This week, 30 aftermarket professionals have returned to the classroom for Session II of the University of the Aftermarket’s sold-out Leadership 2.0 experience. Throughout the week, they will hear from industry leaders such as Tim Lee, MAAP, president of Lang Distributing Inc., analyze the latest industry challenges, present their intersession research findings and hone their leadership skills before returning to their jobs at aftermarket manufacturing, distribution, association and vehicle service organizations. Once again, several participants in this week’s session have agreed to give us their insider’s take on the experience, as part of our second annual Leadership 2.0 blogger series. Our fourth blog entry this week comes from Rudy Epp of Rudy’s Auto Service Ltd. in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. 
Blog #4
Day three of the final week of Leadership 2.0 has wound down, and I’m suddenly experiencing a sense of sadness as I realize this tremendous opportunity will soon come to an end. Wednesday morning once again saw the class participate in group exercises that certainly brought together the varied levels of experience and viewpoints in the room. Today’s topic was ethics, and Dr. Frank Morgan has a wealth of experience to draw on when relating best practices to us! I was very curious about what I would hear today, as all of my experience is from the service dealer perspective and the bulk of the class is made up of people from sales and manufacturing. I was pleasantly surprised to find that when dealing with simulated situations, the reactions of those in sales was as ethical as I had hoped it would be!
It has been such a spectacular experience so far to participate in this program. The learning seems to start with the first conversation of the day and ends with the last. My classmates all have such noteworthy experience that it sometimes feels as though there are 20 instructors. The class is made up of upper-level management from some of the largest companies in the aftermarket, right down to us service dealers. It has been fascinating to interact with these people whom I now consider friends. I realize that the mentoring we discussed in Tuesday’s sessions was now actually taking place within our own group. I didn’t expect that. I did expect to be part of a team here; it just never occurred to me that we would all gel so well. With all of the spin-off discussions that develop from the class exercises, this whole experience has felt like an extremely good advisory council meeting with an exceptional educational component.
As I walked through the lobby on Wednesday night, there was an anxious buzz. Groups were huddled around tables in the lobby and around the pool, all working out final details for today’s team presentations – the presentations we have toiled over since first Leadership 2.0 session back in September at the Northwood University campus in northern Michigan.
My group is intending to get everyone’s attention with a presentation on succession planning in the aftermarket. Our group is made up of some great people: Adam Lee from Lang Distributing, Courtney Carbone from AAIA, Sean Tucker from Accessories Marketing and Steve Chetwood from NGK. Since Session I, we have worked together in conjunction with Industry Week in Las Vegas and held a number of online meetings to prepare for Thursday’s presentation. I love competition and I’m sure all five teams competing for the top spot will be well-prepared and rehearsed.
Coming to West Palm Beach from Canada at this time of year has been very enjoyable, as the weather back home has still been hovering just above freezing. We certainly have taken advantage of the nice weather whenever possible, and these outdoors meetings have added to our networking and educational experiences. This is most certainly a program like no other in our industry. I can’t wait to see what the best of this year’s Leadership 2.0 class has to offer when presentations begin. Beyond that, I look forward to keeping in touch and crossing paths again with some of the best people the aftermarket has to offer! — Rudy Epp
