Twenty-five individuals were selected this past January to partcipate in the 2024 Leadership Academy. Coming from across all disciplines and dealerships spanning throughout Luther and Landers, these leaders met in person at MMC every other month from February through December. As a cohort, they work together and with outside experts to tap into their own leadership styles and strengths and build a deeper understanding of dealership operation and leadership. During off months, they were assigned online training and homework.
“It’s one way Luther invests in the leaders of our company and gives them a better understanding of the financials that we operate under, but also foundational leadership skills for their overall development,” said Dan Sweeney, Director of Training and Development.
The overall learning categories are Leading Yourself, Leading Your Team, and Leading Your Business. Participants learn about various topics under each category, from finding their learning and communication styles to ideas for improving their dealership.
“It gives you a different point of view or perspective of how things work, it doesn’t matter what you do at your dealership,” said Freddie Brown, Finance Director at Brookdale Chrysler. “I learned a lot about service, parts, and financials that I had never thought about or considered.”
Executives and guest speakers also visit to talk more about these topics. Two special guests were Billy Peele and Lindsay Peckman, who worked under Will Guidara, Restauranteur of Eleven Madison Park and Writer of Unreasonable Hospitality, a book about the power of giving people more than they expect. Unreasonable Hospitality has been used at multiple leadership events and gatherings at Luther and was read by Leadership Academy cohorts this year. The pair used examples from the book but focused on the car business and left participants with specific and actionable ideas to bring to their dealerships.
“The Unreasonable Hospitality Workshop sparked a lot of ideas,” said Oliver Sobik, Senior Compliance Auditor. “We then workshopped those ideas and made plans to execute them.”
At the end of the program, cohorts combine everything they learned into one final capstone project. Cohorts pick an opportunity or issue and 
create a plan that can be brought to the dealerships. They create a problem statement, find data to support it, and propose a way to fix it that they present to Motors executives. This year, topics include creating a fraud database, customer satisfaction index enhancements, and creating a better guest experience based on Unreasonable Hospitality.
“It’s a great opportunity Luther offers potential leaders,” said Jon Duch, Director of Compliance. “If you desire to become a leader for your dealership or your location, the next stepping point to do that is talking to your manager about how you can join the Leadership Academy.”
If you are interested in expanding your skills and finding new opportunities at your dealership through the Leadership Academy, talk with your general manager to find out more.
ned Luther as a Sales Manager and worked with General Manager Tami Willet, who was a major influence in Petersen’s career at Luther. “She taught me so much, first and foremost, about leading people,” said Petersen. “Tami is a tremendous leader. I would not be here without her confidence in me, and I would be less of a manager without having worked with her.” 
