An Inside Look at the Industry’s Top Leaders

If you’ve held multiple jobs throughout your life, chances are you’ve encountered several different types of leaders, from hands-on to hands-off,  a democratic “door is always open” leader or an authoritarian “it's done my way” leader. In certain circumstances, all can be successful. 

But is there a type of leader that is most successful in the collision repair industry?

The 2021 FenderBender Industry Survey addressed that very question and uncovered that visionary leaders, leaders that above all else focused on the big picture and primarily acted as a motivator, ran more successful businesses than hands-on leaders. 

“When I’m coaching shop leaders, I’m constantly trying to get them to disentangle themselves from being too involved in the operation,” says Kevin Rains, FenderBender columnist, industry consultant, owner of Rains CARSTAR Group and perhaps the industry’s foremost visionary leader. “I think it’s imperative that they do.”

The survey found shops that were led by visionary leaders, on average, produced higher AROs, greater revenue and better technician efficiencies. The shops were also more likely to be on the cutting edge of the industry, as they were twice as likely to do ADAS calibrations in-house and were considerably more likely to hold an I-CAR Gold Class distinction. 

So how do some of the best visionary leaders work? How do they structure their days? What do they prioritize? FenderBender spoke with several successful self-described visionary leaders to find out. 

John Gustafson, owner of Gustafson Brothers in Huntington Beach, Calif.

For a large part of the shop’s 40 years, John Gustafson had been the “answer man.” Any and all shop questions came to him. But as the years went by and the shop continued to grow, Gustafson slowly assumed the position he has now. As the president of the company, Gustafson has a general manager that oversees the day-to-day operations. Below the general manager are several department managers both in the collision and mechanical sides of the business. Each of them oversee their own team.

That delegation has been important for the growth of the business. And after plenty of years being the hub for all questions and feedback, Gustafson was ready to delegate it out. Now his role is from the 30,000 foot level, analyzing potential expansion, new technology and industry trends. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t present. 

5 a.m.

I start my morning the same way every day: I wake up and set my Jacuzzi for a 30-minute cycle. It’s one of the most important parts of my day; it allows me to decompress and analyze the day ahead. After a few minutes, I pull out my phone and go to ColoredNote, a note-taking application that I use to track current and future tasks and my long-term goals. I’ll decide what I need to do today and what I need to keep top of mind for the future. 

7 a.m.

I arrive at the shop at 7 a.m., along with the rest of the staff. I start the workday first by greeting every employee and having a quick conversation. With several managers between me and some of the shop staff, I think it’s an important time to let the rest of the team know I’m present and invested in them and the shop. 

8 a.m. 

From there, I occasionally sit in on daily meetings that the collision and mechanical teams hold. I’m always present for the weekly leadership meetings and the Friday administration team meetings. 

9-11 a.m.

Most of my morning is actually dedicated to reading. For me in my role as a “visionary,” I prioritize reading industry news and keeping tabs on anything the business could do to improve. I also read leadership books, which help improve interpersonal skills. You have to learn and continue to learn. If we didn’t do that, we’d end up like Blockbuster.

1-4 p.m.

In the afternoon, I make the rounds on the shop floor again. It isn’t necessarily to make sure my people are staying focused—although that probably does help—but it’s just about being with my people.

I don’t miss being needed to make every decision or answer every question, but there are aspects of being hands-on that I miss. I come in to work Thursday-Saturday, which might surprise some people, but Saturday is my favorite day on the job. I act as the porter that day! I clean the inside and outside of the shop; I feel like my own “undercover boss.” It allows me to interact with customers and feel connected to the day to day of the shop. 

Robert Molina, owner of Collision Care Xpress in Pompano Beach, Fla. 

Like Gustafson, Robert Molina grew from a hands-on leader to a visionary leader. For the shop’s first five years, Molina was “a one man show.” He was the technician, the painter, the estimator, the service advisor. You name it, he did it. But he realized he wasn’t growing and it was taking a toll physically and mentally.

“I realized I needed good people with me,” he says. 

Now he isn’t involved in any of the shop’s day-to-day tasks and the business has grown from one building to a collection of three buildings that he calls their campus. Still Molina relies on many of the skills and strategies he picked up as a hands-on leader. From hardly ever sitting in his office to constantly being present for his employees. Molina’s focus remains creating a positive experience for his employees while fostering growth for the business. 

5:30 a.m.

I start my day at the shop early, but I’m not working yet— I’m at the gym. Within our company’s campus, which includes three buildings on the property, we added a gym for all of our employees last year. Without it, I’d be in trouble. And I mean that literally, because my doctor told me I needed to lose weight and that I was too stressed from running my company. Since I started working out, I’ve felt so much less foggy and it’s helped me make better and clearer decisions.

8 a.m.-11 a.m.

Because I’m removed from the day-to-day, I have more time I can set aside for personal and professional development. I start the day by walking through the shop, talking with employees, and I do that constantly throughout the day.

There are a lot of reasons I do that,  but I think it’s important to observe and pay attention to what you see and hear. Around the same time we added the gym, I also committed to bringing in healthy snacks for the employees. Since then, it’s honestly improved energy and efficiency levels amongst the team. 

That’s something I may not have noticed if I had continued to work hands-on like I did for the first five years of the business.

12 p.m.

Around lunch time, I’m most often in training mode. I run training three times per week, Tuesday through Thursday. It could be estimator training, tech training, management training, I’ll lead it. Or, I’ll schedule other outside companies to come in for training. 

1-5 p.m.

Then in the afternoon, I sit in on production meetings, which help give the staff a game plan for the next day. All the while, I fill in the gaps of my schedule by observing my employees, staying up to date on industry news and planning for the months and years ahead. 

One of the larger company projects that I was able to complete because of setting aside that time was a company mobile application, which we use for both internal and external uses. Team members can communicate with each other but it can also be used to communicate with customers. It’s kind of a combination of a Slack-like service and a CRM service. 

Kyle Wharff, owner of CARSTAR Ace Sullins in Miramar, Fla.

Kyle Wharff has struggled to give up control. Of the shop owners FenderBender spoke with, Wharff is the closest to the hands-on type of leader. Wharff is in the shop Monday through Friday, and is often the first one in. Before everyone else arrives, he’s getting the office ready and making sure all the cars are in the right spots for his technicians. 

As such, he’s still working on removing himself from some of the day-to-day activities. That process, which has resulted in more hiring and more trust placed on his employees, has proven fruitful thus far. 

“I was always scared to let them fail. I’d be behind them and micromanaging. Once I backed off, things got better for both of us. When they failed, they learned from their mistakes,” Wharff says.

In Wharff’s current role, he acts more as a “floater.” He’s constantly motivating, walking around the shop and lending a small hand wherever is needed. He takes his job as motivator seriously, and it’s one of his biggest responsibilities within the shop. 

But to be a visionary leader doesn’t mean to become hands-off, Rains says. Wharff holds a similar mindset. He is going to continue to be a guiding voice in the shop, and because he loves the industry, he will tape up a bumper from time to time, or do a quality control check. However, his eyes are constantly on the bigger picture of the shop as well.

Throughout the day he goes through industry emails, checks in on QuickBooks, and goes through CCC’s management tool. He also gets tons of emails from CARSTAR that detail new OEM repair information. In keeping with his guiding approach, Wharff often forwards much of this information to his team as well.

Jerald Stiele, owner of Collision Center 1 and Hopkins Auto Body 1 in Minnesota

Jerald Stiele has a goal every day: Don’t be involved in any day-to-day operations whatsoever. He follows the common adage, “Work on your business, not in it,” and he has seen it pay dividends.

In February 2019, Stiele added Collision Center 1, the company’s second location. He says that would not have been possible without stepping away from the day-to-day. Now, managing two locations plus a glass repair business on the side, focusing on the bigger picture rather than the day-to-day is a necessity. 

1. Address issues right away.

Unlike some of the other shop owners FenderBender spoke with, Stiele does not have a routine he follows every day. He arrives at the Hopkins location around 7 a.m. and normally checks in with his general managers from both locations. He sees if they need anything or have any issues that come up. Then occasionally he sits in on the shop’s morning meeting at 8:30. 

From there, Stiele begins working on any of the issues that came up in his morning discussions with the general managers. It can be going through numbers with his CFO, reworking blueprinting processes with his GMs or planning the shop’s marketing strategy—whatever pops up in the meetings that needs to be addressed. 

2. Make time for big-picture projects.

If nothing comes up, Stiele will turn towards some of his bigger projects, such as expansion. Stiele says he’s dedicated much of his time the last six months to scouting out different locations and assessing the company’s different options. 

And while Stiele doesn’t have a set routine that he follows every day, don’t mistake that for disorganization. In fact, he has a paper calendar that he sticks by strictly, and it’s been a big component of his success within the business and outside it. 

3. Find an organization system.

On the calendar are business meetings and scheduled phone calls, but it also includes his kids’ schedules for sporting events and activities and dedicated time set aside for running, which Stiele says is his main method of decompression. 

“That’s what I have to live by. I schedule that just as I would a work meeting,” Stiele says. “If my wife needs something or the kids need a ride to something, that’s on there. It’s so important for me or I will burn out.”

The calendar has helped him stay committed to doing those tasks, and staying out of the day-to-day operations allows him to take a midday run, or leave the office early to attend one of his kids’ events.