Former NADA chair Paul Walser urges young dealership leaders to ‘be patient'

LAS VEGAS — Be patient.

Paul Walser, former National Automobile Dealers Association chairman and dealership veteran, offered those two words of advice to a room of younger automotive industry leaders gathered at Automotive News Retail Forum: NADA on Thursday.

"One of the challenges with the kinds of ambitious high achievers just like we have in this room, is a lot of times they expect promotions yearly or every other year and there maybe just aren't that many rungs on the ladder," Walser, a partner in Walser Automotive Group, told the 2023 Automotive News 40 Under 40 winners and alumni during a discussion with Automotive News Executive Editor Jamie Butters.

In those situations, it's better to not quickly jump ship, Walser said.

"For me, the lesson is patience," Walser said. "It's not one of my stronger attributes, but I do believe it's critical."

Walser spoke from his perspective of being a veteran Minnesota auto dealer and employer. He led Walser Automotive for 20 years until 2017, when he shifted his focus onto acquisitions and automaker relationships. Under his leadership, the group changed its recruiting strategy for sales professionals, focusing on noncommission compensation, 40-hour workweeks and improved work-life balance, among other initiatives.

As NADA chairman, his initiatives included promoting steps to broaden diversity among dealers and employees, and mobilizing dealers for lobbying efforts.

During his talk, Walser said that employees who moved on too quickly should have thought things through before doing so.

"The worst thing I have seen over the years are people that literally bounce from one place to the next because they've got aspirations for the next rung on the ladder, as you say, and maybe that opportunity isn't immediately available, so they go somewhere else to find it," Walser said. "Then, the same thing happens the next time around, and pretty soon after a number of years, you've had a resume for a lot of different places, and that is not a good way to go."

Instead, Walser urged younger automotive industry employees to "make a really good decision" about where they want to work and the team they want to work with and stick with it if a growth path appears clear, even if it isn't immediate.

"Make sure the vision of the organization is aligned with your own [and] make sure the values and the important core principles are in core alignment" and that a career path is there, he said. "Know [that] you're part of something that's growing and then be patient and stay the course, and I think that will ultimately get you to where you" want.