When leadership breaks down, processes fall apart fast. But rebuilding does not start with systems. It starts with people. Chris Darmody learned that when he became general manager at Graham Auto Repair and found leadership gaps, inconsistent processes, and fading accountability. Instead of walking away, he leaned in.
In episode 129 of Maximum Octane, Chris, who has 22 years in the industry, tells Kim Hickey and Jason Patel how he stabilized two struggling shops and reignited the culture. He shares the first red flags he noticed, why accountability is empowerment, how team-built SOPs drive consistency, and how to stop micromanaging by trusting, auditing, and verifying.
What You Will Learn
- How Chris’s “trial by fire” background prepared him to take over at Graham Auto Repair
- The leadership vacuum Chris walked into and how he stabilized two struggling shops
- Why passion and purpose matter more than position titles
- The hidden truth about inventory, diagnostics, and industry perception
- The first red flags Chris noticed and how he rebuilt integrity into daily operations
- Why accountability is the ultimate form of empowerment
- How team-built SOPs create buy-in and drive consistency
- What rebuilding a culture really looks like and why it takes patience
- Why every business, no matter how small, needs documented processes
- How to truly empower leaders by giving them real authority
- Trust, audit, and verify: how to stop micromanaging and start leading
- How developing backups for every role sets the stage for expansion
A Trial-by-Fire Background
Chris opens with how his “trial by fire” background prepared him for the challenge at Graham. Years of facing tough situations gave him the confidence to step into a difficult role.
Experience under pressure builds a certain kind of judgment. Leaders who have worked through staffing shortages, difficult customers, equipment failures, and tight cash flow tend to stay calm when things go wrong, and calm is contagious. A team in a struggling shop often needs a steady presence before it needs a new system, because people cannot focus on improvement while they are worried about what will break next.
Walking Into a Leadership Vacuum
Around the 6 minute mark, Chris describes the leadership vacuum he inherited and how he stabilized two struggling shops. Without clear leadership, teams drift. People stop following processes, communication breaks down, and morale drops. Restoring stability required presence, consistency, and clear expectations.
Graham Auto Repair’s owners, Kori and Troy Vaninetti, shared their own story in Give ‘Em the Pickle!
A leadership vacuum rarely announces itself. It shows up as small symptoms: technicians deciding their own priorities, advisors handling customers differently, parts orders placed without approval, and problems that everyone notices but no one owns. New leaders often feel pressure to change everything at once. A steadier approach is to observe first, listen to the team, identify the most urgent issues, and fix those visibly before taking on bigger changes.
Being present matters during this stage. Walking the shop, attending huddles, and talking with each employee individually help a new leader understand the real problems and show the team that someone is paying attention again.
Passion and Purpose Over Titles
Chris explains why passion and purpose matter more than position titles. People follow leaders who care and who know why the work matters, not just those with a title. He also touches on the hidden truths about inventory, diagnostics, and how the industry is perceived.
Titles give authority on paper, but respect is earned through behavior. Leaders who show up early, help when the shop is slammed, keep promises, and explain why decisions are made build credibility that no title can provide. When a team understands the purpose behind the work, such as keeping families safe on the road and treating customers honestly, they are more willing to follow standards even when no one is watching.
Rebuilding Integrity Into Daily Operations
Around the 11 minute mark, Chris shares the first red flags he noticed and how he rebuilt integrity into daily operations. Small lapses, left unaddressed, signal to everyone that standards do not matter. Addressing them consistently resets expectations.
Red flags in a struggling shop often include repair orders missing information, inspections not completed, comebacks not tracked, and inventory that does not match the system. Each one may seem minor alone. Together, they create an environment where shortcuts become normal. Resetting expectations means naming the standard clearly, explaining why it matters, and following up every time, not just when it is convenient.
Consistency is the key. If a standard is enforced for one employee but ignored for another, the team learns that the rules are negotiable. ATI’s A Leader’s Guide to Turning Underperformance Around offers a practical approach.
Accountability Is Empowerment
Chris makes the case that accountability is the ultimate form of empowerment. When people are held accountable, they know their work matters and that the standards are real. Real empowerment, he explains, means giving people both the freedom and the authority to lead.
ATI’s Accountability Is Not a Four-Letter Word echoes this idea.
Accountability feels like empowerment when it is fair and predictable. Employees know what is expected, how they will be measured, and what support they will receive. Without that clarity, accountability feels like blame. Leaders can make the difference clear by setting expectations in advance, reviewing results together, and treating misses as a chance to coach before they become a pattern.
Team-Built SOPs
Around the 15 minute mark, Chris explains how SOPs built with the team create buy-in and consistency. When employees help write the procedures, they understand them and are more likely to follow them. Chris kept the shop’s personality intact while adding structure. He also stresses that every business, no matter how small, needs documented processes.
Steps to build SOPs with your team:
- Choose one process that causes frequent problems.
- Ask the people who do the work to describe the best way to do it.
- Write it down clearly and test it for a few weeks.
- Refine it based on feedback and train everyone on the final version.
SOPs written only by managers often miss the details that matter on the shop floor. The people who do the work every day know where steps get skipped, where information gets lost, and what slows the process down. Involving them produces better procedures and builds ownership. When a technician helped write the inspection process, they are more likely to follow it and to help a new hire learn it.
Good SOPs are short and practical. A checklist, a few photos, or a one-page flowchart is often more useful than a long manual. Keep them where people actually work and review them whenever something changes.
Rebuilding Culture Takes Patience
Chris explains what rebuilding a culture really looks like and why it takes time. Trust is rebuilt through consistent actions over weeks and months, not a single meeting. Kim and Jason also draw parallels between diagnosing cars and diagnosing leadership problems: test, learn, and refine.
Culture is shaped by what leaders reward, tolerate, and repeat. In a shop recovering from a leadership gap, employees may be skeptical of new promises. Every kept commitment, fair decision, and recognized effort chips away at that skepticism. Every broken promise sets it back. Leaders who expect change in weeks often get discouraged. Those who measure progress over months usually see the shift.
Trust, Audit, and Verify
Around the 27 minute mark, Chris explains how to stop micromanaging and start leading. His approach is to trust, audit, and verify. Give people authority, review results regularly, and step in only when needed.
The audit step is what makes trust sustainable. Instead of watching every task, a leader reviews a sample of work on a regular schedule: a few repair orders, a handful of inspections, the daily production report. If results are consistent, reviews can become less frequent. If problems appear, the leader addresses them specifically and increases checks for a while. That approach respects people’s competence while protecting the business.
Backups for Every Role
Chris closes by explaining how developing backups for every role sets the stage for expansion. When more than one person can handle each critical job, the shop is more resilient and ready to grow.
What to Do in Your First 90 Days as a New Shop Leader
Whether you are a new general manager or an owner taking back control of a struggling shop, the first 90 days set the tone. In the first month, focus on listening and learning. Meet individually with each employee, review the financials and key reports, and walk through every process from phone call to vehicle delivery. Note what is working as well as what is broken.
In the second month, address the most urgent problems visibly. Pick two or three issues that affect customers or safety, set clear standards, and follow up consistently. Begin involving the team in writing SOPs for those areas. ATI’s guide to a consistent intake process is a useful model for one of the first procedures to standardize.
In the third month, start building for the future. Identify potential leaders, assign defined areas of responsibility, and set up a regular schedule of reviews and one-on-ones. By the end of this period, the team should know what is expected, who owns what, and how progress will be measured.
Turnaround Checklist
- Identify the first red flags in your operation and address them consistently.
- Build one SOP with the team this month.
- Give a leader real authority over a defined area.
- Cross-train at least one backup for every key role.
Connor Tracy explains how to delegate effectively in The Delegation Wake-Up Call, and Matt Barnes shows the revenue impact of empowerment in How Empowering Internal Customers Can Increase Revenue.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you turn around a struggling auto repair shop?
Start with people and stability before introducing major changes. Listen to the team, review the financials, and identify the most urgent problems. Set clear standards and enforce them consistently. Involve employees in building SOPs so they own the process. Give capable leaders real authority, review results regularly, and be patient, because rebuilding trust and culture usually takes months rather than weeks.
What is an SOP in an auto repair shop?
An SOP, or standard operating procedure, is a documented way of completing a recurring task, such as vehicle check-in, digital inspections, estimate building, parts ordering, or quality control. SOPs create consistency so customers get the same experience no matter who handles their vehicle. The most effective SOPs are short, written with input from the people who do the work, and reviewed regularly.
How do I hold employees accountable without micromanaging?
Set clear expectations and measures in advance, then review results on a regular schedule instead of watching every step. Sample a few repair orders or inspections each week and discuss what you find. When results are consistent, reduce the frequency of checks. When problems appear, coach specifically and increase reviews temporarily. This trust, audit, and verify approach keeps standards high while respecting people’s ability to do their jobs.
Why should every role in a shop have a backup?
Backups protect the shop from disruption when someone is sick, on vacation, or leaves. They also reduce the stress on key employees who feel they can never take time off. Cross-training builds flexibility and gives employees new skills and growth opportunities. When a shop wants to expand, having more than one person who can handle each critical job makes adding bays or locations far easier.
How long does it take to rebuild a shop’s culture?
There is no fixed timeline, but meaningful change usually takes months of consistent effort. Employees who have lived through leadership gaps tend to wait and see whether new standards will last. Each kept promise, fair decision, and recognized effort builds trust gradually. Leaders who stay consistent and patient through that period usually see engagement, accountability, and performance improve together.
Resources and Links From This Episode
Connect With the Guests
- Chris Darmody: LinkedIn, Graham Auto Repair
Related Maximum Octane Episodes
- Give ‘Em the Pickle! Building an Outstanding Auto Repair Shop from Scratch with Kori and Troy Vaninetti
- How Empowering Internal Customers Can Increase Revenue with Matt Barnes
- The Delegation Wake-Up Call: How Connor Tracy Went from White-Knuckling 80-Hour Weeks to Building an Engaged, Self-Running Team
