LAS VEGAS — Attendees of Uni-Select’s first North American convention at Wynn Las Vegas learned from business leaders in other industries how providing fantastic service and a unique experience will position their businesses leaps and bounds ahead of the competition.

Uni-Select President Richard Roy set the tone for the convention, taking place this week, by telling the independent jobbers and shop owners in attendance, "We intend to become the supplier of choice for the automotive aftermarket."

"It’s not necessarily an easy world out there. It’s up to us to capture the opportunities out there," he said. "Without creating value for the customers, we’re not successful."

Keynote speaker TaylorMade CEO Mark King explained how his company gained enormous marketshare — by changing the way it does business.

King related how he invited John Hamm, a business adviser, author and entrepreneur to TaylorMade’s offices to learn just how to do it.

"What he said to me changed things forever," King said. "He said you’re going to have to do three things: You’re going to have to evolve the way your leaders lead the company. You’re going to have to change the way your employees interact in their jobs. And you’re going to have to evolve the culture of your company if you want to sustain success."

This is what he said: For 100 years in business in North America, we’ve used a command-and-control leadership model. It’s not bad. It’s the way we’ve run businesses. Someone’s at the top — they’re the leadership team — they create the vision of where we’re going, how we’re going to get there and what your role is. He offered up that that model is really going to be challenged as we move forward because as leaders, leadership becomes obsolete through the speed of change in the marketplace. Leaders who hang onto that will fail, King said.

King said he asked Hamm how to change the model. "He said, you need to distribute the leadership," King said. "You need to push the responsibility for making the company successful off your shoulders and onto as many people as want to get involved."

"Regardless of your industry — if you’re the leader — your No. 1 job is to move the business from where it is today, to where it is in the future," King said. "And hopefully, you’re successful. It’s only becoming more challenging than before. "

Attendees had a chance to listen to other business leaders during morning sessions. A breakout session titled “Leadership for Growth,” was lead by former head of training and development for Hard Rock Café, Jim Knight.