Leadership Matters: Penske Focuses on Customers

Roger Penske's two passions are clear -- racing and business. Not only has he been successful in both arenas, Penske has been able to integrate the two.

If you don't know much about the proposed soon to be owner of GM's (GMGMQ Quote) Saturn brand, Penske is the owner of Penske Racing, chairman and CEO of Penske Corp., founder of Penske Logistics, corporate director at General Electric (GE Quote) and the head of Penske Automotive Group (PAG Quote), the second-largest publicly traded automotive retailer in the United States.

The man knows his business, and I had the opportunity to talk to him a few months ago about his perspective on leadership.

In my interview with Penske, he stated several beliefs about what makes a company such as his successful. Although he has been hit with the same economic challenges as everybody else, especially in the automotive sector, it is also clear that he is focused more on the opportunities than the short-term problems.

"In racing or in business, you have to remember two things. First, reliability. If you don't finish the race you can't finish first," he said. "You have to be reliable for your customers and your organization. The second thing is that winning is not about the first lap. It's about the last lap. We find good people when we integrate new businesses ... people that fit into our culture. And then we commit for the entire race."

That may be the key to Penske's continued success. Committing to the entire race means not being afraid to fail, as well. One of Penske's most celebrated failures (if you want to call it that) was his purchase of the Kmart Auto Centers. Because of the support from Exxon Mobil (XOM Quote), Napa, Goodyear (GT Quote) and others, Penske was sure that they could turn the Kmart Auto business around.