Auto Care ON AIR
"Auto Care ON AIR" is a candid podcast dedicated to exploring the most relevant topics within the auto care industry. Each episode features insightful discussions with leading experts and prominent industry figures. Our content is thoughtfully divided into four distinct shows to cover four different categories of topics, ensuring collective professional growth and a comprehensive understanding of the auto care industry.
The Driver's Seat: Navigating Business and the Journey of Leadership
To understand organizations, you need to understand their operators. Join Behzad Rassuli, as he sits down for in-depth, one-on-one conversations with leaders that are shaping the future. This show is a "must listen" for how top executives navigate growth, success, and setbacks that come with the terrain of business.
Carpool Conversations: Collaborative Reflections on the Road to Success
Hosted by Jacki Lutz, this series invites a vibrant and strategic mix of guests to debate and discuss the power skills that define success today. Each episode is an entertaining, multi-voice view of a professional development topic and a platform for our members to learn about our industry's most promising professionals.
Indicators: Discussing Data that Drives Business
This show explores data relevant to the automotive aftermarket. Join Mike Chung as he engages with thought leaders in identifying data that will help you monitor and forecast industry performance. Whether global economic data, industry indicators, or new data sources, listen in as we push the envelope in identifying and shaping the metrics that matter.
Traction Control: Reacting with Precision to the Road Ahead
Every single day, events happen, technologies are introduced, and the base assumptions to our best laid plans can change. Join Stacey Miller for a show focused on recent news from the global to the local level and what it may mean for auto care industry businesses. Get hot takes on current events, stay in the know with timely discussions and hear from guests on the frontlines of these developments.
Auto Care ON AIR
Todd Hertzler, Regional President, Bosch Mobility Aftermarket
What does leadership look like in today's rapidly evolving mobility industry? Todd Hertzler, newly appointed Regional President of Bosch Mobility Aftermarket, brings a refreshingly balanced perspective shaped by 19 years at Bosch and significant international experience.
In this candid conversation, Hertzler reveals how his four years working in Germany transformed his understanding of work-life balance. "My boss told me, 'You want to impress me? Get your job done in 40 hours,'" he recalls, highlighting the stark contrast with American hustle culture. This experience helped shape his leadership approach—one that values efficiency over endless hours and psychological safety over relentless pressure.
As Bosch North America enters an ambitious growth phase, Hertzler explains how the company balances innovation with tradition. While investing heavily in emerging technologies like advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and electric vehicles, they remain firmly committed to supporting the existing vehicle fleet. "We need to be ready with solutions for the technology on the road today," he emphasizes, describing Bosch as proudly "powertrain agnostic."
Perhaps most compelling is Hertzler's leadership philosophy that breaks traditional dichotomies. "You can be successful, ambitious, and lead with empathy," he insists. His approach includes transforming performance reviews to focus on amplifying strengths rather than fixating on weaknesses—a significant departure from conventional corporate thinking that reflects a broader cultural shift toward recognizing individual uniqueness.
Whether discussing the challenges of staying present in a hyperconnected world or the importance of raising your hand with ideas (even imperfect ones), Hertzler offers actionable insights for leaders at all levels. His perspective demonstrates how blending American ambition with European work-life wisdom creates a more sustainable and human-centered approach to business leadership.
Ready to rethink your own leadership approach? Subscribe to Auto Care On Air for more conversations with those driving the future of mobility.
To learn more about the Auto Care Association visit autocare.org.
To learn more about our show and suggest future topics and guests, visit autocare.org/podcast
Any funny stories you want to share. That's a tough lead in to be funny in the very beginning. No, no, we're not leading in, we're just.
Speaker 2:This is all like we're going to delete all of this stuff, right? I know, I'm just joking what did you do this morning?
Speaker 1:I got up I checked my phone First thing I do. Yeah, I had intended to work out this morning. It didn't happen. So instead I took a few minutes with my boys before I left, Um, and then I did a little bit of breathing. Uh, before what do you mean breathing? Just just a five minute relaxation, meditation, breathing exercise.
Speaker 2:Do you either work out or meditate every morning?
Speaker 1:Um, I would love to say I work out every morning. I don't um, someday maybe? Um, what about coffee? Uh, I'm not a coffee drinker, no, no caffeine, no, I'm a, I'm a diet Coke drinker. Oh, that counts right. So that counts, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So, but no, not, not coffee. So I've got to find other ways to, to, uh, to get the scuttlebutt and the information around the office, because I'm not at the coffee machine all the time.
Speaker 2:Phone first thing Does that? Do you feel guilty about that? Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you hate it.
Speaker 2:You hate it, but you do it.
Speaker 1:I'm yeah, I'm, I'm unapologetic, unapologetically addicted to it. Um, unfortunately, I think it's tough to be. I struggle with being present and being productive at the same time and I know, you know, this is a pet peeve of my wife's too is checking my phone. Checking my phone, um and uh. And that's part of the reason why I don't wear a smartwatch is because I get enough uh stimulation, uh, uh, from the smartphone alone that wearing a smartwatch I think my brain would explode. But I've also, I've also been called out and said hey, is something going on, or is now a good time, or uh, and. And there I have to remind myself to turn it over and be present and you can check that later and you can come back to it later.
Speaker 2:How do you do that? What are your tricks? To know, to put your phone down. You got. You got to be aware that you're doing it. So do you have any tricks? You have to put it out of reach. Yeah, does anyone help you with that?
Speaker 1:Does anyone tap you and say, like, stop I think people have have given me cues before of you know is is now a good time, oh, yeah, or should we talk about this later? Yeah, um, and and again. It's not. It's not intentional, but my brain's running so quick that I try to multitask when I shouldn't, and I think that's. Being present is probably one of the most difficult things to do when you're trying to get a lot done in a short period of time and you can bleed over into your personal life. And that's when it gets even more tough, because I think you know people in the business world will forgive you for not being present for a hot minute, but when it's your kids and your family, then it gets personal, and this is something, by all means, I'm trying to be better at avoiding.
Speaker 2:Yeah, people in the business world, you don't mind if they're looking at the phone. It depends on what slide you're on in your presentation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, sure, yeah, hopefully it's the one that you're not so confident.
Speaker 2:Click, click, click. So, anyways, any questions, and they're like oh, what happened? Welcome to Auto Care On Air, a candid podcast for a curious industry. I'm Bezad Rasouli, Senior Vice President of Strategic Development at the Auto Care Association, and this is the Driver's Seat where we embark on insightful one-on-one conversations with leaders steering the companies that are shaping tomorrow's landscape. Well, let me introduce you, Todd Hertzler, newly appointed Regional President of Bosch Mobility Aftermarket, correct? Yes, that's correct. Thanks so much for sitting down with me today and thanks so much for hosting me in your beautiful penthouse here. Thank you At the kind of new Bosch headquarters, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we've been here for a little over three years. We came from Broadview. Now in Oak Brook Terrace, which is uh kind of a center spot of the of the Western suburbs of Chicago, um, and we've got the, uh, the top floors of this building here in Oak Brook Terrace which, um, you know, the original intention was to have a little bit of an urban vibe and and not downtown Chicago but near downtown Chicago, um, so we can still pull talent from downtown and and yet have the feel and the ability to utilize the suburbs. So, yeah, we like it. We got a great view of the city and it's an inspiring place to come in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can definitely see a beautiful view of the skyline from here. So the other thing I noticed is that the floor plan. I've been to other Bosch facilities and the floor plan is very different. It's very open. Is this kind of the intention, or just take over somebody else's space?
Speaker 1:No, we gutted it from top to bottom and the intention was to create more common space. So our old office was Cube City. I mean, if there was a wall you could put up and you knew the guy who had the walls, you could put them up. And here we have it very, very open. I, who had the walls, you could put them up. And here we have it very, very open.
Speaker 1:Even the offices are depersonalized so that if somebody is not in the office it can be used as a common space. Oh, nice, yeah. But you look around and I mean you see more common spaces than you see maybe individual spots. So the idea is that you get people moving and not stagnant in the same spot. But that's tough because, especially now, coming out of COVID and the meeting culture that we had, where you can invite everybody to every meeting all the time and you somehow can end up with meetings from 630 in the morning till six o'clock at night.
Speaker 1:It would be easy to come in and plug in your headphones and sit at your desk and just be in telecoms 24 seven, yeah, desk, and just be in telecons 24 seven. Um, so you actually then we have to be a little bit more, uh, cognizant of the fact that we don't schedule now back to back to back to back meetings when people are in the office, because you have to get from floor 28 to 31. You've got to move from this place to that place and you want to have a minute when you're moving from space to space, if you run into somebody to talk about what's happening or something that maybe you hadn't planned for, and give that interaction, and you can't do that if you're booked from six 30 in the morning till eight o'clock at night. So it's, we have to change the culture though, too, at the same time, if you want people present.
Speaker 2:Well, it sounds like it just in answering that question about the office space, you have a lot of ideas about what you're excited about in this role and a lot of them are cultural in nature. So I would love to touch on as many of those as possible. I want to sit and learn with you today about you, about Bosch, about what you think the vision for the organization is. But, to start, I guess you're very new to the role yes, maybe two months, correct March 1st. You're very new to the role yes, maybe two months, correct March 1st. And you spend a lot of time with Bosch. So you've been at Bosch before this for quite a while 19 years, 19 years, yep.
Speaker 2:So I sit with a lot of executives in my role and they range in tenure greatly. So a lot of them are maybe in the middle of their tenure and they're really excited about what they've done with the organization and where they want to kind of close out their tenure. Some of them are later in their careers and they're reflective, they're in a kind of a teaching mode. Tina Hubbard, the CEO of HDA Truck Pride I sat with her and her framework on this was learn it, earn it, return it. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I thought it stuck with me. I'm going to steal it. She'd be happy about that, coming into this role as regional vice president of Bosch, uh mobility, I'm sorry, regional president of Bosch.
Speaker 2:Uh, uh, mobility aftermarket. Would you say you're in the earn it role right now, or you're or yeah, yeah, absolutely, um, it's.
Speaker 1:There's a reason why I got the role. It's. It's, you know, hopefully, a lot of reasons, but, um, one is that I helped develop the growth strategy, um, as the head of sales. So, um, it's a little bit about putting your money where your mouth is at a certain point and executing on the vision. So I think that's that's a big part of it. Um, but I also think that, uh, a big part of it too is the fact that I've had a variety of different roles between different regions, at different levels, with different customers and different channels, still mostly within mobility aftermarket, but also making connections within our entire BBM space, our Bosch business mobility space, so on the OE side as well as on the aftermarket side, on the OE side as well as on the aftermarket side, um, so navigating kind of the internal uh politics and red tape uh is something that is a skill that can be used to develop our business as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how different is Bosch in the mobility aftermarket than the rest of Bosch? Just walking around this, this floor, reminded me of how sprawling Bosch is as a company. Um, there are refrigerators out there. I saw some tools. There are a lot of different divisions of Bosch and many of them are, I would argue, kind of like consumer-focused. Right, they're B2C. I recognize the Bosch brand in my kitchen, I recognize it on my car as wiper blades, but I don't know of the mobility aftermarket as being a B2C business. Is that fair to say? Is it more B2B or are you trying to?
Speaker 1:be? Is it both? No, I think it's fair to say it's primarily B2B. It's not to say that we don't develop an engineer with the end user in mind, right? I mean, the slogan is invented for life, and that's not just for power, is invented for life, and that's not just for power tools or for appliances, that's for mobility as well. So I think it's fair to say that we begin with the customer in mind.
Speaker 1:Anybody who doesn't is probably missing the boat. But I think it's also fair to say that our business is designed more in a B2B fashion. You know distribution of our product. We count on our partners to support us with that and I don't see us pivoting majorly away from that in the near future. We like the partners we've chosen. They bring incredible value to us in terms of helping support our product and communicate our message and all of this. So I think it's fair to say that we're a B2B company when it comes to distribution, at least on the mobility aftermarket side, but that if you're not thinking about the end consumer, if you're not thinking about the technician and why the technician pulls a box, or what their thought process is or what is really important to them, then you'll probably won't get the luxury of being a B2B if you're not thinking about the C.
Speaker 2:Interesting. That's a really good perspective on that. You mentioned you were head of sales prior to this role. This sounds like a lot of responsibility and don't take this the wrong way, but you seem kind of young, that's kind of you, thank you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2:I don't get that very often, so I'm passing that forward. Thank you, yeah, I mean, I don't get that very often, so I don't either. Passing that forward Is that are you? How old are you? I'm 45. Okay, and what you know? Would it be fair to say that you've been kind of young in a lot of your roles? Because if you're 45 at a leadership role in Bosch, is that pretty typical.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean there, there's really no typical or atypical approach. Um, I think, uh, I've had, I've I've had the the luxury of working in a number of different roles that had, you know, two out of the three legs of the stool may be different, right? So maybe it was a sales function, but it was in Europe. Um, you know, maybe it was a mobility aftermarket, but it wasn't frontline sales, it was in operations. So, um, taking advantage of those opportunities to, to do something different and add another skillset and another feather to your cap over a period of time, it can create experiences in the aggregate. It can create experience in general in the aggregate.
Speaker 1:If you can collect enough of those um, whereby maybe you don't need to sit in the same role for 10 years, got it? Um, if you can collect those experiences and bring value back, and and and the organization can see a return on that investment, um, then I think more opportunities will come. So, um, I think, in general, I'm not too old or too young for the role. I come with a little bit of experience in different areas of our business that I think, when you combine them all together, gives maybe more experience than I would have otherwise.
Speaker 2:You phrased it probably better than I did just directly asking about your age. But you talked about kind of taking advantage of opportunities. Can you walk me through your career at Bosch and and try to spell out what some of those opportunities were and what it looked like to kind of raise your hand and actually seize those opportunities?
Speaker 1:use those opportunities.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, um, as I said, 19 years.
Speaker 1:I won't go through the whole resume because it's it'll be boring, but um, I think you know, if I break kind of it into chunks, I think about my time before I went to europe on assignment, the time during my assignment, in the time since I've been back and to me. I can kind of think of it in those three different phases because, um, my, both my contributions as well as my development changed over those periods of time. So, you know, coming coming out of my first role and then into a foreign assignment, and I was four and a half years, um in Germany. Um did a short stint in Shanghai, um, but for the most part four and a half years in Germany and and went over with with my wife and and um, my, my, I think he was six months old at the time when we moved um and then had my second son there, um, you know that that's a uh, that's a challenging time, um, both personally and then professionally, um, being an American in Germany and then having kids there and raising kids there.
Speaker 2:You had both of your kids there.
Speaker 1:My, my young, my oldest was six months when we moved and then my youngest was born there. Gosh, that's tough. So this was yeah, it was tough, and and uh, and then, um a year and a half in, I took my first leadership role there. So now you've got a young family in a foreign country and a first leadership role. Do you speak German? Um, I, I do speak enough to get by. I was definitely better when I left. We can go and hang out at the bar in Germany and chat all we want with whoever we want. When it comes to a tough negotiation, I would rather switch.
Speaker 2:But you didn't when you went there Correct, and your wife didn't. Nope, okay, so this is all just trial by fire, no trial by fire.
Speaker 1:My first day I came in and my boss at the time, a great guy, um, brought me over full confidence and uh, and we went into a team meeting. We had a department meeting and a good way to start for four hours this department meeting. I walk in, I've got my cell phone and my laptop. He says no, no, no, no, no, we don't bring cell phones and laptops into these meetings.
Speaker 1:No, this was still kind of a little bit early. This would have been 2011. So it wasn't. It was still kind of on that precipice of smartphones Like flip phones. Yeah, we were still, we were still flip phones.
Speaker 1:It wasn't, it wasn't all about being connected 24, seven and especially there. And so we had a four hour meeting in German and I sat there while my colleagues were writing feverishly, as if their lives depended on every word that came out of his mouth In German, In German. And I walked out of there and walked into the HR person's office and said I need to start German classes. And she said okay, yeah, you know, maybe in four weeks, six weeks, we can get to that. I said no, I mean tomorrow, six weeks we can get to that. I said no, I mean tomorrow. Like I will be here if we have an intern that can come in and just chat with me and throw me some words and get me moving, but like we need to start tomorrow.
Speaker 2:What, like? What did anyone expect you to take out of that meeting? I have no idea, yeah, but whatever you did, it worked, it worked because I mean it's.
Speaker 1:You know, I'm a firm believer that necessity is the mother of invention, and unless you force somebody, um, it's very easy to switch back into an old habit. And with English is especially because people want to work on their English Um, so people are quick to switch with you. So until you're forced you won't learn it. So for me that was a. It was in retrospect, it was a gift. It was a total pain in the very beginning, um, but in retrospect it was a gift that I had the opportunity to do it and that I was given the latitude as well to maybe not be 120% contributor for a short period of time while I learned Um, and that was a big part of it.
Speaker 2:So you mentioned the cell phone. Obviously it was early in cell phones and the laptops uh, phones and the laptops, but the laptops didn't show up in the meeting. They were left outside. What else was culturally different about some of the cultural differences? Good and bad.
Speaker 1:Um, there's a different, there's a different mentality when it comes to, um, what's expected of you when you're in the office and then what's expected with of you when you're out of the office. And and you don't have to look very further to the fact that, um, uh, when you look at the sorry, when you look at, um, vacation schedules and time off away from work and, more importantly, work-life balance, um, you can't achieve that with the same mentality that you have in the U? S of being always on. So there's an expectation that, um, you know, in some cases, you know and I'm guilty of it from time to time If I'm out of the office for just a few days, I won't even turn my out of office on. Right, I'll just deal with it. Oh yeah, yeah, I'll right, I'll just deal with it. Oh yeah, yeah, I'll just deal with it. Right, you'll, you'll respond, you'll forward things around it kind of doesn't matter.
Speaker 2:If you have, it doesn't really matter, you know um it's like first line defense. Then somebody can email you again and they won't get the out of office message exactly exactly.
Speaker 1:It just adds another element. Um, but, but I think in in in germany, for example, you know, when you're taking two, three weeks off at a time to disconnect, you need to make sure that you've got a steady backup. So having a proxy that can not only answer emails for you but can actually cover for you for a period of time is really important. It's an important part of your job is making sure that your job can also function when you're not there, and that's you talked about cultural differences. That's that's considered a uh, you know, a real positive when your role can be done by a proxy for a short period of time. Um, when you're not there, being indispensable is not considered a great thing, and I think that's something I we take to back here. Being indispensable means that you have a. You have a risk.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean all, every, almost everything you're saying from. I just froze on the three weeks off. You know, I couldn't even fathom how I would fit that in. But three weeks off, and it's expected and you kind of have a proxy program. I feel like maybe this is just me. But if you feel like somebody else can do your job, you kind of feel inadequate, like I'm not. That's an American mentality.
Speaker 1:It's a very American mentality that you make yourself so indispensable. And in reality, you know the cool thing, um, and I'll tell one more story but I my first 60 days, I had to clock in and clock out every day. This was I was on a what they call a tariff associate. Okay, so you have a 40 hour contract and and, of course, my you know my American mentality was first one in, last one out, yeah, hustling, and and within about 60 days, my boss came to me and said hey, you've compiled like 60 hours of overtime and I kind of leaned back and said, yeah, you're proud of it.
Speaker 1:You know it, you know, I'm glad you noticed, yeah, getting ahead, you know burning the midnight oil, pushing it. And he said I'll remember this. You want to impress me? Get your job done in the 40 hours, that's impressive. Oh, wow, and that was a real moment to go. I'm not in Kansas. This is a. This is a completely different approach. It's about efficiency, it's about effectiveness, it's about getting more out of less. And this was, I remember, a moment for me and I went home and told Jackie, my wife, about it. I said okay, we're not in Kansas anymore, it's not just that's what did it.
Speaker 2:It wasn't the German in a four-hour meeting. It was that you can't work extra.
Speaker 1:That was definitely a big part of it, because that was so much of our identity was being. You know, was was was the nights and the weekends and being the first one in and the last one out. It was such an important part of of getting ahead.
Speaker 2:And here you mentioned you know, first thing you do in the morning is check your phone. I imagine you're checking work emails, not sports scores.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so I check my sports too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, I got it. Uh well, let's talk about sports in a little bit. But, um, as you go through these experiences in Europe, um, you know the kind of mandatory time off, the scheduled work times, get your job done in the 40 hours of setting up proxies, the no cell phones and computers in meetings. Yeah, that has that. That has since gone now cell phones and computers, but definitely at the time this was the way it was, but it was all about being present, right?
Speaker 2:How hard so you? How long were you there? Four and a half years, Okay. So I imagine you adapted to that, that kind of work style, right?
Speaker 1:Yes, Did you adapt to the taking three weeks off and I can't say that I ever took three weeks off, but we took a couple weeks off and this was, I mean, unplugging and work-life balance. I mean this was anybody who spends any amount of time over there will tell you that's one of the greatest takeaways is the work-life balance piece, and so we definitely took advantage of it. When my youngest was born, I took a few weeks off and got to spend some time and disconnect for a while and the world kept spinning and the business still got done because you had a strong network of people that were in the organization ready to step in when you needed to step out, and I think that's something. Frankly, they do a lot better than we do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so I guess you kind of hit on it no-transcript, some emails on the weekends and and at night, um, but I try to also be open about the fact that, uh, and I have a have a a line at the bottom of my signature that says something to the effect of um, while I may be emailing you outside of normal business hours, I don't expect you to respond outside of your normal working hours. Do you actually mean that? Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, we all have those moments where we have an hour or two and it's on our brain and we think, hey, maybe it's just easier to get it done and then I can let it go, and then I can let it go, and then I can move on and with my personal part of it, right.
Speaker 1:So, um, while I will send some emails and work here and there, um, it works for me but I don't expect, if I send an email on a Saturday, that I get a response from somebody on a Saturday, um, and I think it's fair to say that. You know we'll all work with when it makes sense for us. Certainly, you know you want to hear back in a timely manner and I think that's fair and that's, uh, you know, expected, um, but I think it's also understandable that some people work better during different times and they have to. Uh, you know, they may have a couple hours in the evening when they didn't have them in the morning, and having some semblance of flexibility is, I think, an important part of staying balanced in your life. Your life isn't going to always be from eight in the morning till six at night.
Speaker 2:It's you need to make sure you can also be flexible from time to time, want to categorize it's always on and always working and the european culture which was seeming, at least for your experience, it was a set number of hours, it was a set time period definitely at the working level.
Speaker 1:I mean that there. Then it gets a little bit, a little bit cloudier when you get up into the, into the senior levels. But but I think the, the, for me the, the lesson is more about, um, the work-life balance. You know, maybe it's then I have no doubt that the work gets done, but it's also about being on versus being off. So what's?
Speaker 2:work-life balance at Bosch today. Like, what does that mean? You know, how did you bring that back and actually implement it? Just lead by example, or did you kind of coach your team into, hey, this is, let's, I'll make a specific example. You know, post COVID, right? So there's the debate between hybrid work or work from home, and then there's the. The Spotify angle is, uh, we allow our employees to to work remotely because they're not children. They're as blunt as that. And then I talked to a lot of businesses that, um, their philosophy is, if you're not in the office, you're no longer an employee here, you know? So where is Bosch on the spectrum, or where are you, at least, as the new regional president.
Speaker 1:I think where I am is where Bosch is, which is, you know, we have a hybrid approach today. We have a certain number of days in the office that we're targeting. You know we're targeting right now three days, um and uh, but I think you know bigger than that. Whether you say it's three days in or two days in, um, I think it has less to do with what you mandate in terms of days in the office and more in the way that you manage your business and the way that you live and um, you know, I, I for one, you know I'm, I'm on the road a lot.
Speaker 1:I'm on the road sometimes three, four days a week, um.
Speaker 1:I fly to Germany oftentimes on Saturdays and Sundays, um, so I miss lacrosse games and I miss Sunday dinners and I miss things like this, um.
Speaker 1:So on a Friday, when I get home, um, I like being able to surprise my kid and pick him up from school and, and, you know, and if I have a meeting at that time, if I can take it from the car or I can push it by 30 minutes, um, or if I can, you know, pull it ahead, whatever that may be, so that I can be present in that moment that maybe I wasn't expecting but feels good.
Speaker 1:I, I personally appreciate that. I love that, and I love that I have the flexibility and the autonomy to do that, and I would think that my people would want the same right. I mean, we oftentimes are asked to do things that we didn't plan for or expect, and we're asked to carve out time out of our personal time for work things. It just happens, um, and so then, when someone says I need to carve out some personal time during a work uh uh, a work event or a work uh day in order to do something that's important to me, um, that helps me be well-rounded, I think we need the flexibility to do it. I take it all the time and I think it's, um, it's an important part for me to be able to have that flexibility to show up when I can, um, and so I I like to think that our people can do the same.
Speaker 2:That's such a well presented perspective on that topic and, um, the kind of the converse to. You know, we ask you to do work things during your personal time. We should also allow you to do personal things on your work time, as long as you get your job done. I think that that's, you know, that's very well said, stated, so I'm happy to ask that question. Um, I'm still kind of stuck on the the europe stuff. You being an american in europe, but also you're, um, uh, an American in a German company.
Speaker 2:Is it typical that the American business, the North American business of Bosch, is represented by an American. Is that kind of how that goes?
Speaker 1:It hasn't been for the last couple of my predecessors, but it's also, you know, I don't think it's by design one way or another. Different times call for different leaders in roles, and the times before this called for a different set of skills, and that set of skills was in a different person who happened to be German, and we've had leaders who weren't even German, that just weren't American. So it's, I think, ideally it's great when you've got somebody who's from the region, that represents the region, and I'm sure that was part of the decision-making when I took this role was it's good to have somebody who's from the region, who knows the customers and knows the market and speaks the language, not just literally but figuratively. But I'm also, you know, I I don't get too hung up on this um, because I think also you may set some expectations that are independent of a cultural shift, right, Um, uh, if you get too hung up on where somebody's from or or what language they speak, then you miss the opportunity to get what's best out of them.
Speaker 1:And it's not just about that. I think there's definitely it's. It's nice to have, um, I'm sure. I'm sure people like seeing both our customers and our associates, like seeing somebody in this role who's from here. There's no doubt about it. But you know, different times call for different leaders with different skillsets that are bringing different messages. And you know, I'm sure you can look back at my predecessors and say there was a reason why we had somebody coming from Germany that had that mindset to help our business in the time that it needed. And it has more to do with the skills and the messaging than it does to me necessarily where that person's from.
Speaker 2:That's a really cool phrase different times call for different leaders. It's a really cool phrase different times call for different leaders. Playing that back to you what kind of leader are you in? What kind of time is Bosch in right now?
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're in a growth mode here in North America. This is really clear. There's big expectations, not just on our mobility aftermarket group, but on the Bosch business mobility group as a whole, um, that we drive the growth for the world. And, and you know, is it? Is it because there's great opportunity here? Yes. Is it also because other areas are slowing down? Yes, so, um, you have to capitalize for both reasons.
Speaker 1:Um, we can't necessarily depend on every other region for growth at this time. There's different things that are happening geopolitically that affect our ability to grow in different areas. I mean, you can look at Europe and there's some challenges there. You can look at Asia, and some challenges there, and so I think, both by necessity but also by opportunity, there's reasons to be optimistic about growth here. So we have big ambitions for growth, not just in new technology, but also in some of the sexy stuff about annual recurring revenue and over-the-air updates and things like this, all the way to tried and true products that got us here Filters, batteries, brakes, wipers, things that Bosch is very well known for.
Speaker 2:So you, you know, subscription products, that's not an automotive part, right? And I think that maybe ties into the fact that posh's name is mobility aftermarket. Yes, um, it's not automotive aftermarket. Yeah, yeah, and I, I maybe you can tell me where that came from, but my recollection is I think I was at ces, maybe five years ago, and uh, I remember you know it's a tech, it's a tech conference, but I remember the talking to somebody and them saying, oh, automotive is so old school. You know, mobility is the new phrase and I'm more of kind of like a long-term thinker and I don't like change my opinion on things immediately. I like to like incorporate new information. But that shift seemed pretty dramatic. What does mobility mean to Bosch? And maybe, where did that come from?
Speaker 1:And yeah, maybe, at the risk of oversimplifying it, I think it had less to do with is it automotive, or is it mobility, or is automotive passe? I think it has more to do with the fact that it's less about um, about the mode of transportation, and more about getting people from point A to point B. Okay, so, whether that's through car, truck, ride, share, um, there's lots of different ways to get people from point A to point B, and product from point A to point B. Um, that focusing it just on automotive is a pretty narrow scope. Um and uh, and so to me it's makes sense. Uh, it's again I, I, I don't think there's any uh, any real magic behind it. It's a word, um, but I think it's at at least now opens up the field of play to something other than just fixing cars on the road. Um, it opens it up to how are we helping support people get from, from school to work, uh, you know, from, uh, from point A to point B, um, and and the products and the services that make it possible.
Speaker 1:Do you, do you work on your own car? I don't. Do you have a car? I would love. Uh, yes, uh, thank you, I have a car.
Speaker 2:Okay, um, but a lot of people in cities don't have cars.
Speaker 1:No, it's a. It's a good question. Um, I would love to say that I work on cars. I don't, yeah, Um, it's not. Uh, I have passion for our product. I have passion for our people and our processes. Um, I, it doesn't bring me a lot of joy to work on a car on the weekend.
Speaker 2:It's just not my bag. It's not like a mandatory feature of I hope not, because if it is, I'm in trouble.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, I I. I appreciate that because I remember being at an investor conference and I was talking. I was going to speak at the conference and I was talking to another person who was going to speak after me and we both connected about living in a city and just kind of dribbled off. You know the side of the conversation that we do use ride share a lot. One of us was either getting rid of our car or didn't have a car and it works in a city and somebody overheard us talking and they said listen, you two will not be taken seriously in this industry unless you talk about car ownership and repairing your own car, like, get some grease under your fingernails and that's old school.
Speaker 2:And the moment I definitely it was I was taken aback and I was like I, does anybody have grease? I'm going to go dip my fingers in some grease right now, uh, but yeah, so you, you don't, you don't really ascribe to that line of thinking, right?
Speaker 1:No, I don't think you can Again. Hey, I've got a lot of people on my team who have, you know, two or three cars parked in their driveway and they're working on something constantly and that's awesome. And certainly if you, you know, and there's a lot of people that you know turned their hobbies into a career, right, you know, and there's a lot of people that you know turned their hobbies into a career, right, they? Um, you know, I have salespeople who love working on cars and so they thought maybe I'll sell car parts. Um, if you can, if you can combine your hobby and your career together in one, that's fantastic.
Speaker 1:Um, for me, that was never a thing. What are some of your hobbies? I love to ski, okay, um, I'm never happier than when I'm skiing, and I taught skiing for a hot minute on the East Coast when I first got out of college. And talk about, you know, your hobbies and then into your career. But I also realized very quickly that I wasn't going to be happy just teaching skiing for the rest of my life, and so I did it for a little bit and had a lot of fun, and then I'm happy to have that be a hobby and then happy to have my work be my work, okay. Um so, um, yeah, I like to ski, I like to play uh guitar.
Speaker 1:Um, I, uh, were you in a band? Uh, not a band per se. Um, I, I have played with friends and and uh, in circles and, um, you know, my, my dad played, uh plays and and he taught me to play, and my son plays and he does the school of rock, which is kind of this cool hybrid. Uh, learn to play guitar but also learn to perform. I wish I had done that, because I never really learned how to be in a band.
Speaker 2:Um, but I know performances or anything like that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know we've played in some bars before, um, but mostly it's for for me and for my friends.
Speaker 2:I, I, I like to sit in the backyard or by the fire and play songs and get people to sing along, and um, and and this, I mean, that's really yeah, to me that's like way more nerve wracking than being up in front of a bunch of strangers, like getting up in front of people that know you really well, and you're like, oh hey, by the way, I I'm gonna go stand behind this microphone and I'm gonna play some music for you, because they, they're the people who can tell you you suck stop, you know?
Speaker 1:isn't that funny? Because that doesn't. That doesn't worry me, not at all, not at all. No, I mean their friends are. I mean, what's the worst they can do is stop listening, you know they can look at their phones yeah, and look at their phones.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I think, um, no, this was always a you know and and you know we. We used to play with my dad and his friends. They played and um, so it was kind of a thing that we just always did. It was not anything you know outright, you know, uh it. It had more to do with getting together with people that you liked, um, and doing something that that brought everybody a little bit of joy and uh and have fun and we. It was never anything more than that. It was never you know pressure to perform or to do. It was just something you did on the weekends for fun.
Speaker 2:But did that? Did that? Did you have comfort, kind of like getting up in front of a microphone and playing in front of people your whole life? Yes, did that help you in your career, kind of raising your hand and saying I will do the thing?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's, I've, uh, uh, you know I've never had a problem, uh, or or a fear of getting up and and being in front of people.
Speaker 1:Um, I sought it out more often than not. Um and uh, you know, whether that be doing a little bit of theater when I was younger, or, um, you know, running for running for student Congress, uh, you know doing those things, uh and um, uh, it's always been something that I've been comfortable with and that I've enjoyed, um, I enjoyed the preparation, I enjoy doing it, um, so, uh, it definitely helps, though, I think, especially early in your career, when it's hard to differentiate yourself from other people. Everybody's young, everybody's ambitious, everybody's wanting to go, everyone's wanting to succeed, Um, but it, I think that willingness to get up in front of people and be a little bit vulnerable, um, and just raise your hand and say I'm willing to give it a shot, um, that equated very well to business, because, um, so much of it is just being willing to raise your hand and be the first one that goes to the board and says I've got an idea, did you just?
Speaker 2:that's like, did you just?
Speaker 1:enjoy doing that, like I'll get, I'll be the one that stands up and sings to everyone. So you did that at work, or does that you say are impactful and that they mean something? Simply getting up and dancing around the room is not gonna not gonna do it. You need to be thoughtful and and and respectful of people's time. What about mentors?
Speaker 1:Growing up, yeah, um, I mean, early mentors were definitely, were definitely my parents. Um, they both worked. Parents, um, they both worked. Uh, they both worked full time um, which isn't always the case. Um, so, um, you know, this was just something we we had and uh, my parents worked full days and and came home and and then we had our time in the evenings and um, in terms of especially early in my career, um, I called on my mom a lot for advice. Um, she uh was a nurse. Um and uh worked midnights and then worked her way up through the organization into uh a C-suite role as a, as a chief operating officer for a major major uh uh first a healthcare company and then a hospital in Pontiac Michigan. Um, and uh, and she always has had a a very cool way with people, um leading with kindness and empathy, and that was always something that spoke to me much more than leading with um with an edge and a hard push Um, so I saw that being successful and I also just feels a lot more natural to me, um.
Speaker 1:So, whenever there were topics about how to deal with people and tough circumstances, and which is all of work- which is all which is everything, um, but but you know, dealing with expectations and especially when emotions get involved, um, she was, has been and continues to be a big resource. Um, whenever, when, when there's anything creative in nature, I would go to my dad. My dad is the creative guru. Um, you know, uh, everything from you know music and and costume and things like this that, uh, he was always very passionate about, um, and so, uh, when there's something where I need to channel my creativity and uh and do something that nobody's ever done before, um, then I would call on him from time to time. So they were very, very important parts, especially watching them raise us while working. At the same time, um, you know, you, you start to look for how did they do it and how would I do it, and, um, and that was a big part.
Speaker 2:Do you remember any specific advice or anything that just sticks with you on a daily basis or in a lot of situations that maybe your mom or dad told you? You know that you can look back on and say gosh, I will never forget that and I still do that to this day.
Speaker 1:I'll give you maybe one personal and one professional. On the professional side, you know my mom was always very big to say never underestimate the power of being the first person to raise your hand and go up to the board with an idea, and I mentioned that a little bit earlier that, especially when you look at leaders and they're bringing out a tough topic and they're not sure how it's going to land, they appreciate those people who say, hey, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to take it, I'm going to take a shot, I'm going to walk up and I'm going to start to be one of the first people who starts to contribute to your vision. Even if it's a little amount, even if it's a little bit misguided, never underestimate the power of being the first person to raise your hand and get up there and do that.
Speaker 2:That was really really important.
Speaker 1:And that's something I mean, every day I think about that.
Speaker 1:It's easy to lean back and think of three or four reasons why what this person's saying won't work, or why they don't understand, or why they should have a different perspective. But being one of the first people to raise your hand and say I'm willing to give it a shot, even though it's going to be imperfect what I propose, but being one of the first people to raise your hand and say I'm willing to give it a shot, even though it's going to be imperfect what I propose, but it gets the ball rolling, this is separating yourself very quickly with very little, frankly, very little effort, and you don't need to be the smartest person in the room or have the most experience, or be the oldest or the youngest to raise your hand first and say I'm willing to give it a shot. So this is key.
Speaker 2:This is key advice that you got earlier right, Very early.
Speaker 1:Yeah, very early, I mean, and that was.
Speaker 1:I still use this all the time, I mean, and I tell my people the same thing hey, be quick to start working on solutions, because and it's only getting tougher I mean it's uh, you know we're being asked to do more with less. We're trying to put more digitalization and automation in. So the playbook that we use to get to this point this is out the window, and we're focusing on exponential growth utilizing uh, you know less resources with more focus on automation and digitalization. So simply saying, well, we're going to do what we did before isn't going to work. So these creative new ideas of how we're going to get there, you have to really encourage those. So, yes, it was an important part of growing and developing and getting opportunities, but it's also an important part of going, of taking our business now to the next level. So it's both.
Speaker 2:How do you coach that? How do you coach you know you're going to be probably, in your role, the person at the front? How do you tell people somebody raise your hand, like how does that work? How do you encourage people to? Or do you just kind of, in moments where it shows up, you encourage leaders to encourage their teams to offer people to raise their hand.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I mean you certainly encourage your leaders to, to, to encourage their teams, and I mean this to me is kind of a no brainer. But, um, I think you also find change agents, change agents in your company, that people that you notice that are pretty quick to do that, and if they're not volunteering right away, I try to find a quiet moment and say, hey, um, we rolled this out, you heard about it. Um, it's really important part of our business. I see you being a real contributor. You know if you could do a B and C and help us get there, and very quickly you'll find the level of engagement is there, they're already there, they're changed, they're change agents within the gap is psychological safety.
Speaker 1:There might be some psychological safety involved to say hey, give it a shot, don't worry, I've got your back. Um, and that's an important part, don't underestimate that.
Speaker 2:Actually, the way you do that say telling somebody, I see you being, uh, a really important part of this or a critical part of this. You know, this change, that's definitely a better way to go about it than it's commitment to it being used or you know anyone listening to it, or and it's not constructive, it's a very not constructive way. But what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to address the fear of somebody sharing an idea. In general, I think the reason they're not sharing is because they're afraid their idea is not going to get used or they're going to be told it's a stupid idea or something like that. And I would say listen, you're absolved of all of that. Just say what you're thinking and we may or may not use it, right, but I really like your approach, which is you kind of tell somebody we need you in this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I think you can do both. I hear what you're saying. I think you can do both. I think it's okay to say, hey, let's spitball this, let's start throwing things against the wall and seeing what sticks, and if you can get there with that approach, it's probably faster. But especially difficult topics when you need to maybe pull it out of somebody or pull it out of the organization, you've got to find different avenues. Out of somebody or pull it out of the organization, you've got to find different avenues. You may not get it where you say, hey, there's 50 people in the room, raise your hand if you've got an idea how we're going to get there.
Speaker 1:So instead you may need to find three or four people and then maybe do it in a smaller group, or even then do it individually and say, hey, we need you here. And and people have done that to me before, you know with things that maybe on the surface didn't seem so exciting or sexy or maybe even a little bit dangerous in terms of what will happen if this isn't successful yeah, but if you have somebody that you trust that sits down with you and says, hey, we need you for this. This is why we think you could really contribute. Are you willing to give it a shot?
Speaker 2:Nine times out of 10, that's all people need. I just saw you kind of like being a leader in your role to me in that, in that conversation. You ready to go? I'm ready, I'm pumped. I'm pumped, throw me in. You're stoked? Yeah, I have ideas. I'm going to raise my hand. But what is you know what are, when you think you seem to, you seem to enjoy being a leader. Yes, I love it. What do you think of being a leader? What comes to mind? What are the responsibilities of being a leader that you love? If you say you love it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love being a resource for people. First and foremost, I like being a resource. When you're stuck and you need some support on how to get around or how to find creative solutions, I like being a resource. So, um, when you're stuck and you need some support on how to get around or how to find creative solutions, I like being a resource.
Speaker 2:Um, which is, to be fair, not the first thing people think of as a leader.
Speaker 1:And that's the funny part is you know, as I'm saying, that I go um, yeah, but on the same token, you have to be a shot caller, and so you also have to be. You have to enjoy calling shots, yeah, and and sometimes you've got, you can let the, the solution bubble up organically and it'll get to where it needs to go. And sometimes you've got to be the shot caller and say, hey, this is how we're going to do it and this is why we're going to do it and we're going to move ahead and this is the direction ready, set go. So you've got to dig it from both sides. Enjoy making the decisions. Yeah, you've got to do both.
Speaker 1:I mean, again, I've seen, I've seen it work in both ways, where you've got people who just let it bubble and then are satisfied with the end result. And I've got, I've seen leaders who start from the top and say we're going to do it this way and that's the way it's going to go, whether you like it or not. And if you're, if you're on board, great. If not, get out of the way, um, for me that's not. Neither of those are really my style.
Speaker 1:I like to take it a little bit, both ways to say, hey, let's, let's get creative solutions together, but at the end of the day, we also need a strong voice that says, okay, we've got our options.
Speaker 1:This is the direction we're going, um, and this is why it's important that we do it and now, why we execute on it, because, at the end of the day, you're responsible. No one's going to go to your people and say why didn't it work. People are going to go to you and say what happened, why didn't it work and what are you doing to fix it. Not what is your team doing, but what are you personally doing. And that accountability, I think, is something that, um, if you take it too literally, is something that, if you take it too literally, you'll end up charging into something without any input, and if you don't take it literally enough, you'll end up crowdsourcing everything and it won't be yours. You won't own it. So you've got to have that middle ground where both you own it, but you're also taking advantage of the different personalities and ideas and concepts that are coming from a huge organization.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you got to like sitting in the driver's seat. Yeah, see what I did there. That was beautiful, because this show is called Driver's Seat. Is that what you did? That was really funny. It was nice.
Speaker 1:I didn't hear anybody laugh though. Okay, yeah, sorry, we can try funny later.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm somewhat of a in my own organization and I think you you're supposed to be the person that gets laughs even when you're not funny. I don't know where people get that impression. I don't know what they do to get those laughs.
Speaker 1:I have just not found that, that gear in my in my yeah, I love it, but I love self-deprecating humor too. So I I think, if you can't, make fun of me.
Speaker 2:I think I try to actually be funny and it doesn't work.
Speaker 1:You can't make fun of you, I think I try to actually be funny and it doesn't work. I, I, uh, I think if you can't laugh at yourself, um, and, and people who know me know this um, and my family knows this uh, I'm the first one to make fun of myself.
Speaker 2:What are some of your go-tos Like? What do you? What do you pick on yourself for?
Speaker 1:Oh, everything you know. I mean, uh, everything mistakes you make day in and day out. Um, you know assumptions. You make that go wrong. Uh, you know, you name it and I'm. It's not off limits for me, um, which is funny because it doesn't always. You know, there are certain people who go cash. Why would you make fun of yourself? Uh, you know self-deprecation just, but I'm a firm believer. First, I like to laugh and I like to have fun. I love humor, um, and I like to have fun at work. Um, you know, there was one of one of the first bosses I had coming in that was one of his opening lines was I like to have fun at work and I kind of went that's an interesting thing to say, and this was very early in my career. But I realized very quickly hey, you can still have humor, you can still laugh, you can still be serious and still be focused on a job while keeping things relatively light, was all this true in.
Speaker 1:Germany Not as much. I mean, I think there's maybe a little bit more of a separation between who you are at work and who you are at home. I think that's just part of the culture, um and uh, which is fine and and it works for people. Um, certain people don't like to be, can, you know, blend to those worlds and I'm, that's fine, that's totally fine, um, but for me there's a certain amount of authenticity that comes with not pretending I'm somebody else when I'm at work than I am when I'm at home. So I, I, you know it's not totally blended, it can't be, because otherwise you'll start to lose sight of what are your real priorities in each space. Um, but I think it's I. I think by adding some element of who you are in both places, you know, you create the best of both worlds.
Speaker 2:And yeah, picking up on that, you know, Ted Hughes, he runs AWDA.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love Ted, he's awesome.
Speaker 2:I'd never met you before this and I was thinking about people that know you and I was like you know, ted has to know this guy. And I texted Ted and he was like oh, oh, I know, I know, todd, and he just sent me a bunch of pictures in you and a lion's jersey, oh yeah, and he was like he's probably going to show up to this thing in a lion's jersey. Speaking of bringing you know a little bit of person, your personal that would have been a good idea.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, I mean, like you know the you're, it sounds like you're super passionate about the lions. Any other sports teams yeah?
Speaker 1:I'm a Detroit kid. You're from Detroit Through and through, from Detroit area, suburbs of Detroit, lived there my whole life and then went to Michigan State University. So Michigan kid as well, so I'm very proud Michigan State fan. Michigan State fan yes, very clear that we're clear about Michigan State fan. Okay, michigan State fan. Yes, very clear that we're clear about Michigan State fan. Okay, um, but I, I, I've been a Michigan kid from the beginning and I'm very proud to be from there. Um and so, uh, I've held onto that, even though, you know, moving to the East coast for a minute and then, you know, abroad for a while, then in and out of Chicago. We lived 10 years in Chicago after college, so I've spent, frankly, almost as much time living in and around Chicago as I have Detroit.
Speaker 1:But, um, but no, I'm, I'm big on on that. You know, it's part of the identity that I have. I love the whole idea of the grit and the determination and in the city that really struggled, um, for a very long period of time. That had its heyday, you know, 50 years ago, and then went through this really, really dark time and then this now transformation and Renaissance into what it is today, and then sports is just a microcosm of it that comes with it. Right, it's that recovery and that redemption and that now that exciting part of saying hey, I was part of it and I was a fan before also was really cool to me. That that, um, that loyalty, you know, of saying hey, I was there also when things were tough and I rode through it and saw it, saw it go and return to something that's cool, um, but yeah, for better or worse, I've been a lions fan for a very, very long time.
Speaker 2:But that's a really interesting word you just use, which is loyalty. Um, I don't think many people would pick up on it, but I don't know why when it hits my ears it kind of rattles around my brain. I don't know what to do with the word. And if I quickly apply it to you and your career, whatever I've learned in the last, I guess, hour we've been talking. You've been at Bosch for how many years? 19, 19 years. Um, you've been a lions fan. For how?
Speaker 1:many years, 45 years, and uh, michigan state fan yeah, my parents both went there.
Speaker 2:So you're not a football fan, you're a michigan state and a lions fan? Right, you're not. You can't just like watch somebody beat on the lines. You're like, oh, they're really good at football. No right, no, no, no so. But then you applied the word loyalty to that. Um, maybe I can describe it and I'll I have a hard. I don't know why I have a hard time with that. Because, it seems. It seems like are you?
Speaker 2:thinking of blind loyalty. Maybe I and maybe you can help me understand what I'm thinking of here. But sometimes loyalty is like, especially when it comes to football teams. You know, like weren't the Rams at some point like the St Louis Rams and then now they're like the LA Rams, or maybe it's vice versa, I'm not sure. But if you're a community and you're really, really into that team, you're super loyal. Then they just get up and move, yeah.
Speaker 1:You feel betrayed.
Speaker 2:I feel betrayed because loyalty kind of comes off as uh and, and it might be blind loyalty, but like a one-way proposition. Somebody wants you to be loyal to them and then they have the right to kind of change their minds on you whenever you want. You know, it seems like you know. Um, does that do what? Do you hear that at?
Speaker 1:all yeah, I get it, I get it, you know. I think it has more to do, frankly, with how it serves you than it does what you're getting in return. So if you think about loyalty from the standpoint of, well, what am I getting in return for this? Then nine times out of 10, you're going to be let down. I think. If you think about how does my loyalty serve me? My loyalty serve me and this is a very basic example but, frankly, whether the Lions win or lose, I get an opportunity to have some friends over barbecue, have a couple of beers, have some fun and coming together with people who have similar passion, regardless of what happens at the end of the day.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, you can be mad, whether they win or lose, but if you utilize that loyalty to serve you and not necessarily waiting for something in return and say, man, they really let me down, you can't guarantee that whoever or whatever you're loyal to isn't going to let you down at some point. They will. It's humans, it's organizations, it's everything. But it doesn't mean that you can't believe in it, it doesn't mean that you can't use it to still serve you. Right, and I think it's to your point. Right, it shouldn't be a one-way street. It should be a two-way street, but there will be times when it's a one-way street. It should be a two-way street, but there will be times when it's a one-way street and you got to be cool with that. And there's also a time when you may not be delivering on your commitment, but they are.
Speaker 2:That's interesting. You just kind of spelled out loyalty is almost like camaraderie. It's like you're you surround yourself with other people who are, who kind of share your loyalty and loyal to one another. Yeah, for a period of time. It doesn't have to be forever. So that could be, you know, you and your Lions fan friends and you're all in it together, and maybe the same thing at Bosch, right, you know everyone's kind of committed. They're behind the same mission.
Speaker 1:That's helpful for me.
Speaker 2:I love how we got here through the Lions of all things. Well, we got through Ted Hughes, that's true. I was looking for insightful background behind you and I just got five pictures of you in a Lions jersey.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, Isn't that funny that you asked for insight and he sends pictures of me in a Lions jersey. But it was a lot of insight, I guess.
Speaker 1:I was like okay, Well, the funny part about that was the game that we were at. I took my predecessor, andreas Andorfer had never been to a game, andreas Andorfer, um, had never been to a to a game, um, and uh, then, uh, we took one of our customers who are fantastic lines fans as well, and then it just so happened that Ted asked me hey, are you going to the game? I said, actually I am going. He said, well, meet, meet us beforehand at my tailgate spot. So we met there. So here we've got some customers who are fans, ted, who's you know, uh, ted, and running his, his organization. And then, uh, uh, andreas, who had never been to a game before, and here's a picture of all of us wearing lions jerseys in the in some random parking lot in Detroit. So, um, hey, talk about things bringing people together and that's uh, that makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Um, I'm going to try to jog your memory and go back you. When we were talking about your parents, uh, giving you mentorship or guidance, you said personal and one personal, one professional, yeah, and you brought up your mom, the kind of raising your hand thing. What was the? What was that? The personal or the professional one? That that was the that was the professional. Okay, what was the personal one?
Speaker 1:So, yeah, so, um, on a personal standpoint, um, and a very basic one, but always rings well with me, which is, um, if you want a good marriage, surround yourself with other people that have good marriages. And that came from your, that came from my dad, okay, so, and that again seems very basic, right? Um, now what? Why? Why would that be important? Because you emulate what you see around you, and marriages are tough, I mean, they're, they're difficult, it's. You've got a lot of different things at play. You've got kids, you've got careers, you've got extended family, you've got all those things, um, and if you surround yourself with people that emulate what you want to be and what you want to do, inherently, it will rub off on you.
Speaker 2:That's. I love that advice. That's a much more wholesome perspective than the way I've heard it, which is if you want to be smart, surround yourself with five people smarter than you'd be the dumbest person in your friend group. If you want to be rich, surround yourself with billionaires. You're going to be a billionaire. If you surround yourself with, you know, like, people who are, uh, doing things that are nonproductive, you're going to be nonproductive. So I think that's. That's along the same lines, but I, I the the marriage angles is pretty good, pretty good advice.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is a good one, you've been married for a long time right, yeah, yeah, we've been married, uh, since 2007. Um, you're going gonna have to do the math. How old were you when you got married years, um, when did you meet your wife? We, we met when we were young. We met, um, when we were somewhere between eighth grade and freshman year, so I think we were 13 14 holy cow yeah yeah, that's so shocking.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we were friends, um, but we were friends for a really long time, yeah. So we didn't start dating until we were 19 um in college, and then we dated for a long time after that. But we were 19, um in college and then we dated for a long time after that, but we were really good friends Um. More importantly, you know, kind of through high school and in the same friend groups, and then just kind of found ourselves on the same plane, come college and uh and went from there. So, um, but we were really friends. We were friends first and then we dated for a fair amount of time afterwards Um, and then uh afterwards and then got married. So there's a lot of experience there too, and I think it helps when you're friends first.
Speaker 2:You know yourselves through and through. I mean there are no secrets in that. Yeah, absolutely. Actually that's super hard to do. I think that when I reflect on my life and I just you know I have a lot of cousins and I pay attention to their lives. How many cousins do you have? Oh, we have a lot. You have a big family, yeah, 14, 15 cousins.
Speaker 2:I think it shows up the most in relationships how much people change in their lives and in blocks, right. So when you go from high school up to high school, where you know you've never left your town, right, and now you can go to college, a lot of people leave their town to go to college and you're on your own for your first time. That's usually a change in a personality, a change in a person and maybe, like that would result in a change of relationship. You become a different person after that experience when you're on your own. Same thing happens when you then leave college and you go into the work world. You know you go into the work world for the first few years you just kind of develop into a person that you were not for the whatever it is 18 years and but then you might be like you know, living with a couple of friends sharing a flat or something like that.
Speaker 1:You're describing my twenties, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, yours and mine, yeah, so. But then after that maybe you go live on your own and you develop into your own person At each one of those kind of checkpoints in life. It's not a guarantee that the people around you change with you. You know like it's actually more common than not.
Speaker 1:It's more common than not that you're going to find more differences.
Speaker 2:Yeah, people just evolve in different directions and I think this shows up a lot in relationships and again, just in my own personal observations, that people, just they become completely different people because they don't know who you are at whatever eighth grade, right. You don't know who you are at the end of college and I don't know who I am today. But you know like, basically, I will keep changing, the people in my life will keep changing um and uh. It's is it? Do you find that like? Do you find that true? I mean, was it hard to kind of keep connected to all your friends and keep connected to your wife, or did you, you know I mean any advice around that, that area that's? Or did you, you know I mean any advice around that, that area that's tough?
Speaker 1:because I, you know, I, I, when I was talking about my career earlier and I thought about kind of the time before germany, during germany and after germany, I almost think kind of about my personal life in a very same way. Right, there was high school, there was college and then there was post-college um and uh and uh. It's really hard to to keep connections through years and and moves and all of this Um, you know, I think one of the luxuries at least you know from from guys, and I think you know this is you cannot talk to one of your buddies for a year or a year and a half and then you, you, you end up together for some reason and it's like nothing ever, ever changed.
Speaker 2:You described me and all my related.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's awesome it's great and and um, and the nice thing too about about now technology is you've got you get a group chat going with a couple of buddies and you just kind of keep stoking that flame every every once in a while just to keep those connections burning um. So I think you know, from that standpoint, I I'm not great about going and visiting people. I'm not great, I mean, even when I'm back in Germany. I've got friends in Germany that we left. I'm not great about going and visiting and knocking on people's doors and saying I'm here, let's um. I wish I was better. I'm not Um, but I also try to at least maintain some, some connection, um, so that you know we can, when we do come together, when we do have the opportunity to come together, um, you know, at at uh, at worst you can recreate some of the old memories, at best you can create some new ones. It's funny.
Speaker 2:You just said, um, I wish I was better, but I'm, you know, but I'm not at visiting people. Uh, maybe this is kind of part and parcel with your self-deprecating humor, but you said that about using your cell phone. Use that said that about, like working out in the morning and how much you dwell on you know, I mean, maybe it's, maybe that's where the self-deprecating humor comes from, but you know how much do you dwell on Like be better, todd, be better, you know more than I should?
Speaker 1:Yeah, definitely. You just did it again also. Yeah, that's funny. Yeah, I think. I think a lot of people are their own worst critics and and you need somebody to remind you hey, you know, if you were as kind to yourself as, uh, as you are to everybody else, chances are you would be, uh, you wouldn't be saying these things to yourself. So I think there's true, there's a certain element there that, um, I've got, I've definitely gotten better at, because you wouldn't be saying these things to yourself. So I think there's there's a certain element there that, um, I've got, I've definitely gotten better at, because you can't, you can't, also be in roles like this or or have impact on an organization like this and dwell you just can't, you won't be, you won't be successful, you won't be productive.
Speaker 1:It'll it'll resonate with the people that that you're with um, that you dwell on mistakes and you don't necessarily um build on on successes. So, um, I think, by nature, I you know it, it's something we all do to a certain extent, but I'm that's one area where I'm trying to get better. Is is not necessarily being such a harsh critic all the time of myself.
Speaker 2:Well, I'll just tell you why that stuck out to me is because, sitting as the person across from you, um, and I learned this from just my relationship with my brother we're just very different.
Speaker 2:You know, he's high energy, you know, just, um, uh, you know, probably I ask questions. He probably talks first, you know, and I just used to disagree with the way he kind of goes about um, just every day and I, but he's incredibly successful and it that kind of experience with him made me realize, like you know, he is successful because of who he is. He's successful in his marriage, successful in his life he's. And so when you say these like I should be, I should be better, I should be better, my reaction to that is well, you are who you are and where you are because of all the things that you may or may not be good at, yeah, you know. Yeah. So I don't know if that's just I'm not trying to be kind to you through that, but I just it's just letting you know what the observer sees is if you were better or different in any one of those things, you wouldn't be who you are.
Speaker 1:No, I think it's, and I think that's good feedback to give and get, because it reminds us to not to to what we said earlier, not to dwell on shortcomings or, you know, being well-rounded. And this is interesting because, you know, it used to be all about rounding out your personality, rounding out your business acumen, rounding out so that you can be this complete person or this complete commodity. And now it's more about hey, don't focus so much on on closing those gaps. Surround yourself with people who can Um, so you know, if you're a friend who's the funny one, be the funny one. You don't also have to be the one who's uh, who's the most thoughtful one at the same time Um. And I think there's a certain element of that in business too, where it certainly helps to try to cover your, cover your gaps where you can Um. But at the same time, if you spend all your time trying to close your gaps, you won't, you won't be the person that got you to where you are based on your strengths, yeah.
Speaker 2:So, um, there's definitely a balance there and I think, in general, all any of us can do is play to our strengths, switching gears a little bit. There is another conversation kind of going on which is you know how important is college and how necessary is a degree when going into a professional career, or should you just hop in, you know, maybe the trade, kind of going to trade school or just getting experience either through internship or just employment right away and building that first? Do you have a perspective on that? Where do you come out on that? And maybe you know, does Bosch still have any requirements?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I think my perspective, I think, is maybe independent of Bosch, but I mean, I think there's a path for everybody. Um, I don't think. I don't think that it is absolutely critical to have certain degrees with certain qualifications to find something that you're good at, that you believe in um and that, um you're going to contribute at a high level. Do certain roles have certain requirements? Yes, well, are we going to change those um over time? I don't know Um, but I am a strong believer in vocational training and I think that there's, uh, there are other avenues besides everybody coming out with the same degree and saying, okay, here I am, here's my piece of paper.
Speaker 1:Now, what do I do? Um? And I think if you do that, you also discredit a lot of people who are chasing their passion, which may not be something that you get in a four-year degree. It may be something that you learn on the job. It may be something you learn in trade school um through a mentorship, um through a family member you know these, you know. Second, a mentorship um through a family member. You know these, you know. Second, third, fourth, fifth generation, family owned companies doesn't necessarily always have a path that goes to an undergrad and an MBA.
Speaker 1:So um, if, if you're if you live in a successful yeah, but incredibly successful and great leaders and people who, um, who contribute not just you know, to their own organizations, but in some cases, entire towns right Are employed by by some of just you know, to their own organizations, but in some cases, entire towns right Are employed by by some of these, these companies. So it's, you know, selfishly, I went that route. It worked for me, um and uh, but does it work for everybody? No, and I think I hope that there's still a place in our, in our economy and in our country for, uh, people who chase their passions and trades.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, and I, I totally agree, and I, I, I, I try to look for the differences in people and play up their strengths, um, rather than look for the homogenous kind of crew. That's a new way of thinking, right, I think so too, I was going to ask that, but I don't know if I wanted to to put you on the spot like that. But it is. It does feel different. It does feel different Than what we were maybe raised with Absolutely. We're roughly the same age, by the way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, there we go, it's you look at, the performance review process was all about what are your gaps and how are you closing them what are your gaps and how are you closing them. And we shifted completely our performance review process to be more focused on what are your strengths and how do we capitalize on them. Oh wow, yeah, this is new and it's it even takes some time. I mean, I was in favor of it and I did a couple of them, and even then I was kind of like, yeah, but shouldn't we talk about yeah?
Speaker 2:what do I need to talk about?
Speaker 1:some of those. Yeah, you know there's gotta be some things that I should fix and um, and it's more now about hey, how do we get the absolute best out of you, utilizing the strengths that you have? And we'll close the gaps somewhere else, and this is a total. This is a new way of thinking no-transcript it. Yeah, trying to think of my strengths on the spot.
Speaker 2:I'm not doing great right now, in the moment, just trying to think of my strengths. I got a lot of flaws.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's, it's, it's ingrained in us, yeah. And so you, you again ask, ask me in five years how we're doing um, because it'll go from now, you know, theory to practice, um, but I would hope you know if I think about it, um, I would hope that people would do the same for me, that they would look and say, hey, here are the things you're bringing to the table that are really positive, and let's focus on that and let's get more of that. And, and if there's something outward that we say, hey, this is getting in the way of your success, then let's talk about it. Yeah, right, if it's getting in the way, but if it's just a question of, hey, uh, here's one area that isn't my forte. Let's not waste any more time than we have to on it. Let's let's put it aside. Let's find a way to to bandaid that through another area and focus on how we get more, more of what's great.
Speaker 2:You said ask me, ask me that in five years. Um, I'm going to ask you two branches of questions in five years and I appreciate you giving me so much time today. Um, first is you know, bosch is a key player in the automotive industry and in the automotive aftermarket. Where do you see the auto industry going mobility, transportation, and then maybe Bosch within there. I know it's a loaded question, but I'm trying to create the mosaic of, you know, the transportation, mobility, economy, and then maybe you can layer in where Bosch is in that in the next five years, seven years, however, you think about that yeah.
Speaker 1:So I mean, I think you can look at, you can look at what got us here and you can look at where you want to go. Um, and you know to say we know what's going to happen next is is, uh, is probably uh, uh, easier said than done, and you don't have to look too far than the last three, four, five years and some of the pivots we've seen with EV and, to a certain extent, autonomous and things like this. So, despite the fact that a lot of companies went all in on it, right. So I think, if you look at it and you separate it into what got you here and where you want to go, there is a large part of our business, especially around business mobility, is predicated on the technology that's on the road today and that technology is not changing, especially in the mobility aftermarket.
Speaker 2:Specifically on the aftermarket side. On the aftermarket side.
Speaker 1:Right, so this is not going anywhere. This is not going anywhere. We need to be ready and willing and able to provide solutions, and creative solutions too, because it will get harder to get product, it'll get harder to make affordable solutions over time, so you really have to focus on this.
Speaker 2:You have to keep investing in this. You made me refine my question a little bit. My question a little bit. So the aftermarket builds parts not just for cars on the road, but kind of for when cars start to collect on the road, when we know how many cars have been sold. The sweet spot. The sweet spot After a few years. You realize what the populations of vehicles are on the road after a few years of being sold. Then we start to invest in the tooling and equipment to make the parts for those cars. If I can put you in the position of trying to think about, what technologies are you taking seriously today that might be in cars, you know, in the next sweet spot, right, like, is it lithium-ion batteries? Is it hydrogen? Is it LiDAR and those kinds of sensors? I mean at least because Bosch has a lens on both sides, right? So what do you think of as the technologies that we should take seriously?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you know, the simple answer is that Bosch is powertrain agnostic, right. So, no matter what the technology is, we're chasing it to a certain extent, um. But I think that, uh, I think, if you look at the development of VV over time, this is an area where we need to be, um. If you look at the development of ADOS, um, and all the way up to autonomous, this is someplace where we need to be and where we're playing today. So, you know, those are two probably pretty quick ones that hit in terms of what's different from what we're doing today, where we say, hey, we have to continue to invest and we've got to continue to explore and develop new technologies, and especially around the ADOS piece.
Speaker 1:Because I mean, if you look at the technology and the components that are related to ADAS, I mean they're there, they're growing, they're going into more vehicles. It's not just about premium vehicles anymore, it's all vehicles are equipped with this, and so it went. You know, from being kind of an option to the standard equipment, that we need to have long-term sustainable solutions for that. We need to have long-term sustainable solutions for. And if you look at electronic components in general, it's very hard to have a long-term play on electronic components and say, yeah, no worries, we'll be there in 15 years with exactly that product ready to go, because the rest of the industry is all about shifting and changing to the next technology.
Speaker 1:But we have to have technology and product on the road for vehicles 10, 15, sometimes even 20 years after the vehicle is out of series production. So I think it's an opportunity and the fact that we play in it already in the OE space and that we can carry over those solutions to the aftermarket, this is an area for me that I say okay this is a no brainer, this is a winner.
Speaker 1:And then when you look at the calibration of that technology and the and the business there, that's going to happen the tools necessary tools and equipment and we talked about over the air diagnostics and things like this.
Speaker 1:I mean, this is the sexy stuff, this is the stuff that's fun to talk about, um, but it doesn't. It doesn't? Um relieve us of both our obligation as well as our strong desire to continue to serve the vehicles that are in the in the car park today, and that was really important to our customers to hear this, that um, that we have a full commitment and continuing to do that, and I think uh, oh interesting, because you could be at risk of thinking of the future.
Speaker 1:That's. I get that question more often than I get Where's Bosch playing? It's no-transcript technology, but we play in both Um and so we have to take a real 360 view, or at least a 180 view, of of where, where we are and where we're going there, to make sure that we don't take our eyes off what got us here and not just you know where we're looking to go.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I mean, that's what an answer. I mean I didn't expect to hear Bosch as a technology company or you know, over the air or software words like that that are just typically not brake rotors and fuel injectors and stuff like that and wiper blades. So thank you for that. Um, I promised you a second question around kind of the five year, the five-year branch and, um, this one might be a little bit more than five years, uh, but we started this conversation referencing, you know, tina hubbard's learn it, earn it, return it philosophy. So we're in there, we're agreed, we're in the earn it phase right now. You know, stepped into this role two months ago.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're very bullish about Bosch's prospects. You're really excited about the growth said you're in growth mode. If I talk to somebody who worked for you in this time period and let's put it, five years is probably too soon for you to be in your return it mode I call it 10 or 15 years from now where you're, you know, clearly in your. This was successful. I want to give back and teach a little bit mode. What do you hope somebody tells me about the time that they worked with you? What do you hope that you know they.
Speaker 1:The impression you leave on people is um, I would hope that people would say, um, that I did what I said. I was going to do, first and foremost, whether it was popular or unpopular or easy or difficult was going to do first and foremost whether it was popular or unpopular, or easy or difficult, um, and I would hope that people say that I led with, uh, with compassion. To me this is an important part um of the experience. Um, I I had the luxury of working for somebody recently who reinforced to me that you can be both sex, successful, um, ambitious and lead with empathy, which I think is, I think, isn't always the case. They don't mold all three of those together.
Speaker 1:Usually it's hey, we're either ambitious and strong and tough, or you're empathetic and you're kind, but I think you can do both, and I hope that people say that we live um and that we did and that we still achieved our targets while treating people well and I, and there's, there's ways to get places faster, um, without that, but uh, but it won't be as much fun and it and it won't build the type of success that's long term. You know you can squeeze things out of people real quickly, um, but whether or not you can get more in the future, um, and and have them contribute beyond what they're doing today. Um, you can't do unless you really take care of the entire, the entire person and their entire journey.
Speaker 2:That's such a great answer, Um, are you? Do you feel like you're emulating any one mentor individually, or is this kind of a uniquely Todd perspective from a collection of different experiences and people?
Speaker 1:I would say it's more of a collection. I said earlier, there's different leaders for different times of your business. So I've been in roles where we've been in growth mode. I've been in roles where we've had, uh, where we've had to make significant organizational changes. Where we're in reorg Um, I've been in, you know, we've gone through some recessions.
Speaker 1:We've gone through, um, uh, a variety of different economic challenges that we faced and you've got to look at the different leaders and and what they're bringing to the table. I mentioned that more recently. I saw what leading with empathy and kindness brings. I've seen previously, through other leaders, times when you've got to be really tough and unyielding in your approach and not compromise when it comes to, hey, we have to take a tough decision now, even though it's not going to feel great. Yeah, um, and I've I've seen it where, um, you know it's more about less about what's happening in the organization and more about how do you develop yourself. So, um, it's. It's definitely a collection.
Speaker 1:Like I said, I've been, I've been very lucky. Anybody who gets to a role like this usually has worked for some pretty awesome people. That's well put. I don't think you'll find people who have been really successful who say, man, did I work for a bunch of jerks over a long period of time? You'd be surprised. The people will say there was at least a good portion of people that were great leaders, strong, helped take care of you, um, had long-term vision, um, and helped you get there. So luckily, I have more positive experiences to to pull from from everybody than I do. Negative ones, and, um, certainly you. You want to look and see.
Speaker 2:Hey, you know, here are some things I won't do when I get there, which is probably my more, more my style, which is like I've had experiences and I just think like I don't want to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's fine and I think that that's that's valuable piece, but I think you'll inherently not do those things because they're not in your nature anyway, right? So kind of goes back to that whole. Ah, it's a good focusing focusing less on what I won't do but focusing more on where I get really positive feedback and results. That, to me, is it will come second nature anyway, and so choosing to look at those experiences that you've had with other leaders and say here are the really cool things that I'm going to pull for me has always been beneficial.
Speaker 2:Well, that was. I really appreciate that and, with that, todd Hertzler, thank you so much for spending, I think, an hour and a half with me here today. Thank you, beza, that was fun, I enjoyed it. I'm happy to hear that and I hope that people that listen to this, and I hope people watch this and I hope that they walk away with a lot of the wisdom that I walked away with today, and you really changed my perspective on a couple of things, and that is really helpful to me but also speaks to your qualities as a leader, so I appreciate it personally. I hope other people benefit from it as well.
Speaker 1:Awesome, it was so much fun.
Speaker 2:Thank you, man, thank you so much, I appreciate it yeah. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Auto Care On Air. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast so they never miss an episode, and don't forget to leave us a rating and a review that helps others discover our show. Auto Care On Air is a production of the Auto Care Association, dedicated to advancing the auto care industry and supporting professionals like you. To learn more about the association and its initiatives, visit autocareorg. Thank you.
