Mike Van Ryn

Written By Tim Terrentine

Unstuck 014: The Culture You Build for Each Other — People, Recognition & What Really Drives Growth

What does it look like when a former school principal walks into one of the fastest-growing automotive groups in the country — and spends 21 years building the kind of culture that makes outsiders stop and say: you're not really a car company, are you?

In this episode of UNSTUCK, Tim Terrentine sits down with Mike Van Ryn, VP of Talent Development for Zeigler Auto Group, for a conversation about culture, recognition, leadership, and what it really takes to build an organization where people grow, stay, and thrive.

Mike Van Ryn started as a teacher. Became one of the youngest elementary school principals in his district's history. Then took a leap of faith into the automotive industry and never looked back. What he brought with him was simple and rare: the conviction that people are always the differentiator, and that the culture you build for each other is the thing that outlasts every market shift, every acquisition, and every stretch of hard growth.

Twenty years later, Zeigler has grown from 9 stores and 500 employees to 41 stores and more than 2,600 people — named a Best and Brightest Company to Work For 20 years in a row. That doesn't happen by accident. This episode is about how it happens on purpose.

You’ll hear:

  • Why communication and recognition are the two things great teams can never stop doubling down on

  • What happens to culture when a company grows by acquisition — and how to bring people in without leaving them behind

  • Why peer-nominated awards land differently than anything a manager can hand out

  • How Zeigler built its own internal technician school when the market couldn't supply what they needed

  • Why the leader's job is to get people from where they are to where they've never been

  • Why gratitude shown on a handwritten note still changes everything

  • How to get unstuck when you're in a slump — and why gratitude is always the first move

  • Why you should recognize your people more than you think you should — and then double it

  • What it looks like to let go as a leader and trust your team to do it better than you could

A Key Insight:

""The leader's job is to get your people from where they are to where they've never been."

That is the standard Mike Van Ryn holds himself to — and the standard he holds Zeigler to — every single day. It is the reason he came from education into automotive. The reason he pours into his team instead of hoarding the work. And the reason that 21 years later, the people who walk into Zeigler from the outside are still the ones naming what's different.

He also leaves leaders with this from Tim:

"Ferocious gratitude removes funky attitudes."

About the Guest:

Mike Van Ryn is the VP of Talent Development for Zeigler Auto Group, headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan. With 21 years at Zeigler and a decade prior in K-12 education as a teacher and elementary school principal, Mike leads culture, recruiting, leadership development, Zeigler University, recognition, and select HR functions across one of the most people-forward automotive groups in the country. He has been recognized with the company's highest honor, the Legacy Tribute Award, and has spoken to organizations across the country on culture, leadership, and talent development best practices.

Connect with Mike Van Ryn and Zeigler Auto Group:

Tim Terrentine
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