Miller Family Message by Gail Miller
At our Leadership Conference this past January, we had the opportunity to reflect on the past year–a year that had been overshadowed by the COVID pandemic. It has been a year of continuous challenges and change. However, I credit all that change with helping us to not only survive but to prosper.
Thriving under difficult circumstances and rising to face challenges are part of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies. We are driven in all aspects of the business; driven by vision, driven to innovate, and driven to exceed expectations. There is one more dimension that I’m convinced drives us: Heart.
“Work is love made visible.” – Kahlil Gibran
At the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, we are driven by heart and have been from the very beginning. I know, because I was there.
Let me give you a little background.
Some of you knew Larry H. Miller personally, but many of you only know him because his picture is in your showroom, his name is on your building or your business card, or you’ve heard stories about him and our history.
You know about him because we have honored him by keeping his name and his accomplishments alive while we’ve continued to build and move forward these past 12 years without him.
Have you ever wondered why we decided to continue to honor his name and build on his legacy?
In my mind there is a simple answer– it’s because he put his heart and soul into shaping this company. He built a brand by investing everything he had, including his health, into creating a company that had heart. He was a person that would rather give than get. His joy came from providing opportunity: good jobs, good policy, good practices and good values.
His personal satisfaction came from doing for others like teaching someone how to start and run their own business. He did this because he knew if he shared what he knew, others could benefit from his experiences rather than by trial and error and hopefully become successful sooner.
As busy as he was, I can remember times when he would spend hours at our kitchen table or in his office, teaching business 101 to young people who came to him for advice. There was Shaun, a young entrepreneur who needed some advice about how to expand his young company without risking everything, a young man who was actually a competitor just starting out in the used car business, who wanted to learn what he needed to do to make sure he was building the right processes and programs to be successful.
Then there was the son of a restauranteur who didn’t know how to get his father to let him take over the business and wanted Larry to help him navigate that relationship without damaging their relationship. And my nephew who had an idea and desire to start a collection recovery company and knew about our collection department at PFS so he came to Larry to learn. He is still in business and doing very well all these years later.
Larry took the time to teach them from the heart because he knew each person he touched, if successful, would continue to pay it forward, following his pattern of being driven by heart.
I also remember times when he saw or became aware of a need of an employee or a neighbor or sometimes even a stranger on the street, and quietly helped them, never expecting anything in return because he was heart driven and wanted to serve.
He organized lunches, fishing trips, or racing outings with various employees and friends to share his resources to give others unique opportunities.
His goal, even from the beginning was to “go about doing good until there was too much good in the world.”
Larry was often described as “driven” and it was true! He was driven in everything he did – every day – including being driven by heart.
When we operate from a place of love it allows us to tap into our light and truth, and it gives us a greater advantage in building relationships of trust and loyalty. When you open up your heart, you find an energy that sustains you and gives you purpose.