This morning, I awoke prior to 4:00am at the Blackhawk hotel in Davenport, Iowa. I was out in the Quad Cities to participate in Modern Woodmen of America’s November Board of Directors meeting. I’m proud to work for the people of Modern Woodmen of America. It’s an incredible fraternal financial services company dedicated to selfless service that lives by strong core values like integrity and trustworthiness.

Thankfully, I’m a morning person, so didn’t mind the alarm clock rudely summoning me out of a pleasant dream. And I awoke grateful to know there was a car waiting at that pre-dawn hour to deliver me to the airport for my return flight home. After checking out, I made my way to the entry and pushed through its heavy doors to the welcome sight of a sleek, black car patiently waiting at the curb.

The driver, whose name I soon discovered was Tom, jumped out with alacrity and greeted me with a polite “good morning.” After opening the door to help me get settled, he swung my bag into the rear. Then, Tom got the vehicle underway for the 15-minute drive to the airport. At first, I leaned my head back with the intent to quietly relax in the comfort of the dark interior. I appreciated that Tom, a mature man of about 70 years of age, didn’t badger me with small talk, as do some drivers. Perhaps that restraint on Tom’s part, combined with his polite, professional demeanor, compelled me to reach out and learn something about this seemingly principled man.

I started a conversation by asking if Tom had any more customers after dropping me off. That led me to inquire about what he had done for a living prior to becoming a limousine driver. Little did I now how that simple question would open the door to a life lesson. My only regret, as Tom shared aspects of his fascinating life story, was that the drive to the airport was so short.

At age nine—yes, just nine years old—Tom started his first job. He apprenticed with a neighbor who was a carpenter. Throughout his childhood, Tom worked after school and on weekends to learn the trade. By age 18, Tom started his own business, which evolved over time into a successful, high-end stair and door building enterprise with 12 employees. Tom ran the business for 40 years, speaking with pride about how he had built over 75 staircases, some of them of the challenging, spiral design. Winding up his story, he exclaimed, “It was satisfying work. I’m grateful to say I loved going to work every single day.” Now that’s a statement one doesn’t hear too often. We arrived all too soon at the airport, where Tom dropped me off and left me with directions on how to navigate to the terminal.

While awaiting my flight, I reflected on the gift I’d been given in the form of Tom and his story. What more could I learn from this special experience, and pass on to share with others? It came down to core values. I commend to you three core values Tom lived by that helped him lead a successful business and a satisfying life, and that can work for you, too.

• Initiative: At an age when other children were playing, Tom started working, where he found his passion and purpose. He parlayed that experience and maturity into starting his own business, which he built into a successful enterprise. It all began when Tom demonstrated the ambition to apply himself to learning a trade that would add value to society and lead to a deeply satisfying, rewarding career and life.
• Hard Work: Tom shared with me what it took to run a small business: he worked 60-80 hours a week. I’ve had other small business owners tell me what a weight of responsibility and commensurate hard work it takes when it’s your name on the door. But Tom ensured his crew had a reliable, repeatable schedule consisting of four, 10-hour days. They, too, worked hard Monday through Thursday, but were highly motivated in anticipation of the coming three-day weekend. People work hard when they know their work matters, they have something to look forward to, and know their boss cares about them.
• Accountability: Tom set high expectations for his crew and ran a tight shop. Quality was his commitment to his customers, and safety was his commitment to his employees. Tom recounted to me the tragic story of a new hire assigned by a seasoned leader to operate a large table saw. His first day on the job, the new employee had his hand mangled by that power saw. Tom fired the irresponsible shop leader who should have known better. That was the right thing to do in response to the tragic incident, but Tom took full responsibility and related to me with deep regret that he didn’t prevent the mishap. Leading with character starts with accountability; it means doing the right thing—always—and making the tough, but necessary decisions to ensure success of the business and well-being of the employees.

Committing to and then living their personal core values is what sets leaders of character like Tom apart from their peers. I boarded my flight with deep appreciation for the opportunity to glean from Tom some insights into the art of leading and living well.

Look in the mirror: What are your personal core values and are you living them every day at work and home?

Please join me again next week for more on Leading with Character.

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