McLEAN, Va. -
NADA University said this week that the next Dealer Executive Education program at Babson College will kick off with a session that runs March 14 through March 18.
The program includes six one-week sessions during the year and takes place on Babson’s campus, which is located in Wellesley, Mass.
The course aims to foster leadership, management and business performance skills in senior-level auto executives, including current dealer operators, retail executives, senior leaders in dealership groups and successor candidates. It is designed to help these execs excel throughout all dealership areas.
“This is the only program in the country that gives auto and truck industry entrepreneurs the tailored, ‘real-life’ information they need to tackle such complex challenges as dealership mergers and acquisitions, expansions into related auto businesses and building long-term profitability,” said John Lyboldt, the National Automobile Dealers Association’s vice president of dealership operations.
Several participating dealers offered positive feedback, including Chris Zammito, who co-owns Zammito Automotive in Dartmouth, Mass.
“Based on what’s going on in the economy right now, the Babson program has prepared me,” Zammito noted. “You have to react to what’s going on. What you’re doing today may not be what you have to do three months from now. It’s happening that quickly.”
The Babson program can foster “thought leaders” who can be a step ahead of their competitors in capitalizing on opportunities, said Joe Ristuccia, the NADA University Dealer Executive Education Program’s faculty director and a Babson College lecturer.
“It focuses on the explicit leadership skills needed to recognize opportunities, build a team that can develop and implement these opportunities, and firmly establish the dealer brand in the minds of consumers,” he shared.
“While most education programs focus on learning the skills to better accomplish the tasks normally conducted within a dealership (adaptive innovation), the Babson experience extends these skills and abilities to see beyond what is currently the norm and encourages leaders to redesign their vision and operations through generative innovation,” Ristuccia added.   
Visit www.NADAUniversity.com or call (800) 557-6232 to learn more about all of NADA University’s offerings.