Message from Steve Starks, CEO, LHM Group of Companies
A Life of Service
I
n October, the Larry H. Miller Group of
Companies celebrated our tremendous
employees and their years of service.
Within the span of three weeks, we honored
employees who have dedicated 10 to 40 years
of their professional years to our company.
We also celebrated five-year employees at
some of our dealerships. During the Service
Awards banquets, I was able to meet several
of our employees’ spouses and significant
others. I want to take a moment and thank
those who give us their support as we head
to work each day. This is a family-owned
business, and we recognize that we all have
families, hobbies, and demands outside of
the job. I also appreciate the way we treat
our coworkers like family. As I walked
through several of our stores, I saw the way
we care for one another and look out for one
another. Thank you!
The Larry H. Miller organization is
unique and special, driven by our employees
and a keen focus on the customer. We record
tens of millions of transactions throughout
the company every year, but we really
service guests. We help guests one person
at a time, one service ticket at a time, one
car at a time, one event ticket at a time, and
one bucket of popcorn at a time. We focus
on fundamentals: doing things the right
way and for the right reason. While on my
road trip, I visited our operations and saw
the personal attention given to each guest
by each employee. The way we treat those
guests and the way we honor our values have
allowed us to grow and to thrive. We are
unlike many organizations in this country
for this very reason.
Larry hired me about 13 years ago to do
special projects. During the first year of my
time with the Group, I was able to observe
just how he did business. I remember on
one occasion being in Larry’s office when he
picked up the phone and dialed someone’s
cell phone by memory. I asked him, “Larry,
how many phone numbers do you have
memorized?” He said, “That’s a good
question. I don’t know.”
I came back the next day and he said, “I
thought about your question. I think it’s
about 212.” He had 212 phone numbers
memorized! It was impressive. He could
recite the exact amount his favorite lunch
would cost, down to the penny, and he loved
seeing the “booked and boarded” report
each week. This was illustrative of his
ability to understand numbers and how they
apply to our business. Larry put his whole
heart and soul into the organization and
to him it wasn’t just about numbers. Those
numbers represented jobs. They represented
opportunity. They represented the ability to
do good, which is what the Miller family and
our organization are focused on.
All of the employees we honored are
leaders, regardless of titles, because they
are leaders in continuing to build a strong
culture of collaboration. We are grateful for
“Thank you to all of
our employees for
the talent you share,
and thank you for the
culture of leadership
you bring.”
Steve Starks
the way that our employees lead by quiet
and not so quiet examples. It is a culture
that Larry and Gail created and one that we
are all encouraged to build upon. When you
think of winning professional sports teams,
they have great talent, which we do. But they
also have great culture. It takes talent and
culture to have a championship-level team,
and we have both within the Group.
Thank you to all of our employees for
the talent you share, and thank you for the
culture of leadership you bring. Keep up the
great work and continue to enrich lives. ◆
LHMWSM.com
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