Automotive News produces really informative videos. This 4-minute briefing on Serra Automotive’s inventory sourcing is a great example.
One of my mentors worked for Al Serra for a long time and has great respect for the team. The opening lines from current President Matt Serra gives me clues as to why:
From a values perspective, the way we think about the business–that hasn’t changed. When you go through a lot of changes, it just makes you reflect back on those values and stay true to them.
And from a values perspective, the way we look at it is that our job is to serve our customers, our associates, the rest of it will take care of itself. And that’s kind of the foundation my grandfather built the company on.
And we also take a forever timeframe, or forever perspective. So all the decisions we’re making, whether it be strategy, process, policy, individual decisions with customers–we’re looking at it from the long, long term.
Serra has 20 dealer partners, decentralized with different strategies and processes. It could be an absolute mess. I’ve certainly seen that in other dealer groups. Yet at Serra, the values at each location are the same.
I imagine that, as each rooftop wrestled through how to address the pandemic, they were able to fall back on what the organization had defined as important–the priorities, the values–to guide their decisions in the moment.
And “Corporate” knew the ideas bubbling up at the store level fit what they each believed was important. Sharing and implementing what worked … worked.
Your organization’s vision is your Why. Your plan and strategies are your What.
Your values are your How:
You may know exactly where you want to head … but we all need a little course correction on the journey. Values are the compass of your organization. They define True North.
But only if you’ve defined them. The wrong way to do this is by “wish listing” all the values you think you should have. There is a coaching method to arrive at your real list of values. Contact me if you are interested in a Values Clarification Exercise.