230 years of ...
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ince Jack Lowe, Sr. founded Texas Distributors in 1946, those two principles have been part of TDIndustries. Five longtime Partners have more than 230 years of combined experience, and are exhibits in what it means to truly live the values and mission of TDIndustries. They have helped to build Jack Sr.’s vision to make TD the company that is it today. Last year, TD launched a series of videos which featured TD’s legendary leadership. It includes Jack Lowe, Jr., Ben Houston, Bob Ferguson, Ed Ramsey, and Bobby Cole. They all tell stories of how TD came to become one of the leading mechanical contractors in the Southwest through trust and respect — and the culture of the company that built a stable foundation for growth. Today, TD is well known for its Servant Leadership culture — that the servant leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve first then a conscious choice to lead. That manifests itself in TD’s five core values: • Build and Maintain Trusting Relationships • Fiercely Protect the Safety of All Partners • Lead with a Servant’s Heart • Passionately Pursue Excellence • Celebrate the Power of Individual Differences As employee-owners of the company, Partners had a role in creating this new standard, but it grew out of two seeds: trust and respect. “I think we have a culture of re-examining ourselves,” said Ben Houston during his interview. “The core values are great; better than what we had, but the cornerstone of it all is trust and respect. As long as we continue to trust and respect (one another), we’ll continue to adapt. We just need to continue to keep getting better.” Jack relayed one example of how trust became an important element between himself, Bob, and Ben. In the mid-80s, TD began sending Partners to an industrial psychologist who
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TDSpirit === Winter edition
(From left) Jack Lowe, Jr.; Bob Ferguson; Bobby Cole; Ed Ramsey; and Ben Houston
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could help identify working team’s strengths and weaknesses. The trio decided they should attend to improve their working relationships. “Up to that time, we liked each other and respected each other, but we all thought it would be better if each of us were more like themselves,” said Jack. After a day of interviews, tests, and discussions, the psychologist provided the result: all three were equidistantly apart. What it proved to the team was that the team complemented itself by spreading out its strengths. That test gave TD’s leaders the confidence to trust in each other. Jack was always the visionary, Bob could build relationships with anyone, and Ben found ways to get things done. “In a lot of ways, we were co-CEOs,” Jack Jr. said. “That’s how we grew.” To see how these five men viewed their part in building TDIndustries, watch their playlist at http://bit.ly/TDLegendsSeries.
... but the cornerstone of it all is trust and respect. As long as we continue to trust and respect we’ll continue to adapt.” — Ben Houston
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