Latest / Auto Collabs / The Art of the Fight: Applying Martial Arts to Leadership and Success with Adam Marburger | Public Policy Day 2025

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The Art of the Fight: Applying Martial Arts to Leadership and Success with Adam Marburger | Public Policy Day 2025 · Auto Collabs

• 0:01
  Adam, uh, you and I have talked a little bit today about a lot of like policy and F&I, and kind of the moving pieces in the industry.
• 0:08
  But I would really love to, to get to know, personally get to know you a little bit better. Yeah. And have our audience get to know like what makes you tick and where you came from.
• 0:16
  Uh, it's just such an important part of, you know, understanding a person and their perspective. So, uh, would love to ask you a few questions like that if that's okay. Well, bring it. Okay. All right.
• 0:25
  I'm an op- hey, I'm an open book. You can ask me anything. Okay, great. So- Great. So, um, as I understand, you're a family man. Yes. Tell me about your family. So I have three beautiful little girls. Uh- Oh, girl dad.
• 0:34
  I've got, yeah, so I- Three. I have three. Uh, I'm, I'm a girl dad. I'm, uh- How old are they?... currently looking for a second job. I, I might bartend on the weekends- [laughs]... just so I can pay for my firstborn.
• 0:43
  She's a little bougie. [laughs] So I, my firstborn- Does she take after her mom or her dad? Uh, dad. [laughs] So she, she'll be, Ana Leigh will be 15 years old. She's a freshman. She'll be 15 this summer.
• 0:52
  I've got Arabelle who is in seventh grade. She's gonna be 13 real soon in a couple months. And then, uh, my baby girl, uh, is gonna be six, Aston Marie, so. Oh my gosh. We're really close. Uh, my oldest is here.
• 1:04
  He's 18, but after that I have a 15-year-old daughter, a 13-year-old daughter, and a five-year-old son. Ah. So we, we're kinda roll, rolling the same way. So fun. So- So fun...
• 1:13
  what, what's the, what's the, the biggest surprise of being a girl dad that like maybe you thought it was gonna be different, but it's actually this way?
• 1:22
  Biggest surprise, I don't think anyone's ever ready when they start like talking to boys and boys start talking to them. [laughs] Going through this right now too.
• 1:29
  So, so, so, so the biggest surprise really for me that is, is freshman year. You know, the boys like my daughter and- Oh, yeah...
• 1:37
  you know, so, uh, you know, and I'm that dad that, you know, I'm a little bit everywhere all the time. I'm always watching. [laughs] And you are a black belt in jujitsu. Yeah, I, I am a black belt in jujitsu, yes.
• 1:46
  [laughs] Let, let's talk about that a little bit. Yeah. Um, jujitsu has kind of hit, I think, I feel like it's hit its stride in the last five years- Oh, yeah... uh, becoming a very, a very popular sport.
• 1:55
  I think a lot of people have gotten into it because of a lot of reasons: fitness, um, you know, mental toughness, and you know, people like Jocko Willink, uh, Joe Ro- like people that are just talking about it more.
• 2:06
  Uh, how long have you been training? So I started fighting, uh, in high school. I started fighting kickboxing. I did some boxing. And I- Oh, I thought you just meant in general.
• 2:14
  No, well- Started fighting in high school... seven, through, no, ne- never- [laughs]... street fights, but I actually, I went to a boxing gym, a kickboxing gym my junior year in high school.
• 2:21
  So for about five years I did the boxing, kickboxing, and MMA, got in the cage, did that thing. Yep. Well, I was the guy at the dealership as a finance manager that always had a shiner.
• 2:31
  So I would have to explain to my customer up front why- That's hard to do. Like- It was-... you're on your heels already. It was really hard to do. Uh, I made it work. I did make it work.
• 2:39
  It actually worked to my benefit really. So what happened is when I had my first baby, Ana Leigh, I'm like, "You know what? I'm done getting kicked and punched in the face." I went right into sport Brazilian jujitsu.
• 2:49
  Yep. So in 2011 is when I started competing. I did, uh, competed in world, eight-time world medalist. Whoa. Uh, I just got my black belt last March. That's a big deal.
• 2:58
  So, yeah, so jujitsu's my life, and it's really that foundation that I've transferred into all of my companies. It's that discipline, it's that structure, uh, that's really helped me grow all my businesses.
• 3:10
  You know, I've heard people... I, I've, I've danced around the idea of training, and my son has as well, 'cause I have friends that do it, and it's always like, "You know, y- I think that would be good." You should.
• 3:19
  You know, one, and one of the things, uh, a friend of mine named Darren Doan, who is, uh, he's, he's probably been training for a couple years, he said something happens once you get past the fear when like there's another man trying to kill you, right?
• 3:34
  Like when it feels like that, your body goes into fight or flight, and I can't help but think that that, getting over that and being able to think in the midst of like the most intense pressure, right?
• 3:43
  Your, your physical... Right? Maslow's hierarchy of needs- Yeah... kicks in real quick. Yeah. Right? And you're like survival instinct. I can't help but feel that that has to transfer into business and life.
• 3:53
  It do- it absolutely does transfer, okay? And let, let me say this too, though. So in jujitsu, so if anybody's ever... Okay, and I'm gonna talk about jujitsu for a minute.
• 4:02
  If everybody's considering, anybody's considering jujitsu, you should try because the jujitsu like community is very welcoming. There's not a lot of ego in these gyms, and we welcome beginners at all times.
• 4:14
  And so one thing about fighting is it's good to know what you're capable of. I think it's really important to know what you are capable of as a person.
• 4:22
  But I think it's equally important to know what someone else is capable of- Hm... as a person, as a fighter. And I also look at that in business too, because there's always somebody out there that's on another level.
• 4:32
  There's always somebody at a lower level, right? And I think those at the lower level we need to lend a hand and bring them up, and those at a higher level we need to study and be more like, right?
• 4:40
  But- Well, when you're fighting, you're hand to hand. You, you can find that out really quickly. Oh, yeah. How do you find that out in business? Well, I'll tell you how you find that out in business.
• 4:50
  So the battle's you and yourself. So it is, are you giving up? Are you going to bed at the end of the day when you're tired or when you're done? See, the fight's between you and you. It's not against your competitors.
• 5:00
  It's always personal bests- Yeah... on day one.
• 5:01
  So when you find yourself getting weak or down, and that's what martial arts has done, is when you are weak and you are tired, and you don't wanna go to work, or you don't wanna do that workout, you just do it anyway 'cause it's built into your core, and it's translated into business real well.
• 5:14
  I mean, because, you know, here I'm somewhat of a psycho for business, right? [laughs] I mean, that's li- literally that's my whole life- Yes... is running my business. Definitely say serial entrepreneur.
• 5:22
  I, yes, I absolutely love it. Through and through. But it, but it really, martial arts has really transcended into my business life really beautifully. Yeah. So back to your daughters. Yeah. Right?
• 5:33
  You said you're, you're the guy that's kinda always everywhere. [laughs] How does that actually look? You know what? I am a total- [laughs] I'm a pushover too. I knew it. You know? I knew it. I am a pushover.
• 5:44
  I am stern on certain things. Like here, listen, Ana, on my... I had a little New Year's get-togetherAnnaLee took it as, "Well, I'm inviting my friends."
• 5:53
  She invorted, she invited more of her freshmens than I had adults there. [laughs] They took over the whole house. And so it was kind of fun to just see the different personalities, kind of scout out the boys.
• 6:03
  I had separate conversations with them. And- Aren't, aren't you happy that they're at your house? I am so happy they're at my house. Right?
• 6:09
  And- And she's got a good friend group, but I'm still paying close attention [laughs], you know? Oh, without a doubt. You get into that stuff.
• 6:14
  You know, my wife and I, um, we always said we wanna be the place that everybody wants to hang out, and that was our goal before we had kids.
• 6:21
  And, uh, you know, our kids, they have our girls, they have their close friends.
• 6:24
  But the reality is, although they're great, you have to be paying attention to what's going on in their lives and their family's lives because the influences at, at 15 shift really quickly. Really quickly.
• 6:35
  And so I don't know if that's what you're getting at, but that's what we're realizing. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. They're very influential.
• 6:40
  And so I'm careful, and I have lots of conversations on friend groups, paying attention to, are these good people? How do they speak? How do they treat their parents? Are they involved in extracurricular activities?
• 6:49
  Are they doing sports? How are their grades? They have goals and visions for their life. Goals, visions. It's- Other than boys. Yeah. And my daughter, Anna, my firstborn, she's very entrepreneurial.
• 6:57
  She's been, she's been sick the last week. She sent me a message yesterday. She actually called me five times. I'm in and out of meetings. She's like, "Dad, I wanna move to Beverly Hills.
• 7:05
  I watched Selling Sunset the other day." [laughs] "And I wanna sell real estate in Beverly Hills. Will you help me?" I go, "Anna bear, you're 15. I mean, can we get, like, your first job [laughs]?"
• 7:14
  [laughs] "Like, can we work local first and then maybe go to Beverly Hills?" From Missouri to Beverly Hills? [laughs] That's what she's... That's her mind.
• 7:19
  You're like, "There are a few things out there that they don't tell you in the show." Yeah. [laughs] It's a little different than when the cameras are rolling. Yeah.
• 7:24
  Let's, let's make the jump into business real quick, just 'cause, like, our kids' friends have influences. Um, you know, you talk a lot about the F&I office and servant, servant leadership from the F&I office.
• 7:34
  The reality is, um, people are coming and working in their stores, and there are a lot of influence in their lives, and they come in with a different mindset every day.
• 7:42
  Uh, what is, what are some of the principles, leadership principles that, that you try to teach and drill into the leadership to pay attention to and consider these things?
• 7:49
  Well, first of all, people, you can't treat everybody the same. So I am a big fan of one-on-ones. I did this as an F&I manager. Wasn't even in my job description.
• 7:58
  I wanna get to know everybody in my store, not just my salespeople. I'm talking about office personnel, service personality.
• 8:04
  I wanna know who they are, what they stand for, what do they love to do outside of work, what are their goals long term, do they have a family, do they want a family.
• 8:11
  I wanna get into their psyche and get to know them, and then I can coach and mentor them based on who they are and meet them where they are opposed to where I wanna be, right?
• 8:20
  So it's about one-on-one intimately con- connecting with people and building relationships. And I think... Well, here, one of my favorite books is Unreasonable Hospitality. Oh, it's amazing. Will Guideira is, is the man.
• 8:31
  He is. And he built EMP, Eleven Madison Park, from the inside out. Sure did. It's about the culture from the inside, and now they became one of the most successful restaurants.
• 8:38
  So in the dealership, that's how I look at it. How do we embrace and build in intimate relationships that are unbreakable? See, you'd...
• 8:46
  It's one thing if, if you get your sales staff worried about getting in trouble opposed to disappointment- Yeah... that's when you know you're on to a leadership. It's a game changer, right? Yeah, yeah.
• 8:55
  So it's connecting with people and building them personally, not just vocationally. I think everybody's got that person, um, who is guarded, right? And it's hard to get close for one reason or another.
• 9:07
  You know the kind of person I'm talking about? Yeah. What, what would your advice be to someone leading someone who is just guarded? How do you, how do you break through? Leading somebody, consistency, compliments.
• 9:19
  Sit 'em down. And you can have a casual conversation.
• 9:21
  So if you were with me and you were kind of guarded, I'd probably ask you to go to lunch one day and just say, "Hey, listen, Paul, I notice that, you know, we have a decent relationship.
• 9:29
  I would like to expand on that relationship. You seem a little guarded. Has something happened in your past?
• 9:33
  And if you don't wanna talk about it, I understand, but I'm here and I wanna know you a little bit better- Yeah... 'cause I wanna serve you." Right. 'Cause- And I just ask questions to get 'em to open up...
• 9:40
  right, 'cause guarded is really just lack of trust. It's exactly what it is. Right? And what, how does that, how do you build trust with that person? Yeah. Because, you know, I've seen so many times, I've watched the...
• 9:50
  You, everybody who has ever seen it, you know it, when the lights come on and the person all of a sudden goes, "Ah," and the guard goes down, and then they share something, right? Yes.
• 10:00
  To, and th- that thing's been in their mind, in the, in their mind from the beginning. Yeah. But now they felt like, "I n- like, I need to be known this way."
• 10:07
  And when that happens, that's when potential starts to really get unlocked. Game over. Game over.
• 10:11
  And one thing, too, is I always try to remind myself, and I remind my fellow managers at my stores, you never know what's going on be- between, behind the eyeballs. Yeah.
• 10:21
  You don't know what's going on behind the eyeballs with our, with our staff or the retail customer. So you gotta lead with empathy, sympathy, love, and trust. Like, y- that's the, the foundation of that.
• 10:31
  So you just gotta break the walls down 'cause you don't know what went on in that individual's life. They're guarded for a reason. That's right. So yeah. That's right. Are there people chanting in there?
• 10:40
  I think there are. [laughs] Interesting. Interesting. Well, Adam, look- They're chanting for us, I think. It's, I think so, too. [laughs] Uh, amazing. Thank you so much for sharing- Absolutely...
• 10:48
  some of that and being transparent. Yeah. And, uh, good luck with the three girls. I appreciate you. Apprecia- [laughs] I need all the help I can get, so thank you. [laughs]