The Automotive Leaders Podcast · Jan Griffiths

Transforming Webasto: Why Legacy Automotive Companies Must Rethink Leadership & Culture to Stay Competitive

·46 min·4 clips

Brad Ring explains why letting leadership be messy drives better performance than command and control.

This episode features host Jan Griffiths interviewing Brad Ring, President and CEO of Webasto Americas, about transforming a legacy automotive supplier. Griffiths is a veteran auto industry executive and leadership coach, while Ring leads the Americas region for the 123-year-old German company Webasto. Ring describes his evolved leadership style as intentionally "messy," rejecting command-and-control in favor of humility, personal vulnerability, and speed. He emphasizes caring for people while demanding high performance, a balance he says some cultures mistakenly perceive as weak. A pivotal mentor was Jim Hall, a company president who made a lasting impression by warmly greeting an 18-year-old Ring during his co-op program. Ring explains that transforming Webasto involves "bolting on" a performance culture and teamwork to its existing strengths, like deep product pride and a genuine family ethos. A specific tactic was changing internal language, replacing ambiguous terms with "promise" and "breakdown" to clarify commitments and foster psychological safety. The company is undergoing a restructuring following big bets on battery and glass technology, a process the new German CEO supports by combining performance with cultural care. Ring highlights that Webasto's decentralized structure grants regional leaders real autonomy, which was crucial for the Americas turnaround. He identifies trust as the core leadership trait, citing Stephen Covey's principle that trust increases speed and lowers cost. The competitive threat from Chinese OEMs, which Ring witnessed firsthand while living in China, necessitates an external market focus over internal debates. For Ring, cycling and wake surfing provide personal balance, and his morning routine starts with checking emails to ease his mind, followed by exercise and breakfast with his wife. An audience member, Gretchen Kamarczyk, thanks Ring for promoting women, noting he appointed Webasto Americas' first female VP. Ring attributes his inclusive approach to strong women in his life and views gender diversity as essential for avoiding homogenous thinking. He defines organizational culture as a daily "living organism" shaped by every interaction, not static statements on a wall. Ring advises leaders to foster mentorship by simply taking moments to genuinely connect with early-career employees. The tone is a conversational and educational dialogue between two experienced industry leaders, blending personal anecdotes with practical management philosophy. It is styled as an insightful fireside chat, including live audience questions. This episode would appeal to automotive professionals, executives managing organizational change, and anyone interested in pragmatic leadership development within industrial settings. Listeners seeking highly technical automotive discussions or contentious debate might find it less aligned with their interests.

As heard by us

A straightforward look at trust, autonomy, and accountability inside a long-running German company.

Webasto, founded in 1901, is framed as a long-running German company trying to stay competitive as its operating model changes. The discussion stays close to the practical question of who owns what: regions are expected to own results, while the center keeps support, reporting,…

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Why you'd press play

For when you want a frank inside look at transforming a legacy auto company from the inside.

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