Member Spotlight: Kyle Burns and Stefan Feder
During the YANG Leadership Conference, I had the pleasure of hosting two of those YANG members on stage during the “Career Conversations” panel to talk about how they managed to reach their impressive leadership positions so early on in their careers. I spoke with Kyle Burns, vice president, distribution, Merrill Company, and Stefan Feder, head, WD channel, automotive aftermarket, ContiTech Power Transmission Group. Listed below are some of the main findings from that conversation in a nutshell.
On advice they would give themselves early on in their careers:
- Make sure your management knows your career goals, however far away or far-fetched they may seem.
- Be visibly committed to the success of your company.
- Work hard and let management know that you are open to new challenges.
- Participate in projects and take the lead when the opportunity arises.
- If your supervisor shows faith in you, take the challenge. Regardless of how confident you are in that particular area.
- Being a good listener. People want to feel like they have a voice. Care for your people and take interest in their professional and personal lives.
- Always act in the best interest of your people.
- Support them actively and visibly.
- Stay humble. You don’t have all of the answers. You are not the smartest person in the room, and you don’t want to be.
- Every decision you take can be a positive or a negative, keep it positive.
- Mistakes force you to learn and grow. If you visibly learn from them, you establish more trust. Mistakes are important for your career development.
- Look at what you are going to do next, not what you should have done differently. It is already done, so move on and work from where you are now.
- Show up, work hard, say “yes” to new opportunities.
- Become visible to your manager by being open and transparent at all times.
- Know what you want for yourself and share it with people who can get you there.
Mike Chung
is director, market intelligence at Auto Care Association. With more than a dozen years of experience in market research, Chung provides the industry with timely information on key factors and trends influencing the health of the automotive aftermarket to help businesses throughout the supply chain make better business decisions. Chung has earned degrees in chemical engineering, environmental health, and business administration. He can be reached at michael.chung@autocare.org.
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Market Insights with Mike is a series presented by the Auto Care Association's Director of Market Intelligence, Mike Chung, that is dedicated to analyzing market-influencing trends as they happen and their potential effects on your business and the auto care industry.
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