Most general managers are the busiest people in the building and the most trapped. They spend their days firefighting — chasing deals, putting out problems, doing the work of the managers beneath them. But the GM’s real leverage isn’t running the store. It’s developing the people who run it. Here’s the shift that changes everything.
Your Leverage Is the Managers, Not the Deals
A GM who jumps on every deal can only be in one place at a time. A GM who develops a strong sales manager, BDC manager, and F&I manager multiplies their impact across every department, every shift, whether they’re in the building or not. The deals are finite; the people are leverage.
Coach the Coaches
The managers under you were almost certainly promoted for individual performance, not leadership skill. If nobody develops them, they default to selling instead of leading — the same accidental-manager trap that limits the whole store. The GM’s job is to coach them out of it.
Make Manager One-on-Ones Sacred
The single highest-return hour in a GM’s week is a real development conversation with each direct report — not a numbers review, but a coaching session on where they are as a leader and what they need next. Protect that time the way you’d protect a major appointment.
Hold Managers Accountable for Their People
A manager’s job isn’t to hit the number personally; it’s to build a team that hits it. Measure your managers on the growth and performance of their people, not just the department total, and you change what they spend their time on.
The Compounding Effect
When the GM develops managers, and managers develop their teams, improvement compounds through the entire organization. That’s the whole idea behind The Manager Multiplier — and it starts with the mindset shift in Quit Managing Your Department, Start Managing Your People.
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Proactive Training Solutions was founded by Alan Ram and carries his 30-year legacy forward, delivering the most comprehensive automotive sales and management training in the industry.
