Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series in which successful "managers of managers" share strategies and best practices for mentoring, inspiring, motivating and guiding the people who run their stores. The second part will appear in the November 2024 issue of MTD.
As a multi-store operator, what’s the key to overseeing the people who are responsible for running your locations? At Byron Center, Mich.-based Wonderland Tire Co., it all starts with understanding how they think, which sometimes requires a little “professional help.”
Ryan Seidel, Wonderland Tire’s director of operations, says managers at the dealership’s 14 stores have taken the Myers-Briggs test, at the suggestion of the company’s owners, to gain a better understanding of their personalities.
The exam helps people pinpoint their personality types, based on how they answer a detailed set of questions.
It also helps Wonderland Tire’s leadership team, members of which have also taken the test, captain their store managers more effectively, according to Seidel, who adds that the analysis has even revealed a few things about his own management style.
“I’m an extrovert," he says. "I’m a little quicker to action than others. Early in my career, if I met somebody who thought like me, I said, ‘Hey, this guy is really good!’
“But over the years, I’ve found value in people who think differently. What I’ve learned is my weakness is their strength and their strength is my weakness. That’s been a very valuable lesson.”
Having a firm grasp of each store manager’s psychological makeup also makes it easier for Wonderland Tire’s leaders to enact changes within the company.
“In my experience, when you give a directive like ‘We’re going to do X, Y and Z,’ you may get some buy-in or you may not get buy-in."
Several years ago, Wonderland Tire's owners were forced to make a tough decision because of spiking fuel prices.
“We were bleeding money absorbing additional costs, but had never done a surcharge before,” Seidel recalls.
Instead of coming up with a number and imposing it on each outlet, Seidel visited each Wonderland Tire store manager and asked for input on what rate the dealership should set.
“I went around and asked, ‘What do you think is fair?’ Some people said $10. Some people said $15. Some people said $20. I took an average and said, ‘Can we all agree on this?’
“Then I went around and got a verbal commitment from each manager. The following week, when we instituted the surcharge, we got 100% participation” — a feat that would have been harder to pull off without approaching those managers first, he admits.
"To get buy-in, you need to understand your people."
