W. Riley Lockridge ComDoc president and CEO
I went to a breakfast this morning that featured the president of ComDoc. I was compelled to go to this breakfast because Riley is a pretty forward thinking cat. He is highly focused on his culture and his team. That’s my game, too. So, I wanted to be sure I heard him speak. I’m happy to say, he definitely delivered. He’s my kind of guy… genuine, humble and caring.
These are notes from the meeting. (I’ll follow up with how I think a person could continue to evolve from Riley’s position… which is quite evolved, indeed.)
He started out by saying that business is all about People and Expectations. Once those are taken care of they create Process and Strategy. Those four areas make up the essence of a complete business system.
He said that there is no better laboratory for personal development than business. I have always likened it to a dojo. I’m learning skills that make my life on planet earth deeper and more fulfilling. These skills are also directly applicable to all other parts of life.
He said that “feedback is the greatest gift you can give a person.” I agree with that. But I know many people who just don’t want to know. This knowledge has to be handled carefully.
He said the leader is measured by his people. If his people are getting better in work, community and family, the leader is succeeding.
He said, “The best I can be is equal to my team.” You can also be worse than the team. But you can never be better than your team.
He said that what we do isn’t important. It’s how we do it that matters. The business you choose provides a vehicle to become the best we can be… to be of service to each other, our family, our community and our clients. I’ve often struggled with this very thing. Web marketing is not exactly a socially beneficial career. But I can help other more socially beneficial companies, and I’m helping myself and my team to be better people to help themselves, their family and their community.
“Preparation meets opportunity that creates luck.” That’s my kind of saying. I often say, “the harder I work the luckier I get.” Same idea, I suppose.
He says that you must be open. Being closed will guarantee you that you will miss opportunities.
“To those who have been given much, much is expected.” I first remember hearing this in Spiderman. Spidy’s uncle says, “To those with great power, come great responsibility.” This type of saying is important to me.
“Give, give, give some more and a lot comes back.”
He said that as a leader you are there to assist people be better people.
He said to “just make the decision.” If it’s the wrong decision it’s just an investment. I personally like the statement, “fortune favors the bold.”
“The best providers of feedback are the best receivers of feedback.”
He said that most of his growth had come through adversity. Mine too.
He said to live your values at home, at work and in the community.
He has what he calls, “State of the Business” meetings. These sound like impromptu meetings. This is where most of his feedback comes from.
So, those are my notes. I got a sense that he is really sincere about everything he says. I beleive that he believes it. I get a sense that he loves his vision: ComDoc: An employee owned company: A Great Place to work, a Great Place to be a customer.
In his overall Vision, Mission, Values and Beliefs, his Vision is the most innovative and the most clear. It’s that statement that clearly drives the company. The other items seem a bit less inspired. Although, his values are clearly thought out:
Accountability
Decisiveness
Ethics
Passion
Trust
They spell ADEPT.
I very much admired him. It’s great to see that companies within the area are innovating with creative leadership principles.
The key point that stood out to me was that it’s not important so much what you do but instead, how you do it. The practice of business is the practice of life. That is an enlightened, societally valuable insight.
But there was something within his speech that seemed… like when you see a mouse run across the floor. You wonder if you saw it… it was so fast. But there was no denying it… it was there. I believed everything he said. I believe in his integrity and his genuineness. Just the same, I felt all of it was to drive higher stock prices and higher growth percentages. I didn’t feel he was doing this for the sake of the good of his people. I felt he was doing it for the sake of the top and bottom line. …That he was enlightened with the value of innovative leadership and saw an opportunity. I suspect if he read this, he wouldn’t disagree. He wouldn’t feel I misunderstood him. That’s the difference between him and me.