Aristotle’s Ethics and the Automotive Industry

When Aristotle said that every action aims at some good, he was describing a principle that remains true in modern life. Every person, regardless of their job or background, does what they do because they believe it will lead to something beneficial. That idea became personal for me as I built my career in the automotive industry. At first, I thought “the good” meant simple success, such as selling more cars, operating a tight ship, or hitting profit targets. Over time, I began to see that the purpose of this work goes much deeper.

A dealership, like a person, has many goals that all connect to something larger. Salespeople want to close deals. Service wants fast, quality work. Finance wants clean paperwork and steady profit. But if you look at it the way Aristotle would, each of those goals should serve a greater one. In my experience, that higher goal is trust. The trust between departments, between leaders and employees, and between the dealership and its customers. When that trust exists, everything else falls into place naturally.

Aristotle also taught that some things we do are only a means to an end. Making money, for example, is a means. It lets you do other things you value. But happiness, or what he called eudaimonia, is an end in itself. You don’t chase happiness to get something else, you chase it because it completes life.

In the automotive industry, I used to think happiness came from numbers, hitting monthly goals, receiving bonuses, and earning awards. Those are good, but they fade. What lasts longer is the feeling that comes from building a team that works well together, solving challenging problems, and treating customers the right way, even when it costs more time or effort. That’s when I realized that true happiness at work comes from living your purpose with excellence, not just reaching the next target.

Aristotle said that everything has a function, a purpose that defines what “good” means for that thing. The benefit of a knife is to cut well, the benefit of a leader is to lead well. For humans, our unique function is using reason (thinking, deciding, and acting with understanding). In the dealership world, that means using judgment instead of emotion, and wisdom instead of pride. It means knowing when to push a team harder and when to pull back, when to say yes to a deal and when to protect the long-term relationship.

That balance is what Aristotle called the Golden Mean, the middle ground between too much and too little. In our industry, it’s easy to go to extremes. Too much pressure leads to burnout, too little structure leads to chaos. The leader’s job is to find that healthy center, where people perform their best while still feeling respected and supported. That’s virtue in action.

Another aspect of Aristotle’s teachings that resonates with my work is his conviction that the collective good is superior to the individual's good. A healthy workplace culture lifts everyone. A toxic one drags even good people down. I’ve seen both, and I know how significant a difference leadership can make. When a dealership focuses only on short-term gains, it burns out employees and erodes trust. But when it builds systems that help people learn, grow, and feel valued, the results go far beyond profits. Customers notice. Employees stay. The business becomes a place where people are proud to work.

For me, Aristotle’s idea of happiness as “activity of the soul in line with virtue” has come to mean that work itself can be a moral practice. Every interaction with a customer, coworker, or trainee is an opportunity to practice honesty, patience, and courage. The dealership floor becomes a classroom in ethics, not because we quote philosophy, but because we live it through action.

Aristotle’s message is that happiness doesn’t come from what you have, but from how you live. It comes from doing your work well, treating people with respect, and aligning your daily choices with your purpose. That belief has altered my perspective on my career. I don’t just want to run a successful operation, I want to help build an industry where excellence and character are the same thing.

Aristotle wrote the Ethics over two thousand years ago. A good life and good business are one and the same when we do the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way.