Acts of Faith, Humility and Leadership Lessons

By Kyle S. Reyes, Director of Marketing for Carter Chevrolet and Mazda of Manchester

Let's talk about faith for a minute.

I'm going to talk about Pope Francis.  I want you to think about this not in terms of a specific religion...but rather the general idea of faith.

Then we'll talk business.

Marking Holy Week, Pope Francis followed tradition when he washed and kissed the feet of a dozen inmates at a youth detention center in a Holy Thursday ritual. But he broke tradition by washing the feet of two women - one of whom was a Muslim.  This was significant as the rite re-enacts Jesus washing the feet of his male disciples.  That was kind of a big deal 

What's the lesson here?

Humility.

A man chosen to represent more than 1.2 billion Catholics continues to take a path of humility.  He's shunning the rich trappings of the position, from paying his own hotel bill to choosing a simple apartment instead of the palatial apartment popes have lived in for a century.

These acts of faith teach us a business lesson.  Frankly, they teach us a lesson that each and every one of us - business man/woman or not should learn: how to be humble.

In 1986, two ships collided in the Black Sea off the coast of Russia.  Hundreds of passengers perished in the freezing cold waters.

Not long after, an investigation revealed that the accident wasn't caused by fog or equipment failures.  As a matter of fact, both Captains knew that the other ship was nearby.  News reports later said that both ships could have steered clear, but that neither Captain wanted to give the right-of-way to the other ship.  When they finally realized what was about to happen...it was too late.

Do you deviate from your plans or comfort zone when it's the right thing to do?

Not coming from the "car world," I've learned quite a bit about the industry in the past year.  I've always pictured sales guys taking my money...making the whole transaction a royal pain in the *edited in the spirit of Easter*.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

I watched one of our salesman drive a new vehicle purchase to a customer's house for the delivery of the vehicle because he couldn't make it into the dealership.

I witnessed another member of our team drive one of our certified pre-owned vehicles to another customer's job - 20 miles away - so she could check it out without sacrificing her hourly wage.

Humility.

It's something each of us should have a spoonful of with breakfast.  It's something we can find in faith.  it's something we can find among coworkers.  And it's something that will make each of us into a better person.