Jack Lowe, Jr.
It's a family, according to one employee, a high school dropout. "I had mentioned that I wanted to get my GED. And my supervisor came to me one day and said 'We want you to do this because it is important to you'. As I'm happy to say that I finally passed it, as of this month."
TDIndustries thrives because of the company's dedication to the principles of servant leadership, initially adopted by Jack Lowe, Sr. in the early 1970's. True to the tenets of servant leadership, Jack, Sr. hosted groups of twenty employees every three weeks for a year and a half in his home. He led discussions about values and about the principles of servant leadership based on Robert Greenleaf's essay. Subsequently, the decision to adopt that leadership style was not "handed-down" by Jack, Sr. ... rather, it was a decision made by the company.
Even though the company has been on Fortune magazine's list of "The 100 Best Companies to work for in America" since its inception in 1998, there is no "laurel-resting" at TD. In fact they work with the Great Place to Work Institute to manage data on all employees, not just the sample required for the Fortune list. Hence, their financial business success is not tied to the products or services they provide. Rather, it is the way their people relate to each other, to their customers, to their business partners and to their community partners. At TD, it is all about people. Under Jack Lowe, Jr., who served as CEO from 1980 until 2005, the company has sustained his father's passion for people. One compelling element of the company's Leadership Statement is "Leaders have faith in people. They believe in them. They have found that others rise to their high expectations".