At 17, Matt Buchholtz got his first job as a wrench turner and along the way discovered what he describes as “a passion for high-level customer service.” In this quest to meet the needs of clients while building his career and developing his leadership skills, Buchholz shares that he sought a lot of feedback. Through this feedback, what Buchholz learned and cultivated became the foundation of his leadership style.
“I think the opposite of humility is pride, and I think pride is really counterproductive,” Buchholz said. “I learned about it years ago. I’ve always been passionate about clients, but perhaps my leadership techniques needed improvement. And I was lucky to get feedback. I always say that feedback is a gift. Someone giving you feedback, it can be hard to hear … but there are several times in my career where I’ve sought feedback and received feedback and the feedback was, “You know, Matt, there’s room for improvement in your leadership. You are very competent in all these things, but there is a little room for improvement.’ So, I started this journey by trying to become a leader that people want to work with.
“There are a lot of surveys, and I think they usually say that about 70% of employees don’t like who they work for. I would say it’s a crisis, right? This is a crisis of leadership. So it’s a commitment to customer service, because I’m very customer focused, but to have good customer service externally, you have to treat your employees well internally. And it starts with – I think – humility, because when you have pride, you have bureaucracy, politics, mistrust. So, conversely, when you have high trust, it’s a very efficient business model and people can transact and perform much better, with the end result being a high level of customer service. So I think it starts from within and with myself.”
In this latest AMN Drivetime podcast, Bill and Matt delve into a number of other interesting topics, including:
2:41 Matt’s Career Path From Oil Change at 17 to ASE Certified Technician to CEO of MotoRad
4:22 His delight in servant leadership
9:29 How MotoRad approaches the electric car market
13:19 How MotoRad supports and measures its company culture
15:58 Why Matt completed an Ironman during the pandemic
24:32 Keys to balancing a busy work and family life
27:10 The ever popular Lightning Round!
AMN Drivetime is sponsored by Litens.
https://www.aftermarketnews.com/motorad-ceo-matt-buchholz-pride-is-unproductive/
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