Love in the TDI Workplace
Ten years ago today I was in Dallas shooting a video documentary to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of TDIndustries. TDI is a heating and air conditioning company whose founder, Jack Lowe, got his hands on one of the first 200 copies of "The Servant as Leader" and began integrating the principles into his business. Of course, Jack was already a natural servant-leader who had operated that way before he ever read Greenleaf. Jack and his wife Harriet became close friends with Bob and Esther Greenleaf and TDI is now the longest-running corporate experiment in servant leadership.
It's a remarkable place.
I interviewed one man who described a life-changing encounter with Jack Lowe in the 1970s. Tom was a raw Texan, a big, ugly guy (his words) who was suspicious of all this servant leadership jabbering. One day in a business meeting with Jack and 5 or 6 others he challenged his boss on most every point. Tom was a straight-shooting guy so he wasn't being mean, just honest.
At the end of the meeting everyone had left the room except Jack and Tom. As Jack was gathering up his papers Tom said, "I know I was hard on you today, Jack, but I just didn't agree with you much."
"That's OK," said Jack. "You helped me. If you had those concerns so did others and I needed to hear them."
Tom was still seated when Jack walked behind him, gave a friendly bear hug to his head, and said, "I love ya, Tom."
Tom sat still for a few moments, stunned. Then he went outside, sat in his pickup truck, and cried like a baby. It was the first time any man told Tom he was loved, the first time he ever felt loved in the workplace.
I heard a dozen stories like that at TDIndustries. The woman whose doctor ordered her to go back to work after a heart attack because tests showed that every time she visited her friends there she got healthier. The man who took a job with a competitor but came back because he missed the TDI community so much. I could have heard dozens more if I'd stayed longer.
We titled that documentary "A Celebration of Spirit," which was no hype, just a simple description of what's real at TDI and what's possible everywhere.
Servant leadership in the workplace -- love in the workplace -- is not a pipe dream. I've seen it.
You can read about TDI's commitment to servant leadership here.
It's a remarkable place.
I interviewed one man who described a life-changing encounter with Jack Lowe in the 1970s. Tom was a raw Texan, a big, ugly guy (his words) who was suspicious of all this servant leadership jabbering. One day in a business meeting with Jack and 5 or 6 others he challenged his boss on most every point. Tom was a straight-shooting guy so he wasn't being mean, just honest.
At the end of the meeting everyone had left the room except Jack and Tom. As Jack was gathering up his papers Tom said, "I know I was hard on you today, Jack, but I just didn't agree with you much."
"That's OK," said Jack. "You helped me. If you had those concerns so did others and I needed to hear them."
Tom was still seated when Jack walked behind him, gave a friendly bear hug to his head, and said, "I love ya, Tom."
Tom sat still for a few moments, stunned. Then he went outside, sat in his pickup truck, and cried like a baby. It was the first time any man told Tom he was loved, the first time he ever felt loved in the workplace.
I heard a dozen stories like that at TDIndustries. The woman whose doctor ordered her to go back to work after a heart attack because tests showed that every time she visited her friends there she got healthier. The man who took a job with a competitor but came back because he missed the TDI community so much. I could have heard dozens more if I'd stayed longer.
We titled that documentary "A Celebration of Spirit," which was no hype, just a simple description of what's real at TDI and what's possible everywhere.
Servant leadership in the workplace -- love in the workplace -- is not a pipe dream. I've seen it.
You can read about TDI's commitment to servant leadership here.
<< Home