly, his friend and onetime boss, former President Bill Clinton, is not among them.
Talk to these well-known dealers, and a common theme emerges: Their mentors, as well as those who most influenced them even if not in a formal mentor relationship, challenged them to embrace leadership as a privilege.
Just ask Flow. His early mentor, former furniture company executive Max De Pree, once asked a young Flow if he had "the courage to be a leader." Admittedly naive at the time, Flow replied, "Max, what does that mean?"
"He said, 'Leadership is the serious meddling in the life of another person because you're in the business of forming another person,' " said Flow, CEO of Flow Automotive Cos. in Winston-Salem, N.C. " 'The quality of your leadership will be measured in the improvement in the people around you — not just in the results, but in the people.' "
De Pree, former CEO of Herman Miller Inc., died in August at age 92.