This episode is sponsored by Lockton, click here to learn more

This episode is available in Spanish - click here

Watch the full video on YouTube - click here

Tony Trecapelli's career in automotive began at Saturn, where he saw firsthand what a people-centered culture could look like. Employees were trusted, collaboration was encouraged, and leaders treated the workforce as partners. That environment shaped his perspective early on. 

When he later moved into GM, the environment felt very different. Decisions came from the top, and people were expected to follow orders without question. 

Seeing both sides of the industry gave Tony a clear choice about the kind of leader he wanted to be. Instead of command and control, he committed to leading through coaching and support.

Now, as President and CEO of Gemini Group, Tony applies those lessons every day. He talks about creating a workplace where people can try, make mistakes, and learn without fear of punishment. In his view, that's how resilience is built — not by avoiding risk, but by facing challenges and adapting together.

Tony also reflects on Gemini's small-town Michigan roots. It's a place where people know each other, relationships matter, and the company works hard to keep that spirit alive even as it operates globally. He describes how those values influence daily decisions and help steady the organization in an unpredictable industry.

The conversation turns to the realities of being a tier two supplier. Tony shares how tariffs, EV and hybrid transitions, and global competition create constant uncertainty. 

Instead of pretending to have all the answers, he focuses on being transparent and open with his team, making sure they understand the challenges and feel connected to the bigger mission.

Tony also opens up on a more personal level. He talks about what fuels his drive as a leader, the routines that set the tone for his day, and the ways he steps back to recharge outside of work.

The episode closes with a live audience Q&A, giving Tony the chance to respond directly to questions about Gemini's future, his leadership style, and the lessons that shaped him. 

What listeners get from this conversation is more than a story about one leader's journey; it's an honest look at leadership in automotive today. Tony's message is straightforward: leadership is about people first, and culture is what carries a company through change.

Themes discussed in this episode:

• The leadership lessons Tony Trecapelli carried from Saturn’s collaborative culture into his career
• The difference between servant leadership and command-and-control styles in automotive organizations
• Why Tony leads Gemini Group with a coaching mindset that encourages growth through mistakes
• The daily realities and challenges tier two suppliers face in a volatile automotive supply chain
• The impact of tariffs, EV transitions, and political uncertainty on business decisions for suppliers
• The role of mentors, personal habits, and values in shaping Tony’s leadership approach
• Why transparency and clear communication are essential for building trust during times of change

Featured guest: Tony Trecapelli 

What he does: Anthony A. Trecapelli is the CEO of Gemini Group, where he leads operations across 18 locations and more than 1,400 employees. He joined the company in 2013, bringing with him over three decades of experience in the automotive industry.

His involvement in the field extends beyond Gemini. Anthony serves on the Ferris State Manufacturing Engineering Advisory Board and the GLBMA Board at Saginaw Valley State University. He is also a member of the Original Equipment Suppliers Association, contributing to broader conversations shaping the industry.

Anthony’s academic background includes a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix, a master’s in Manufacturing Operations from Kettering University, and a certificate in Lean Flexible Manufacturing Systems.

Outside of his professional roles, he has dedicated time to volunteer work with groups such as SAE Wheels in Motion, Rochester Community Schools, and Oakland Township Fire & Rescue, reflecting his commitment to community and industry.

On Leadership: “Who am I as a leader? No matter how hard I try to be something else at times, I'm a coach and I'm a servant. I love coaching. I love to help people become something they never thought they could be. I love to serve. I love to serve others. I love to serve my family. I love to serve the community—and I have. That's what turns my wheels. If I didn't have people to serve, I would not be the person who's sitting here in front of you today. That's for sure.”

Mentioned in this episode:

• Leading Through Change: The Culture Shift Automotive Leaders Need to Compete Today with Terry Woychowski

Episode Highlights:

[03:34] Built on Saturn’s Culture: Tony reflects on how his time at Saturn shaped his identity as a leader and why he now sees himself first as a coach and a servant.

[05:20] Leading Without Losing Yourself: Despite years in traditional top-down environments, Tony explains how he stayed true to his servant-leader mindset and why it now thrives at Gemini.

[07:29] Courage in Authenticity: Tony shares how staying true to himself, even when misunderstood, built trust and proved that forgiveness and patience can be powerful tools in leadership.

[09:27] Culture in the Small Things: Tony explains how even the smallest gestures and habits from leaders set the tone for company culture.

[13:08] Business Is Personal: From early mentors to timeless reminders, Tony recalls the leadership wisdom that still guides him today.

[16:16] Choosing Gravitas First: Tony reveals why Gravitas stood out from the 21 traits, calling it the one quality that leaders can’t fake and the one that inspires people to give their all.

[19:46] A Better Way: Tony recalls how witnessing a supplier’s family-like culture taught him that even in a ruthless industry, companies can choose to operate differently.

[21:31] Teams Win Always: For Tony, real progress in automotive comes when companies value collective success over personal advancement, warning that without it, competition will win.

[23:58] More Upside Here: For Gemini, tariffs brought some costs but ultimately delivered more business back home than they took away.

[26:24] Reluctant Pessimist: Though naturally optimistic, Tony admits the chaos around EV programs and volatile production volumes leaves him pessimistic about the near future.

[30:56] Biggest Challenge Yet: Asked about leadership struggles, Tony doesn’t point to a single crisis—he says building a team is the hardest and most important work of all.

[32:01] Decisions That Haunt: Tony reflects on the hidden side of leadership, where every choice carries a personal cost because of how it impacts people’s lives.

[34:33] Why Not Us: Faced with impossible demands, Tony Trecapelli explains why his go-to mantra is simple: someone will win the business, so why not his team?

[41:38] Risk and Reward: Tony explains why the next decade requires a mindset shift—employees must get comfortable taking risks if they want lasting results.

[47:16] Best Move Made: Tony explains why leaving GM for Gemini was the best decision of his career, giving him the environment he had been missing.

[50:20] Leading by Living: Tony Trecapelli says the only way to sustain a coaching culture is to model it himself—living the behavior he expects from others.

Top Quotes:

[23:14] Tony: “Don't be afraid to be a team. You're competing against some people who are, by their very national culture, a team. And you're competing against those people, and we don't stand a chance if we don't get this.”

[35:39] Tony: “You have to constantly be improving yourself because you have to internalize the fact that your competition must also be, so if you're not, you're falling behind. You have to challenge yourself to be able to accomplish things you've never accomplished before, and you have to convince yourself that you're going to win. You're gonna find a way to win this because if you don't, someone else will win.”

[39:13] Tony: “You might get more action out of a meeting, 'cause it's got an agenda and so on and so forth. But I get more value out of a discussion because you don't know where it's going to go. And people tend to open up a little bit. You get to know each other a little better. There's no telling what you're going to work out. You might start whiteboarding something. You might start out talking about fishing and end up talking about some complex strategy around the company or our business. And you just don't know. If you don't have the discussion, I know what will happen: a whole lot of nothing.”

[41:56] Tony: “We need to be more comfortable taking risks, and we need to make a habit of winning. Losing is a habit, so is winning. We can't be afraid to make mistakes. We can't avoid risk.”

[Transcript]

[00:00:41] Stay true to yourself, be you and lead with gravitas, the hallmark of authentic leadership. Let's dive in.

[00:01:26] So often, in our beloved automotive industry, we focus on the OEMs and the tier ones, and we don't give enough attention to the tier twos. And I can say that from experience. As you well know, I am a recovering leader of supply chain in a tier one supplier. And I know what it's like for those tier one supply chain guys to take all of those requirements for the OEMs and have to sort through them and filter all of that out to the tier two supplier.

[00:02:19] Tony Trecapelli: Thanks, Jan. I'm glad to be here. Thanks for the opportunity.

[00:02:33] Tony Trecapelli: I did. I worked at Saturn Corporation for nine years. And then, for the next 21 years at GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan. Yeah.

[00:02:46] Tony Trecapelli: About 12 years. Coming up on 13.

[00:02:51] Tony Trecapelli: We are largely an automotive supplier—maybe 85% automotive. We also produce products for consumer product industry, very light aircraft, a little bit of lawn and garden.

[00:03:06] Tony Trecapelli: And then, from a tooling perspective—part of our business is tooling—we provide for just about every industry.

[00:03:34] Tony Trecapelli: Just to give General Motors some feedback on the Saturn experience I probably would've done that job for free. It was absolutely a priceless experience to be involved in a greenfield, ground up, brand new automotive company, brand new people systems, as we called it. A brand new UAW agreement, a brand new plant with brand new processes.

[00:04:15] Who I am as a leader? No matter how hard I try to be something else at times, I'm a coach and I'm a servant. I love coaching. I love to help people become something they never thought they could be. I love to serve. I love to serve others. I love to serve my family. I love to serve the community—and I have. That's what turns my wheels. If I didn't have people to serve, I would not be the person that's sitting here in front of you today. That's for sure.

[00:05:20] Tony Trecapelli: As I pointed out, I had that Saturn experience, so that was a contrast to that—to the traditional. The self-directed work teams, the consensus decision making, the mission and vision, which was at the forefront, no offices, right? Very approachable leadership, so very team-based. Anyone could pull the end on cord for any reason and stop the line, so on and so forth. So that gave me a good backdrop.

[00:06:09] Jan Griffiths: Yes.

[00:06:38] Jan Griffiths: That's great to hear. And I feel much the same way, I survived command and control, too. I was taught in my early years in purchasing supply chain to beat the supplier over the head with a baseball bat, basically.

[00:06:56] Jan Griffiths: Yes.

[00:07:14] Jan Griffiths: I know exactly what you're talking about, I felt so much the same way. My gut was telling me that this can't be the way to lead. This can't be the way to treat suppliers. It doesn't seem to be getting me anywhere, and it doesn't feel right.

[00:07:54] Tony Trecapelli: It is a process. I couldn't agree more with your comments there. So as I was getting feedback or questions perhaps like, why aren't you angry? Why are you letting him or her say that or do that? Or why aren't you fighting back? I am not a flight person. I'm absolutely a fight person for what I believe in, but I just knew that there had to be a better way, and understanding and forgiveness was the best policy and allowing people to go full circle, and they always did.

[00:08:55] I don't have to do that anymore, Gemini group's not that way. It's like a family, so it's very natural, it's very easy, but was not. And I worked at some of the largest corporate America in its finest form. I worked for Siemens, I've worked for IBM, I've worked for General Motors, so I learned a lot and I learned how to translate it.

[00:09:17] Tony Trecapelli: So, I try to help everyone better understand the translation.

[00:09:26] Tony Trecapelli: Yes.

[00:09:35] Tony Trecapelli: It can be lonely.

[00:10:01] Tony Trecapelli: Couldn't agree more, Jan. I'm one of those people that I look like I'm not paying attention because my mind is typically going a hundred miles an hour, but I am. I'm deeply paying attention, so I notice what people say, how they say it. Not to be overly critical, just because I'm an auditory learner, so I learn through conversation.

[00:10:53] Jan Griffiths: Yes.

[00:11:09] I don't want this to sound the wrong way, but people tend to emulate the leader.

[00:11:16] Tony Trecapelli: I don't know that I'm somebody worth emulating, but it's a natural behavior for people. And I'm leading a company that was born in a small town within a small town culture. And I know you've said in the past, you're from a small town, from a farm.

[00:11:36] Tony Trecapelli: You fit right in, in Bad Axe, Michigan. That's what's there, that they're a large agriculture community. They're also the county seat, so there is a lot of sophisticated businesses around there as well. But that culture of who you are is of utmost importance in a small town.

[00:11:53] Tony Trecapelli: 'Cause it tends to define you and it tends to define you for a long period of time. So the initial opinion that people form of you is lasting and you tend to find your place in the community. Whereas maybe in a larger town or city, your place is one of many, many, many individuals so it's not as magnified.

[00:12:56] And you've probably noticed that already this morning as my team here was trying to help me prepare. They weren't shy.

[00:13:05] Tony Trecapelli: And I don't want them to be.

[00:13:17] Tony Trecapelli: Because I'm a people person and I treasure conversation and dialogue. There's so many. There's so many and I wouldn't wanna forget about anybody, but there's certain quips that I guess stick in my head after all these years, one of which was from a woman by the name of Beth, and she said, "There's discussions and there's meetings, they're both necessary and they're different." That stuck with me and I practiced that. Another one I heard very early on in my career is, "Business is people." People do business with people they like.

[00:14:02] Tony Trecapelli: It's very true.

[00:14:13] Tony Trecapelli: It's personal.

[00:14:15] Tony Trecapelli: It's you and I.

[00:14:52] Tony Trecapelli: You sure can. Yeah. Sometimes, you don't even realize it's happening, but when it does happen, you have to correct it. Again, I couldn't agree with you more. That's why I'm here, 'cause I love your material.

[00:15:05] Tony Trecapelli: And I think you've found a very unique way to express all of the things that are near and dear to me in terms of how I go about my life and my job.

[00:15:27] I was a program manager on the shop floor for a manufacturing cell. And I was young, feisty, didn't know anything about anything really. And he said to me, "When people say to you they're gonna try to do something," he said, "You need to tell them," and I did this for a while — I don't do it anymore, but I did this for a while. "You can't ship effort." Oh, ouch. Because when people say to you, "I'm gonna try to do something." What does that mean? It means, it's not gonna happen. That's what it means. It means it's probably not gonna happen.

[00:16:02] Jan Griffiths: Yeah. But I don't really know how to tell you that it's not gonna happen, so I'm just gonna tell you that I'm gonna try, but it's not gonna happen. And then, when he told me that you can't ship effort, I thought, oh wow, ouch.

[00:16:13] Jan Griffiths: Ouch. That was a good one. That was a good one. Now, you've read the 21 Traits of Authentic Leadership. There's a lot in there because that's a culmination of my experience, plus guests I've interviewed to come up with the 21 and people often go, "Oh, 21, really?" Yeah, it's 21. What resonated with you the most, Tony?

[00:16:36] Jan Griffiths: Really?

[00:16:49] Jan Griffiths: Yeah.

[00:16:52] Jan Griffiths: So you picked Gravitas?

[00:16:55] Jan Griffiths: Because it is — I've taken liberty with the definition of the word. Gravitas, to me, is the hallmark of authentic leadership. It's the umbrella that covers all of it, because it's much more than a word. It's a feeling. It's that feeling that you get.

[00:17:11] Jan Griffiths: Thank you.

[00:17:13] Jan Griffiths: You can't.

[00:17:13] Jan Griffiths: You can't.

[00:17:15] Jan Griffiths: You can't.

[00:17:17] Jan Griffiths: When that leader that you work for has your back, when they trust you, you know that you feel empowered. You wanna do absolutely everything in your power to make that leader successful. And that, to me, is Gravitas.

[00:17:34] Jan Griffiths: Yeah.

[00:18:11] Now that was not the norm at the time. It was talk to my admin, get some time on my calendar, make an appointment. Not him. He would greet you like he's never met you before, each and every time. Like that conversation was just yet another conversation that he couldn't wait to have and looked forward to. And I had a friend's father that was always that, that was also that way.

[00:18:44] Jan Griffiths: You always know that leader, when you see,

[00:18:46] Jan Griffiths: And you feel that.

[00:18:48] Jan Griffiths: Often leaders say, "Oh, I put people first," and then like, yeah, no, you don't. No, you don't. You might say that, but you actually don't. Because when you put people first, that's how you behave.

[00:19:00] Jan Griffiths: What?

[00:19:09] Jan Griffiths: Yeah, we're gonna get to that. We are gonna get to that. Thinking about the OEMs and the tier ones, Tony, they display a certain set of characteristics and behaviors in this industry. And I always felt, when I was in the tier one space, that you had to take on whatever the OEMs did — their kinds of behavior. So, if they were ruthless with the suppliers, you would be ruthless with the suppliers. You have to take on that set of behaviors. How do you handle that pressure? Because you've got it coming from multiple different customers.

[00:19:59] But I remember when I was there walking into a die shop that I had building some die cast eyes for me, and I remember their environment, and I noticed it — I couldn't help but notice it — they were proud, they were one team. They were like a family.

[00:20:42] And the owner was this bigger than life guy that was really at the helm of that culture, and it's a culture that his father had built that he continued. And it was just a really special environment, and I would contrast that, right? To the environment that I was in, myself.

[00:21:18] Jan Griffiths: Yeah.

[00:21:26] Jan Griffiths: Yeah. Yeah. It's not, it's not easy. If you had a message, if you could send a message to the OEMs in 10 seconds, one short thing, what would you say to them? Or what would you ask them to do?

[00:21:44] Jan Griffiths: Yeah, just one thing.

[00:21:59] And if you're on a sports team and you do well, you'll realize that because it's only the teams that do well that do realize that. If it's going to be about you, your career, your advancement, looking smarter, better, more capable than the next person, the culture we're describing is not gonna take place.

[00:22:54] In recognizing that, we knew we were, I just wanna be told what to do, just tell me what you want me to do and forget all this, kumbaya, teamwork stuff. Just tell me what you want me to do. I get it. A lot of people are that way and they're just as valuable as everybody else, and you have to recognize that.

[00:23:27] Jan Griffiths: Yeah. And you're referring to the Chinese OEMs, and you're absolutely right. I know you've listened to my interview with Terry Woychowski, and the big threat to this industry is the Chinese OEMs.

[00:24:06] This episode is sponsored by UHY. UHY, and the Center for Automotive Research are digging into how suppliers quote and win with OEMs. The results drop at CAR MBS, September the 15th through the 17th at Michigan Central. Stay tuned.

[00:24:44] Other situations where we're buying, for instance, foreign steel. I don't necessarily want to buy foreign steel, but I have to because I can't find anybody stateside that'll step up to that particular recipe. We're able to pass that along so we're all paying for it, I guess you could say.

[00:25:25] So, I think it can be a good thing over time. My fear is that it's so politically driven that it won't sustain itself through political administration changes.

[00:25:46] Tony Trecapelli: I'd say more upside than downside.

[00:26:28] Tony Trecapelli: Pessimistic.

[00:26:30] Tony Trecapelli: And you have no idea how hard that is for me because I'm an optimist.

[00:26:34] Tony Trecapelli: I'm an optimist. I get criticized for it. I can't help, but that's who I am. But because there's so many product programs that you used to be able to set your watch by, and they're all up in the air, everything was getting converted over to electrical.

[00:27:31] Jan Griffiths: So it's the uncertainty.

[00:27:33] Jan Griffiths: And the volatility that we're seeing that is driving that.

[00:27:37] Jan Griffiths: That sentiment in you. Yeah.

[00:27:41] Jan Griffiths: Yeah. Yeah, I agree. 'Cause if we knew what the tariffs were, we would all adjust. And we would all adjust our programs, plans, our volumes, our timing, our investment around it, and we'd move on. Because, let's face it, we're a tough industry. We've been through a lot and we'll get through this, but that's a very interesting response.

[00:28:04] Tony Trecapelli: Yeah, it's in Bad Axe, Alabama, and Youngstown, Ohio.

[00:28:12] Tony Trecapelli: We do. We build aluminum extrusion dyes for the aluminum extrusion industry, which was typically very low automotive content, and it's growing like gangbusters. The advent of EV created very unique and different body structure designs that use a lot higher percentage of extruded aluminum body structure and chassis. And it's carrying over into ICE and into hybrid. That industry was largely consumer products, transportation, so on and so forth. Window and door. Extruded aluminum products of various profile.

[00:29:13] Jan Griffiths: Okay.

[00:29:28] We are the ones that figure out if that can be extruded. And then we build the die, we work with our customer. There's no prototypes, so we have to get it right the first time. And we work with our customers to successfully extrude that profile at some rate.

[00:30:01] When I worked at General Motors, I can't remember a single engineer that had the domain expertise on extruded product because it was running boards and luggage racks. That's about all we extruded.

[00:30:15] Tony Trecapelli: And now, it's the core crash and safety related body structure and chassis components. So, it's a very exciting space from that standpoint, and we feel good about it because we have so much domain expertise.

[00:30:28] Tony Trecapelli: It's been great for us. Yeah, it's been great for us.

[00:30:40] Tony Trecapelli: Because in either case, they're lightweighting, right? It's either miles per gallon or miles per charge, so...

[00:30:45] Tony Trecapelli: Yeah.

[00:31:02] Tony Trecapelli: Building a team.

[00:31:07] Tony Trecapelli: Because if you do that, the rest, it doesn't much matter. You can conquer anything. It's all tough. It's all valid. I could talk about all of it at nauseam, but at the end of the day, you have to overcome it. So you have to have the right environment to be able to overcome it, and you have to have the right mindset in your organization to be able to overcome it. And if you get there. You will.

[00:31:51] Tony Trecapelli: You will.

[00:31:53] Tony Trecapelli: You will.

[00:32:11] Tony Trecapelli: Letting people go.

[00:32:15] Tony Trecapelli: It's tough for two reasons. So, I try to communicate to my team that you have to be sized for your actual demand, not your historical demand. Not your hopeful demand, not your forecasted demand, your actual demand. And if you do that on a regular basis and you measure it and you run your business that way, you may be in a position where you have to adjust your staff very minimally, but you'll never be in a position where you have to go execute a very bad thing and let a bunch of people go.

[00:32:53] Tony Trecapelli: And it brings me to another memorable quip from Jay Wetzel, he was our product development chief at Saturn and had a number of other senior executive assignments at GM. I think he was the father of the GTO and things of that nature, but we were talking, I don't even remember what we were talking about at the time, but he said something, "People think that having this job is glorious. What they don't know is that you go home every night, thinking about nothing more than the way your decisions have affected so many lives on a daily basis. It's a tremendous responsibility."

[00:33:37] Tony Trecapelli: Easy to ignore, just do your job. It's like you say, it's business.

[00:33:43] Tony Trecapelli: It's not personal. It's business. You understand. I had to downsize at General Motors with people from other cultures and other countries that took that event very differently than an American would. It was horrific having to do that. So I try to avoid it, I try to run the business so that we never have to do that. It's unavoidable at times. If you have a recession or a COVID or whatever the case may be it, but when nothing's happening to you, shame on you if you have to do that.

[00:34:20] Tony Trecapelli: You do.

[00:34:26] Tony Trecapelli: It gotta be the last one.

[00:34:50] But this is the question: how do you balance the demands of your customer when you have very little leverage, tremendous focus on price, and yet you still have to be profitable? It's a lot of things to balance and manage.

[00:35:32] Jan Griffiths: I've heard that so many times in conference rooms.

[00:36:01] I have a adage that I use called, Why Not Us? Why Not us? I know that Cincinnati Bengals used that a couple years ago. It's a common one. I certainly didn't make it up, but it's a good one. You gotta ask yourself that sometimes. Why not us? Somebody is going to do this project, so why can't that somebody be us?

[00:36:53] Okay, let's see. Let's take a turn into the personal realm. Are you ready? And I'm gonna ask you a few personal questions and then we're gonna go to our live studio audience. What gets you fired up in the morning? See, people used to ask this question: what keeps you up at night? And that's so nineties. It's, oh, really? That's not the question.

[00:37:22] Jan Griffiths: It's what gets you up in the morning? What are you excited about when you come to work in the morning?

[00:37:58] Jan Griffiths: That sets you up for the day.

[00:38:11] Jan Griffiths: That's a great answer. Now, what's the very first thing you do when you walk through the door at work, whether it's at a plant...

[00:38:17] Jan Griffiths: I had a feeling...

[00:38:18] Jan Griffiths: You were gonna say that.

[00:38:29] Jan Griffiths: Not only is that critical to establish the relationship and show that yes, people are.

[00:38:38] Jan Griffiths: What you're doing is you are also setting up their day for success.

[00:38:43] Jan Griffiths: That little conversation, that little touch point in the morning, whether you say, "Hey, how was Johnny's football game last night?" Or whether you say, "Wow, great job on that GM quote." Whatever it is, it's that little thing that binds you to people. That's what leadership is.

[00:39:07] Jan Griffiths: Yes..

[00:39:47] Jan Griffiths: Yeah, so true. What's downtime look like for you? What do you do outside of work?

[00:40:15] Jan Griffiths: Now, you already said you're more auditory, you're not a reader.

[00:40:21] Jan Griffiths: Are you a podcast listener?

[00:40:23] Jan Griffiths: What's one podcast that you think that leaders should listen to in the auto industry apart from mine?

[00:40:36] Jan Griffiths: What do you like? Which one do you like?

[00:40:41] Jan Griffiths: Oh, I don't know that one.

[00:40:47] Jan Griffiths: Yeah, but that's good to know.

[00:41:09] Jan Griffiths: Yes.

[00:41:16] Jan Griffiths: He gets them to do all kinds of stuff. If you remember what he got Elon Musk to do. That was interesting. But we won't be doing that today. You'll be pleased to know.

[00:41:25] Jan Griffiths: Yeah, yeah. No, that's good to know. That's good to know. Are we ready to open this up to our live audience?

[00:41:32] Jan Griffiths: Are we ready? Okay. So live studio audience, what questions do you have for Tony?

[00:41:51] Jan Griffiths: Ooh, that's a good one. One mindset and behavior.

[00:42:44] Jan Griffiths: That's a good one. Yeah, that's a good one.

[00:42:54] Jan Griffiths: Because I see that a lot in the auto industry where people, it's all about being safe. It's all about, "I'll just stay in my lane, stay in my little box, and I won't make it any ripples and I'm good." But if we don't challenge each other and we don't step out and take risks, we are not gonna get the innovation that we need to compete with the Chinese OEMs.

[00:43:35] But I'm willing to do that every day, twice on Sunday. It's making money as a result. It's a result of doing a whole bunch of things, right? You can't just wake up in the morning and click your heels together and say you wanna make money and just go to work and it's gonna happen.

[00:43:58] Jan Griffiths: It's good. Good answer. Next question.

[00:44:22] Tony Trecapelli: There are many, if I had to pick one without forgetting about anybody else, I'd say Beth, whom I worked with at Saturn. As I said before, we were doing a lot of things that hopefully made us reinvent the culture at GM. And everyone took part and everyone did their part, and we all supported what it is we were trying to accomplish there.

[00:45:13] Eric: Erik Rood. So, looking over your career progression, can you identify one event or book or something that would've changed the way that you lead.

[00:45:36] Jan Griffiths: Oh yeah.

[00:46:03] Jan Griffiths: That reminds me of a quote, somebody told me this once, and they said, 'cause if you ask anybody, are you authentic? Are you who you say you are, everybody's...

[00:46:12] Jan Griffiths: Everybody's gonna say yes, but they said, if you're really authentic, you can measure it by the amount of daylight between your personal self and your professional self. And I thought, wow, that's powerful.

[00:46:29] Jan Griffiths: I have, over my career, I've got criticized countless times.

[00:46:39] Jan Griffiths: But it's who you are.

[00:46:41] Jan Griffiths: It's who you are.

[00:46:42] Jan Griffiths: And people respond to that level of authenticity.

[00:46:46] Jan Griffiths: You try to be a different person at work than you really are at home. And I'm not suggesting that you tell everybody in the office every sorted personal detail of your life. That's not what it's about. But it is about being human and not being afraid to show your humanity. So, I love that recommendation. That was a great question, 'cause now I'm gonna get that book. I've seen it, but I'm definitely gonna buy it, 'cause I think it's all about being authentic. Next question.

[00:47:21] Tony Trecapelli: Why did I accept this position? Boy, it couldn't have been a bigger departure than what I was doing. I'm not sure I know why. I knew I wanted to get back to a better environment that I was used to from Saturn.

[00:48:12] So, I was ready for a change. I was certainly ready for a change, and I was this person at GM that I was a change agent. So, it's not like I tried to do this, but I ended up in this pigeonhole stereotype whatever reputation of being this guy that could make large scale change happen for whatever reason.

[00:49:08] But I felt a responsibility from senior management to keep being that person, so I did. And we worked on a lot of big, high level — a very big change that changed how we do cars and trucks and the whole vehicle development process and all that. And it's a big team of people that do that, I was working with a big team. But being one of those people, so I was a little tired of that, to be honest with you. I got a little burnout. I got a little tired of that, 'cause that's hard to do at a big enterprise like a GM, you're going after some big sacred cows. So, I got a little tired of that.

[00:50:01] And I never got to that, but I left before that happened. But, yeah, so I guess it was a few things aligning, but the best decision I ever made, I can tell you that. Not because I was asked to be the CEO, I loved it there from day one.

[00:50:20] Bob: Yeah. Bob Kokenos. So, you talk about culture and family and coaching. How do you keep that coaching advice and bring that new culture that we have? And you coach that on to newcomers and other companies taking on culture and keeping that as a family.

[00:51:51] Jan Griffiths: We believe.

[00:51:53] Jan Griffiths: We believe.

[00:52:16] Jan Griffiths: That's gravitas in action.

[00:52:18] Jan Griffiths: That's right there. I think often people think that come into leadership early on in their careers, they think that you just tell people what to do and they just do it right. Think about how you deal with your kids, how's that work? You tell your kids to do something, right? Do they do what you want 'em to do? Every single time, no.

[00:53:10] Tony Trecapelli: Thank you, Jan. Privilege to be here.

[00:53:13] Thank you for listening to the Automotive Leaders Podcast. Click the listen link in the show notes to subscribe for free on your platform of choice, and don't forget to download the 21 Traits of Authentic Leadership PDF by clicking on the link below and remember. Stay true to yourself, be you, and lead with gravitas, the hallmark of authentic leadership.