Episode 81
OESA Supplier Conference Unplugged
Bonus episode.
Jan Griffiths and Jason Stein sit down behind the mic. and share their perspectives on the OESA supplier conference 2022.
Transcript
[Transcript]
Jan Griffiths:Hello automotive leaders. Here's a quick bonus episode for you today. Monday, many of us attended the OESA supplier summit. And at the end of the day, I took the opportunity to sit down with my friend and fellow podcaster, Jason Stein, to share our perspectives. This is a conversation that is unscripted, unplugged two people who care passionately about this industry, sharing their thoughts on what we saw, what we heard. And we also interviewed many of the participants during the conference, please enjoy.
Jan Griffiths:So here we are, at the end of the OESA conference, Jason
Jason Stein:It's the end of another conference, which feels very different, I think this year relative to last year, when people were kind of seeing each other for the first time in multiple years. And all of a sudden, you know, this hall and the floor was filled with people and you kind of went Oh, wow, I'm seeing people again, like you're in you're in 3d now or 4d now. You're no longer just on my screen. It feels really refreshing actually to be back. And can we finally say it normal times?
Jan Griffiths:Yeah, it was it's it's been a it's a great vibe here. Yeah, for sure. And who we are the two podcasters.
Jason Stein:In our in our newest incarnation of who we are right? Are you having fun yet?
Jan Griffiths:What I love about this is and for the audience, Jason and I decided that we would just have this chat to talk about our reflections of the conference. Consider this OESA unplugged with Jason and Jan, this could be a new thing.
Jason Stein:Yes, it could be. Well, since we're unplugged, give me your unvarnished view of of being back at the OSA event.
Jan Griffiths:I have well, I love this one. I love this one. Yeah, right. Josh Linkner to kick off.
Jason Stein:Fantastic.
Jan Griffiths:Phenomenal! I really loved when he showed the visual of the classic conductor versus the jazz musician. What do you want to be as a leader? I mean, that resonates with me, Jason on so many levels, as you well know, right? Because that's all about do you want to be command and control? Or do you want to be authentic leadership? Which one do you want to be and that visual was so powerful? My concern is that everybody in the audience loved it. And everybody went, aha, yeah, yeah, that's great. But what actions are we going to take when we leave here today?
Jason Stein:It's a good point. I, my favorite visual was Jerry Seinfeld with a with a teacup on his head, you know, personally, and hearing and understanding that he actually rewrites all of his jokes for the next year or so he doesn't reuse anything, a white sheet of paper. And I would say the the the closing comments about the the minor league team that turned itself into the bananas, the Savannah bananas, and all of the wacky stuff that that organization did in order to transform who they are and and what they represent. It's a good point, though, what do we take away from this? And what do we put into action? Or do we just kind of get back on i 96, out here and go east or west and resume our normal activities? I saw a lot of people taking notes, Jan. I saw a lot of people very attentive and what was a incredibly crowded room, probably the most attendance rate, you know, right out of the gate. What is the action plan? What do you take from it? What do you write down? What are the three things that you're going to think of? Or, as Josh says, What five things are you going to do to move your own life and business forward and change who you are? You got to make a list, make a list, write it down, visualize it and act on it. That's what I would say.
Jan Griffiths:Yeah, you got to start with the mindset, right. So you got to say, You know what, I'm inspired. I came away from this conference. I listened to Josh Linkner. I listen to what he had to say about innovation, I now have a better understanding of innovation, because I think we all left that room with a better understanding of what it is. It's not coming up with the latest and greatest technology, or device. You know, there are small, I think Josh referred to it as micro innovations.
Jason Stein:Yes
Jan Griffiths:In your approach, but making that that commitment to yourself and to your team that you're going to come out of here and you're going to do things differently, and maybe rally in your team tomorrow, right the day after and saying, Okay, listen, we really have to do things differently. Because if we keep doing things the same way that we've always done them in this auto industry for the last I don't know how many decades. We're not going to make it.
Jason Stein:Yeah. And I love the way you opened that panel, because you said, oh, wait a minute, one of these things is not like the other.
Jason Stein:No and you know, I'll just wrap around the entire day with this. I hosted the EV purchasing panel this afternoon, which had a member of Zooks join General Motors and Ford. We came off the stage and one of the two OEM speakers said to me, boy, was it refreshing to have somebody from Zooks on stage like that, because this is who we want to be. This is why we got into the business. This is the startup mentality that we need to have, that's where we're headed. We're not there yet. Primarily, in both cases, you have more than 100 years of automaking history behind them. But this is who we really want to be. And Zooks, eight years old was the inspiration for this individual coming off the stage. And I think it's exactly what Josh said, which was break some things, change some things, challenge yourself, come up with different ways of doing things, busted out. And in a way, it was the perfect book end on the day, which is to start with Josh's philosophy and then to end with a traditional OEM saying, I wish we could do more of that. We will do more of that.
Jason Stein:Yeah Zooks.
Jan Griffiths:And that was a perfect opening, because it draw drew my attention to the visual. And if you look at the three individuals that were up there, one, the Zooks guy is very relaxed in a T shirt. That's his corporate photo, right? Yes, the other two still buttoned up still very GM very, very Ford, you know, there's this mold of what we think a corporate executive should look like an act like, and it's going to take a while to break it. But we need to break them. All right, now
Jason Stein:we do. And it's more than just setting up an office in Southern California and Northern California and saying, Well, now, here we are. And here's our stamp. And now we're going to have that culture too. And I remember talking to some Ford executives through the years who had gone through the transition of trying to integrate with Silicon Valley, they had a very, very hard time because the lack of respect that both groups had for one another was evident and on the present. And I think in order to get to be more like a Zooks, you've got to as a traditional automaker or a traditional supplier, you've you've got to be willing to say, we'll be something that we're not, we're going to push ourselves to be different than than, than what we've been. And I think that's a daring move to make is actually very happy to talk to that individual about the about making that kind of move. And what a great emblematic thing for this conference, kudos to Julie Freeman, the OESA folks, for bringing in Josh and for bringing in Zooks, because I think it pushes the supply base to basically say, Okay, we're going to try some different things. And you and I know, I mean, you have a lot more experience being inside these companies than I do you know how difficult it is to make some of these moves?
Jan Griffiths:I do I do. The one thing Jason that I see is still in this industry. And it may be flies in the face of command and control, but bear with me here, right? We're all very nice to each other. You know, it's all very nicey nicey. Okay, and let's, let's let's get down to let's get down in the dirt for a second. So the OEM panel, right. All very nice. Oh, let's talk about transparency. Let's talk about strategic partnerships. We've been hearing that for decades, right?
Jason Stein:Yes, for a long time now.
Jan Griffiths:Okay, love, love it and fair play to Kathy worden, she's only been back at Ford for a minute for 90 days. Right? This is this is no disrespect to her whatsoever. But people want to hear actions. What are you doing to change the culture at Ford Motor Company at General Motors and Stellantis to really impact the supply base? What are you doing? And I'll give you a classic example. So we're talking about partnerships, strategic partnerships and transparency. And the you know, if there's a problem, call me Okay, nice. We interviewed earlier today, Dan Sharkey, who is an attorney, who is very active in the supply base. And we asked him the question, what are some of the issues that you're seeing? Well, it's pricing pressure, right? It's volatile releases. So the OEMs can't, and on one hand, report, wonderful profits and talk this wonderful glowing language. And on the other hand, turn the screw to the supply base on prices and supply chain and volatility in the releases. So somehow, the aspirational idea of with OEMs want to be and the reality of what's actually happening has to come together and somebody's got to get their arms around that and do something about it.
Jason Stein:Well, I'll tell you, it doesn't surprise me because in the post bankruptcy days of GM, and I guess Fiat Chrysler after they had both found religion, following bankruptcy, and they were new companies even labeled as such, what I heard at the retail level was that middle layer hadn't changed. Those were still the same people who were in the field as zone managers who were still squeezing car dealers. And at the top that had changed and that the bottom that had changed but right in the middle, that bureaucracy, if you will, had stayed the same. And that's probably one of the one of the biggest challenges is how do you change up culture from the middle out, you can change it from the top down. But how do you change it from the middle? And I think it requires a ton of will, effort, and discipline in order to change. Look, it's it's 100 years of history. I mean, it's just really hard. And we see this in big corporations that they fall back on what they know. They're too big to fail.
Jan Griffiths:Yeah. I tell you, somebody who I met and we interviewed today, and I think you do, too, was Jeremy McCall from HEBO. Yeah. Wow. Is he CEO a startup to watch the energy that he has the passion and commitment.
Jason Stein:Yeah, army guy, a US Army guy very disciplined. When he talks, you can see that that militaristic kind of view, he's very focused.
Jan Griffiths:But the team he's built around him. And I love the way that you know, he recognizes that he's a CEO. He's got vision, he's got passion, he doesn't have everything. So he's building out that team around him. He is one to watch, Jason.
Jason Stein:He is definitely one to watch. And I think that the wireless charging community, which doesn't have very many players right now may have a very significant player in Jeremy. I was I was greatly impressed like you. Yeah, there have been some, for me this OESA conference is very different than that. I think now, those startup companies that are now maybe a decade old, are kind of getting to some level of maturation, are now legitimate players in this space, there to be listened to. And you saw a lot of people around Bruce Baumgardner, the head of purchasing for Zooks, afterwards saying, basically, you know, how do I do business with you, you know, and he just wants transparency and he just wants great relations and he wants to reshape and reform supplier OEM relations. He considers himself a supplier. So it's, it's really fun to see this kind of change over that's occurred.
Jan Griffiths:Yeah. But I agree with you, I think overall, was a great conference.
Jason Stein:It's great to see you.
Jan Griffiths:Here we are Podcasting!
Jason Stein:Yes.
Jan Griffiths:Great, big changes for both of us. It did, and you're walking into the hole with a microphone and I'm the other microphone.
Jason Stein:As long as we don't talk over each other. We'll be fine. Number one rule of doing any radio show.
Jan Griffiths:This has been I guess, OESA unplugged.
Jason Stein:Yes, Thank you. Thank you so much, Jan. Thanks for sharing the microphone with me. Congratulations on all the things that you've done in your transformation. I still remember you on stage hopping around at the leading women automotive news event, jam into thunderstruck, yes.
Jan Griffiths:That's what great leadership feels like.
Jason Stein:Yes. Yeah. You were fantastic, then. You're fantastic now,
Jan Griffiths:Well, and I love seeing your your massive transformation. I mean, it takes a lot of guts to do what we did, right. We both walked away from great careers, and started something completely different and this journey of entrepreneurship, and maybe the next time on unplugged, we'll share our journeys with the audience. What do you think?
Jason Stein:That sounds great. Thank you, Jan.
Jan Griffiths:Thank you.
Jan Griffiths:Thank you for listening to the automotive leaders podcast. Click the Listen link in the show notes to subscribe for free on your platform of choice. And don't forget to download the 21 traits of authentic leadership PDF by clicking on the link below. And remember, stay true to yourself, be you and lead with gravitas, the hallmark of authentic leadership
