An Open Letter to Shane O'Kelly, the Executive Leadership Team, and the Board of Directors of Advance Auto Parts
From one of the thousands of leaders in the field.
Today, another respected leader is gone in RVA.
Whether you agree with the decision or not, field leaders across the company are asking the same question:
Have we reached the point where a Vice President's, DMs', GM's, TM's career can be defined by Project Pack sales?
If that perception is true, then we have lost sight of what is actually wrong with this company.
I honestly don't know what's more disappointing.
The previous leadership team that many employees believed focused on corporate initiatives while the business continued to deteriorate...
Or the current leadership team that appears to believe Advance Auto Parts can fight its way back by demanding more Project Packs, more attachments, more scorecards, and more pressure.
This isn't a turnaround strategy.
It's a distraction.
Selling more Project Packs will not fix years of declining market share, inconsistent inventory, operational challenges, technology issues, staffing shortages, customer frustration, or decades of strategic mistakes made far above the store level.
Those problems weren't created by Store Managers.
They weren't created by General Managers.
They weren't created by District Managers.
They weren't created by Vice Presidents.
Yet somehow, the people closest to the customer continue to carry the burden.
Every quarter there's another initiative.
Another metric.
Another conference call.
Another dashboard.
Another leader gone.
Meanwhile, the fundamental questions remain unanswered.
Why do we continue to lose experienced leaders?
Why do we continue to replace homegrown talent with outsiders who don't understand our culture?
Why does it feel like accountability flows only downward?
And where is the Board of Directors in all of this?
At what point does the Board stop measuring PowerPoint presentations and start asking why so many dedicated field leaders have lost confidence in the direction of this company?
The people in the stores are not asking for miracles.
We're asking for leadership.
Real leadership.
Leadership that listens before it mandates.
Leadership that fixes broken systems instead of creating new scorecards.
Leadership that values people more than weekly KPI reports.
Most of us have dedicated years—some, decades—of our lives to Advance Auto Parts.
We have missed birthdays.
Worked hurricanes.
Opened stores before sunrise.
Closed them after dark.
Worked weekends.
Covered vacancies.
Helped struggling stores.
Trained future leaders.
We stayed because we believed in this company.
We still do.
But belief alone cannot carry a company forward.
If today's events have taught us anything, it's this:
Fear does not inspire performance.
Pressure does not create loyalty.
And no company has ever KPI'd its way back to greatness.
Advance Auto Parts deserves better.
Its customers deserve better.
Its shareholders deserve better.
And most importantly...
Its people deserve better.
A Concerned Advance Auto Parts Leader