Chương 10
Noah hated it.
“It sounds like a refrigerator recall.”
The consultant looked tired.
“It keeps you from creating additional liability.”
“It also says nothing.”
“Correct.”
“What if we say we found prior complaints?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Employee privacy. Potential claims. Ongoing review.”
“What if I say I screwed up by coming in anonymously?”
The consultant stared.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I did.”
“You’re currently the sympathetic person in the story.”
“That isn’t permanent.”
“Exactly. Do not volunteer material that changes it.”
Noah leaned back.
“I don’t like that.”
“You hired me for advice.”
“The board hired you.”
“Then ignore me.”
He looked at the statement again.
In the end, he approved it.
That bothered him more than he expected.
Leadership, he was discovering, involved choosing between incomplete sentences.
The next week was worse than the first.
Sales dropped fourteen percent.
Some of that was noise.
Some was customers avoiding the circus.
Some was Derek’s absence.
Two deposits were canceled.
One salesperson quit.
Trent said he was leaving because “the place feels political now,” though Noah suspected another dealership had offered him more money.
Mike became efficient and cold.
Leonard continued showing up every morning at seven thirty.
He stopped offering Noah coffee.
Mia became the person Noah asked questions he should have been asking Mike, which was unfair to both of them.
On Thursday she said so.
“You need to stop using me as a translator.”
Noah looked up from his laptop.
They were sitting at a small table in the customer lounge.
“For what?”
“The staff.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“How?”
“You ask me how people took something you said. You ask me whether Mike is mad. You ask me whether Leonard’s mad.”
“They’re always mad.”
“That’s not the point.”
Noah closed the laptop.
“What’s the point?”
“You own the place. Talk to them.”
“I talk to them.”
“You interrogate them.”
He stared.
Mia winced.
“That sounded harsh.”
“It was accurate.”
She looked at the coffee machine.
“I’m going to regret this.”
“Probably.”
“You’re very good at questions.”
“That sounded almost positive.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Okay.”
She gave him the look.
He sighed.
“What?”
“You ask questions until people feel cornered. Then you act surprised when they get defensive.”
Noah looked down.
His coffee had gone cold.
Mia picked at the edge of her name badge.
“My dad does that.”
“Is that supposed to help?”
“No.”
“Does he own a dealership?”
“He manages a plumbing supply warehouse.”
“Close enough.”
She smiled.
Then became serious.
“People here think you’re trying to find out who else to fire.”
“I’m not.”
“I know.”
“They don’t.”
“No.”
“What do they think about Leonard?”
“That you pushed out the man who built the company because one employee embarrassed you.”
“That isn’t what happened.”
“I know.”
He leaned back.
“How do I fix that?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re terrible at this.”
“At owning dealerships?”
“At advice.”
“I’m an assistant.”
“Fair.”
She stood.
At the doorway she stopped.
“Tell them what you’re actually changing.”
Noah looked at her.
“Policies?”
“No.”
“What?”
“Decisions.”
Then she left.
The next staff meeting went differently.
No speech.
No standing in front of the coffee machine.
No cameras.
No communications consultant.
Noah sat in the service lounge with everyone else and opened with the question he had been avoiding.
“What do you think I’m doing wrong?”
Nobody answered.
He waited.
A technician looked at another technician.
Greg, the finance manager, folded his arms.
Finally Sam said, “You want the list alphabetically?”
People laughed.
Noah did too.
“Dealer’s choice.”
The receptionist raised her hand.
“You don’t need to raise your hand.”
She lowered it.
Then raised it again.
“Now I want to.”
“Go.”
“You changed the Saturday schedule without asking anyone.”
Noah frowned.
“I didn’t.”
“Mike said you did.”
Mike looked up.
“I said we were reviewing it.”
“You posted it.”
“That was a draft.”
“It was in the scheduling app.”
Mike swore softly.
Noah looked between them.
“Okay. That one’s not mine, but it’s clearly broken.”
Greg spoke.
“You make decisions late.”
“Example?”
“The lender meeting.”
“I moved it.”
“Twice.”
“Right.”
“People have jobs around your calendar.”
Noah nodded.
Trent’s replacement had not been hired yet. The remaining sales team looked exhausted.
One of them, a woman named Jasmine, said, “Customers keep asking about the video.”
“I know.”
“What do we say?”
“What have you been saying?”
“That we don’t discuss personnel matters.”
“Good.”
“It sounds stupid.”
“It does.”
She laughed.
Then Mike spoke.
“You want the real one?”
Noah looked at him.
“Yes.”
“You haven’t told us what winning looks like anymore.”
The room became quiet.
Noah frowned.
Mike continued.
“Leonard’s version was simple. Sell cars. Protect gross. Keep customers coming back.”
“And ignore bad behavior?”
Mike’s jaw tightened.
“You asked.”
Noah forced himself to stop.
“Sorry. Go.”
Mike looked surprised.
He continued.
“Now everyone’s scared the wrong complaint ends their job.”
“That’s not what I want.”
“Then say what you want.”
Noah looked around the room.
He had prepared policy language.
He did not use it.
“I want you to qualify customers by questions, not costumes.”
A few people smiled.
“I want test-drive decisions based on documented criteria. Appointment status, license, insurance, vehicle requirements. Not whether someone looks expensive.”
Jasmine nodded.
“I want complaints reviewed even when the salesperson had a good month.”
Mike looked away.
“And I want sales numbers to matter.”
That brought his eyes back.
Noah continued.
“I didn’t buy a museum. If we don’t sell cars, none of this works.”
The room loosened.
“So we’re still getting commission?” Sam called.
“You’re a technician.”
“I support the sales team emotionally.”
Someone threw a paper cup at him.
Noah laughed.
It was the first staff meeting that felt like people instead of positions.
Afterward, Leonard waited near the service entrance.
“You did better.”
Noah stopped.
“High praise.”
“You listened.”
“I’m trying.”
Leonard nodded.
They stood beside a stack of tires waiting for installation.
Noah looked at him.
“You were right.”
May you like
“About?”
“I respected what I thought I could make this more than what it already was.”
