Mark Gilbert has a long and decorated career in management as he climbed the ranks of leadership through the automotive industry. Given that, it’s not surprising that so many managers turn to him for guidance.
Gilbert believes that there’s always room for improvement in any dealership. It’s essential to maintain excellent leadership and management skills for all managers and administrators. After all, good leaders can propel their teams and staff to greater heights. And, by developing their leadership skills, they can also directly affect how well their teams perform.
Always keep learning
Leadership is a never-ending learning process. Once you’ve achieved one rung, you must keep developing your skills to reach the next. Mark Gilbert feels that it’s through constant learning—through the experience of others, through books, through some first-hand experience, and even with the expertise of colleagues—where leaders can continue to learn and develop themselves.
Give and receive feedback
As leaders, it’s also their job to mentor, critique, and develop their personnel. This is done to improve their skills to guide them further towards career progression. However, this doesn’t mean that leaders are infallible; they have to be open to feedback, too. Feedback, both dispensed and received, helps both staff and leaders grow, recognize their faults and flaws, and give them the chance to work on them.
Leading by example
Mark Gilbert feels that there must only be one set of rules which both the leader and the staff must follow. Leaders must be able to abide by their own standards, regulations, and expectations. Leading by example remains the best way to improve one’s leadership. It keeps leaders aware of their behavior and reminding others of exactly what is expected of them.
For Mark Gilbert, becoming a great leader is a process. Leadership means continuously learning and imparting this knowledge to the other people in the dealership. This way, everyone will grow and improve.