Lee Montgomery: Up with people at Braun Racing
Braun Racing crew members on Jason Leffler's NASCAR Nationwide Series team get together before a race. // Mark Sluder, NASCAR Scene
COMMENTARY
I’ve often wondered how Braun Racing, one of the top independents in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, has managed to consistently run up front, and after a visit to the team shop in Mooresville, N.C., the other day, I think I’ve figured out why: It’s the same reasons why Hendrick Motorsports runs up front, only on a much smaller scale.
It’s the reason why any solid business is successful: A good leader hires good people and puts them in situations to succeed. A simple plan, of course, but extraordinarily difficult to achieve.
Of course, following that plan isn’t a guarantee of success, especially these days. Even the folks at Braun admit they have been lucky in some regards, and there’s some truth to that.
That’s because sponsorship is such an elusive part of the sport in these difficult economic times. Getting a good sponsors is difficult enough, but keeping that sponsor long enough to follow through on your plan is even harder.
But I also know that if you don’t hire good people and let them do their jobs, you’re going to have trouble. Yet, that seems to be hard to understand for many race teams, for many businesses.
Why? Probably because the powers that be on those teams aren’t smart enough, aren’t committed enough to let their people do their work. Micromanagers, they’re called. I’ve yet to know of any successful team that has management looking over the shoulder of its employees.
And honestly, I’ve yet to see any successful business that does the same thing. We’ve all worked in those situations, and we were all thankful when it was over.
Yet, it continues to propagate. Maybe some managers have too much ego to let go of control. Maybe some managers are just, well, stupid. But I’ve seen it enough to know for a fact that the best managers are the ones who relinquish control.
And in the end, the product is better. Ask Rick Hendrick. Ask Todd Braun.
NASCAR is all about people, we’re told. I’d go a step further. It’s all about people and the relationships they have with others. If you hire good people, people who can work well with others in a demanding environment, you’re probably going to be successful.
Oh, sure, you have to have money – i.e., sponsorship – to make it all work, but in a lot of ways, that’s about people, too. Sponsors have to execute their marketing plan, and how do they do it? With people, of course.
So when you see a NASCAR team do well, know that the people on the team are the reason the cars run well. And when you see a team struggle, know that there may be some problems in the people department.
Yes, it really is that simple.
