1. You cannot name your employees and refer to everyone as “Buddy” or “Chief.”
2. You don’t know what the company’s goals are for the year and you cannot tell anyone what your goals are.
3. Every time an employee comes to your door and knocks, you think they will ask for a raise or time off.
4. You cannot name the last book you read that pertained to your profession.
5. Whenever there is a crisis or a hot situation to handle, everyone assumes someone will get fired.
6. Every time you go on vacation, you assume that you will be replaced.
7. All of your conversations with the Dealer Principal start with “We’ve had a meeting and everyone is now onboard with the company mission” or something like that.

If you are practicing Management Malpractice  in your Dealership  here are the Action Steps you need to take.

1. Know by name everyone in your Dealership. Know their spouses names, grandchildren, dogs, cats and even the goldfishes name. If you know them that well it means that you care. A lot! And they will respect you for it. Find out about their Goals. It will help you Coach them to better Performance.
2. If you have not made a list of goals for yourself, you can bet that everyone in your department has not done it either. Which means what you ask? It means not one person has a stake in what is going on with you, the company or themselves. And people without Goals and a track to follow, are more difficult to lead.  Make a goal, just one, and ask all of your employees to do the same, and then start working on it, together!
3. If you are only talking to your employees about raises and time off, what is going on in your Dealership that you are not aware of? Everything else! This means you need to get involved in Everything Else! Start with one on one interviews, say 15-20 minutes, ask for real feedback! Instead of starting out with “We need to talk, do you have a minute?” try something like “Can you tell me a little of what you think we could do around here?” or (if you really want it straight) “I have not been a very good listener and have missed some key issues lately. Could you please take a minute and identify what you feel is the top 5 most important issues you feel we need to handle in the weeks ahead?” Lastly, become a MBWA practioner, Management By Walking Around. Get in the habit walking around and talking to your personnel everyday. You might be surprised at what you've been missing.
4. Read More! About what you do! And then encourage others to read more about what they do. Just because you work someplace and have been there for 20 years, doesn’t mean you know everything about your Profession. Every successful businessman, athlete, actor, you name it, has a Reading List. And they Read! Read! Read! So, make a commitment to read just 20 minutes a day and get ahead of the power curve.
5. If the answer to every crisis in your Dealership is to fire someone as a result of that situation, that is Management Malpractice. You had better first look at your Goals and Training Program to get a handle on this one, because if that is your "go to" response, it’s wrong! Plain and Simple. Most people will work because they need a job, and don’t want to have to find another one. However, if your fix is to continually replace rather than "diagnose and repair", you are not Managing and Leading properly. Start with your Mission Statement, and make sure it’s clear and defined, then review your Goal statement and then your Training plan. Make sure you are not expediting their removal for your lack of Management and Leadership.
6. If you are not sure whether or not you’ll have a job when you get back, you don’t have one anyways. You are just taking up space. Get proactive, face the music and determine if you are in the wrong place, wrong company, wrong profession or wrong frame of mind. Then fix it. Write down what you need to do, and get it done.
7. If you are always apologizing first, (which is what that statement really is, the beginning of an apology), you are not Managing and Leading. You have become through complacency and osmosis a “Window Watcher.” Get on the stick; people want to be lead, not told. Lead them by being out and up front and the Expectation of Success will become the Reality of Accomplishment.

Management Malpractice is curable as long as you know what to look for and take Action to correct it.

Related articles

• The difference is paper-thin (dealerproblog.com)
• It's been 60 days. (dealerproblog.com)
• From manager to a leader: Seven key skills (marsdd.com)