‘A title does not make you a leader’ but what does?
“Leadership is organizing a group of people to achieve a common goal,” said Mike Anderson on the topic of leadership. “The leader may or may not have formal authority.
“A title does not make you a leader… A title, like ‘owner’ [or] ‘manager,’ does not make you a leader.”
Anderson, a former owner of multiple repair shops, current owner of Collision Advice, and an industry speaker, shared his thoughts on effective leadership during the Southeast Collision Conference in April.
He shared several personal examples to back the leadership advice he gave, starting with one from when he was 15.
Anderson had started attending a new high school and found out the upperclassmen officers didn’t allow underclassmen to attend prom.
“I went to all my friends, and I said, ‘Hey, do you want to take your girlfriends and boyfriends to the prom?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, but we can’t because they’re underclassmen.’ I said, ‘Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to take up a petition,'” Anderson said.
But it didn’t stop there. Anderson and his friends also got students’ parents to sign the petition and contacted local TV stations and newspapers.
“I got the rule changed, and I got to take my girlfriend to the prom,” he said. “Then, the next year I was voted president of my senior class. I don’t tell that story to boast. I tell you the story to understand that I was not in a position of leadership. I was not a class officer. I was not the oldest kid in the school. I wasn’t in a position of authority like a principal or a teacher.
“But I was one person who organized a group of other people that wanted to take their boyfriends or girlfriends to the prom and… we accomplished something, so understand, if you want to change something in life — you want to change something in your business, you want to change something in your community — you do not have to be in a position of authority.”
Another piece of advice Anderson shared is to never accept criticism from someone you wouldn’t take advice from, something he just recently learned at 63 years old. He also said that leaders don’t have to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders, solving everyone’s problems.
“Great leaders are vigilant, and for leaders, that means paying attention to what creates success,” Anderson said.
“As a leader, what do you need to do? I see businesses being really successful, but, especially a lot of people who came out of COVID, they were having record sales, and then they took their eye off the ball,” he said. “What happened was they didn’t pay attention to the things that made them successful. They quit paying attention to that extraordinary customer experience. They quit paying attention to following up on the receivables. They quit paying attention to following up with their parts credits… You need to stay vigilant and not let successes cause you to get complacent.”
He shared what he views as a common mistake: allowing sales to cover “sins.”
The “sins:”
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- Not paying attention to costs
- Taking clients for granted
- Ignoring market trends
- Failing to improve inefficient systems
- Disregarding customer input
- Not worrying about the competition
“The next thing I will tell you I learned as a leader is never surround yourself with ‘yes’ people,” Anderson said. “Surround yourself with people that will call you out on your BS. It’s very easy that we can start believing our own stuff about ourselves, especially when it’s successful.”
Anderson added it’s important to keep the Biblical principle in mind that without vision, the people will perish, so it makes a difference to share your business’ vision with your employees.
He said: “If you don’t allow your partners to sit in with you when you’re discussing the most intimate details of your business, how will they know how to support you and help you to accomplish your vision?”
And along with sharing the vision comes honesty, accountability, and a healthy shop culture. “If I were to go in and interview your teammates, what words would your teammates use to describe you? …In your shop, when it’s 5 o’clock, is everybody out of there and at home? Or are the guys and girls in your organization still hanging out afterwards?
“I read this book called ‘The Speed of Trust’ by Steven Covey. And he said that if you have trust among your teammates, your business will outpace everybody else.”
Anderson said when he owned repair shops, he attended a leadership presentation during which the speakers asked the crowd whether they believe their employees trusted them.
“I raised my hand and said, ‘My employees love me. My employees trust me. Man, they love me.'”
The speaker challenged Anderson to have him prove it by allowing him to interview his employees. The results? Fifty-two percent of his employees said they trusted him.
“My heart went in my stomach,” Anderson said. “I stressed out… The first thing I thought was, ‘Are they going to quit? Are they looking for jobs?'”
The interviewer told him that his employees loved him, but didn’t trust him.
“That messed with my brain,” Anderson said. “How can your people love you but not trust you?… He shared this with me: ‘The reason your people love you but don’t trust you is because you made promises to them that you did not keep.'”
The solution? Anderson said he was told he needed to do whatever it takes to get right with the people who experienced his broken promises without getting defensive, and then build a foundation of trust by holding him accountable if he fails to keep a promise.
“I earned my people’s trust back,” Anderson said. “Do not do anything anybody tells you to do unless you are going to use that data to affect change.”
According to Anderson, relationship trust is established and then increased by speaking honestly while still taking people’s feelings into account, being respectful and transparent, keeping commitments, delivering results, clarifying expectations, and practicing accountability.
An important question to ask employees, he said, is whether there is anything they’re required to do that they think is stupid or unnecessary. A lot can be learned from the answers they give.
He said it’s also important for leaders to have trust and confidence in themselves because that demonstrates integrity, intent, and capabilities.
Anderson went on to explain the difference between “what” and “why” management. He said management spends most of their time explaining the “what” and the “how” of their ideas. However, most ideas are spread because of the “why,” so do things with people, not to them, he said.
In other words, great leaders understand that everyone is inspired and motivated differently, Anderson said.
“If they had your same passion and your same drive, they would own their own business,” he said. “They wouldn’t be working for you.”
According to Anderson, great leaders encourage healthy, respectful, and professional debate and discussion to understand other perspectives rather than seeking understanding of their own.
He said great leaders also:
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- Take notes
- Take time to listen
- Take constructive criticism
- Admit when they’re wrong
- Let go of ideas when necessary rather than clinging to them just because they came up with them
- Aren’t afraid to hold family member employees accountable
- Understand the power of words by saying what they mean, such as, ‘You’re not writing good estimates,’ meaning what they say (‘You’re not writing good estimates’), but without saying it in a mean way.
- Invest in their people
- Observe
- Know how to hold meetings: punctual, prepared, and wrap up on time.
- Delegate responsibilities
- Establish mentorships and shop cultures that encourage risk and allow failure.
- Praise progress and understand that failing is a part of the process.
- Enforce the rules and fire employees who they learn can’t be trusted or don’t want to do a good job.
- Take hiring seriously — willing to sacrifice short-term pains for long-term gains.
- Understand that the customer is not always right by supporting employees when they’re right and calling them out when they’re wrong.
- Share visions of improvement by helping their team see what they’ll gain.
Images
Featured image: Mike Anderson speaks during the Southeast Collision Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 23, 2026. (Lurah Lowery/Repairer Driven News)