Patrick Abad Shares the Hardest Leadership Decision of His Career

Patrick Abad opened his ASOTU CON 2026 keynote with a story that immediately got the room's attention: he fired his son.

The decision wasn't driven by poor performance. In fact, Jaden was producing at an elite level. The month before his termination, he helped acquire 225 vehicles off the street, delivering results most dealerships would celebrate.

The challenge was everything happening around those numbers.

As Abad explained, his son was operating outside company standards. He missed meetings, came and went as he pleased, and leaned on his performance to excuse behaviors that would not have been accepted from anyone else.

For a while, Abad tolerated it. Like many leaders, he convinced himself that losing a top performer would hurt the business more than addressing the issue.

Then he realized something important: the rest of the dealership wasn't watching Jaden's numbers. They were watching what leadership allowed.

When exceptions become routine, standards begin to lose their value. As Abad put it, performance had started to outrank standards simply because he allowed it.

What made the situation especially difficult was the relationship. Abad admitted that he spent years protecting and supporting his son, sometimes blurring the lines between father and leader.

Looking back, he recognized that he wasn't helping his son grow. He was protecting his own comfort and avoiding a difficult conversation.

That realization led to a painful decision, but one that ultimately improved both the business and the relationship.

One of the most practical lessons from Abad's keynote came when he challenged the audience to think differently about accountability.

"Before you can hold somebody accountable, you have to hold them able."

Abad argued that leaders often focus on outcomes before ensuring their people have the tools, training, and support necessary to succeed. Accountability becomes frustrating when development hasn't happened first.

His follow-up line may have been the strongest takeaway of the session:

"Accountability without development is just disappointment with a deadline."

It's a simple idea, but an important one. Leaders are responsible for creating an environment where people can succeed. Once that foundation exists, accountability becomes fair and productive.

Abad carried that lesson into his planning for 2026.

When manufacturer forecasts showed limited opportunities for growth through inventory expansion, Abad made a different bet. Instead of focusing on cost-cutting, he focused on people.

He invested in leadership coaching, communication training, and employee development across all 330 team members. His goal was straightforward: make 2026 the best year his employees had ever experienced, regardless of whether revenue increased.

The results surprised even him.

Sales volume increased by 20 percent. Service, parts, and collision operations grew. Net profit climbed 30 percent year over year.

Abad's point wasn't that coaching creates instant growth. It was that intentional development changes the capability of an organization, and stronger organizations tend to produce stronger results.

Two years after leaving the company, Jaden returned. The experience of working elsewhere helped him grow, gain perspective, and develop as a professional.

"The son who came back to me is not the son I fired," Abad said. "And I'm not the father that fired him."

That may be the clearest lesson from the entire keynote. Leadership is often defined by the decisions we delay. The difficult conversations, the standards we avoid enforcing, and the development opportunities we postpone all have consequences.

Abad eventually made the decision he knew he needed to make, and both his organization and his son were better because of it.

So here's the question: What leadership decision have you been putting off, and what could change if you finally made it?