The days of the starched suit, iron will and guard-dog secretary have been replaced by transparent communication, agile project management, flattened organizational structures, work-life balance and good old-fashioned values. Modern leaders don’t just put out the fires; they empower team members to take up the extinguishers themselves. And today’s effective leaders don’t simply coach and mentor; they lead by example.

Play the Long Game

Given a climate of unprecedented consolidation and rapidly evolving technology, leaders must be more flexible and long-sighted than ever before. Great leaders must not think only of the bottom line, but also of the business’s future. Down the road, how will the practices you put into place look to an outsider? Will your particular leadership style translate well to newcomers, or does it depend on years of shared experience?

George Odden, a principal at CP Capital Advisory Services, LLC, has guided businesses through mergers and acquisitions for more than two decades, with a special interest in the car wash industry. Odden cautions car wash industry leaders to remember that consolidation forces a number of disparate parties together quickly — which can get very tricky very fast.

“The successful leader in that atmosphere will carry the torch for the culture he or she is trying to establish or maintain,” Odden said. “This can be challenging as new businesses with their own traditions and cultures are mixed.”

While many franchises continue to cultivate a familial feel among team members even after a merger, this can be a double-edged sword, since new people will bring their own experiences to the table.

“It’s a delicate balance of making the new feel welcome and comfortable while not alienating the old,” Odden said.In our current business climate, an effective leader has his or her eye on the macro-level as well as the micro-level at any given time, not only in terms of innovation and future development, but also in terms of cultivating human capital by supporting and developing team members.

Good leadership addresses all team members, not just those who need correction. It’s as important to coach a high-performing employee as an under-performing one, through mentor partnership programs, employee rewards, and creative encouragement.

Similarly, experienced leaders are more likely to leave the firefighting to others and make time for big-picture brainstorming. They’re able to make time to do innovative thinking only when they’ve trusted capable colleagues to manage some of the daily clutter.

One tried-and-true strategy effective leaders employ is to schedule brainstorming sessions during peak creative times of the day — after the first coffee but before lunch, for example — and either shut off the phone and email and strategize alone, or call in members of the team to come up with goals and take steps to achieve them. These sessions should involve new team members as well as loyal ones, because they bring a fresh perspective.

Don't Juggle — Delegate

It’s common knowledge that Google, a paragon of effective leadership, has only 5,000 managers, 1,000 directors, and 100 vice presidents among its 37,000-plus employees. But less well known is the company’s tendency toward high numbers of direct reports per manager — up to thirty, for example.

How can one engineer be responsible for managing the daily projects of thirty employees? He can’t, which means managers are forced to delegate and macro-manage. The manager’s main job isn’t keeping employees on task — it’s making decisions and innovating.

Delegating and trusting the daily tasks to others is something business leaders are constantly reminded to do — delegating effectively isn’t always easy, especially for leaders who are prone to want to be in control, or for leaders who don’t yet trust their teams.

Leaders who’ve gotten comfortable with delegating know that there are some ways to make the process work — and pitfalls to avoid. For starters, it’s helpful to involve direct reports in the delegating process. Giving team members choices increases their buy-in and ensures that they understand what’s being asked of them.

Also, clarify your definition of success. When you ask a team member to take on a responsibility, describe for him what the finished job will look like, and how he’ll know he’s done it right.

After delegating, good leaders find the line between hovering and disappearing. Decide on your own how involved you need to be, and when you check in, make sure your team member knows your primary goal is not to hold his feet to the fire, but to support his work and make sure he has the resources he needs.

When the job’s complete, good leaders reward work well done, even if the learning curve was high, and continue to delegate ever-greater responsibilities, which is a reward to the team member and the manager both.

Finally, experienced leaders delegate not only when their plates are full — they do it on a consistent basis, as much as a means to enhance employee commitment and responsibility as to check items from the to-do list.

Make It Personal

Modern leadership models couldn’t be farther from those of the past, when managers and employees knew nothing about each other outside of work. Not only does a strong leader create an inclusive, friendly, and empathetic environment for team members, but he shares a little about himself, too.

Expressions of concern or interest in a team member show that a leader understands the ebb and flow of the work-life balance, and can be the key to unlocking a team member’s potential. Only an employee who feels safe and included at work, both physically and psychologically, can function at the highest level.

And good leaders are role models. Not only does a good leader demonstrate how to work hard, he or she also shows how to listen well, think creatively, and take responsibility. And leading by example isn’t just about the work — good leaders demonstrate that they know how to take care of themselves, how to remain unbiased and logical even in emotional situations, how to be genuine and enthusiastic brand ambassadors.

Listen Above All Else

Truly great leaders tend to have a lot in common — including highly developed communication skills. They talk a lot, with everyone, and they have a way with words. They’re highly adept at reading body language, and they know that when a person’s words and his or her body language don’t seem to agree, the physical cues are the more truthful. Good leaders are also wordsmiths on the page, with an emphasis on clarity and brevity in all written communications.

But only the highest functioning leaders prioritize listening on the same level with verbalizing, which signals loyalty and commitment, not only to the conversation at hand but also to improving the overall work environment. “Radical listening,” as it’s been dubbed in leadership circles, is the act of listening without filtering or assessing through personal agenda, and without responding until the speaker has nothing further to say.

Lainie Heneghan, a senior consultant with JMW Consultants, a business leadership consulting agency, makes the case that when leaders radically listen, they not only hear what people are saying, but they also focus in a way that allows them to fully appreciate the meaning behind the words.

“When a leader can do this — when he or she can listen without immediately trying to say the next thing or connect the next dot — he or she is much more likely to hear the valuable core of what their employee, peer, board member, or customer is trying to say,” wrote Heneghan in her blog post, “Radical Listening: Less Talk, More Leadership.”

“In a marketplace where the margin between mediocre and extraordinary results can be all about who’s onboard in your organization, the practice of genuine, radical listening in your organization could make all of the difference. This is how you can end up with a workforce that is genuinely committed, and colleagues who are genuinely engaged,” she wrote.

And listening isn’t just for the first- and second-level management. Sometimes the freshest voices in an organization are the least seasoned ones. Great leaders invite — and pay attention to — feedback in formal and informal ways, as often as they reasonably can.

Maybe some leaders are born with a flair for language — and listening — but most aren’t. These skills are ones that come from practice and time.

Flexibility Is Not Optional

As the car wash industry continues to consolidate, leaders are challenged to keep customer service consistently high across locations, and also offer newer and better ways to serve existing customers and attract new ones.

If exceptional customer service starts with the team members themselves, then it’s imperative to train, nurture, and support team members from day one, in a way that’s manageable and consistent from location to location.

But simply keeping customers happy isn’t a good leader’s only job. He or she also needs to create new customers, and stronger customer relationships, through enhancing the product itself. An effective leader must adapt to ever-evolving technologies, or risk being left behind.

“Today’s consumers are looking for the next great thing,” said Wade Keith, brand manager for Breeze Thru Car Wash in Colorado. “The leaders who aren’t prepared for what comes next will be left behind.”

There is no shortage of opportunities left untaken, and Keith shared a recent example.

“At The Car Wash Show in 2017,” he said, “some newer point-of-sale companies were more in-tune with making the signup process for wash passes more convenient for the customer. The result, of course, was more signups. These companies offer immediate welcome emails that include instructions on how to cancel and who to talk to with problems with the membership. This provides a lot of value and fewer cancellations.”

This kind of exceptional, customer-driven innovation isn’t the rule, though, said Keith.

“Many POS companies in the industry don’t offer these kinds of simple signup services, and are less flexible with offering services that the customer actually cares about,” Keith said. “This means that some owner/operators are having to replace their current POS systems so they can keep up with the times. This is expensive to do, but what’s the alternative?”

Team members who observe their leaders being flexible and adaptable are more likely to be invested in good outcomes for the company.

In Keith’s experience, adaptability benefits the whole organization.

“Your employees have to see you making the best, most educated decisions in situations, and adapting your strategy to keep up with the needs of the customers,” he said. “That’s how they know you’re as invested in the work as you expect them to be.”