Stone is just the start of…
Broadening the Impact of Our Mission
Sharing Our Passion for Values Based Leadership
Under CEO Charlie Luck’s leadership, Luck Companies built a culture focused on running a successful business and making a positive impact in the lives of others. Values Based Leadership (VBL) is a leadership philosophy and practice that empowers individuals to live, work, and lead in alignment with their core values.
In 2010, Charlie posed an important question: What if we could share this philosophy and the tools we’ve developed with our customers and partners to help them align their teams and create new pathways for igniting human potential outside of Luck Companies? And so, InnerWill, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, was established.
Since then, InnerWill has worked with more than 400 organizations and the incredible people behind them to use VBL to overcome business challenges and drive success.
Dr. Tom Epperson, InnerWill’s President, says InnerWill exists to expand Luck Companies’ mission of igniting human potential.
“InnerWill’s approach is rooted in the positive results, experiences, and impact of VBL at Luck Companies. We use everything we have learned about culture, strategy, and leadership to help our clients tackle real world problems.”
So, what exactly does it look like to engage with InnerWill? InnerWill works from a set of frameworks that ignite the potential of the people in an organization. “Every organization is unique with different challenges, but most companies we work with are trying to figure out how to transform their organization or align around their mission,” said Betsey Fortlouis, Director of Partnerships and Development and Family Business Advisor at InnerWill.
“InnerWill’s approach is rooted in the positive results, experiences, and impact
of VBL at Luck Companies. We use everything we have learned about culture, strategy, and leadership to help our clients tackle real world problems.”
Our InnerWill Team in Action
Our InnerWill team works across industries throughout the United States, and often engages with other family-led businesses that have crossed paths with our business as a customer, supplier, or partner.
Knight’s Companies
A family-run business established in 1969, Knight’s Companies, a Luck Stone customer, offers septic, ready-mixed concrete, precast concrete, trucking, and concrete pumping services, as well as steel reinforcement products to commercial and residential customers in South Carolina and Georgia.
Challenge: Engage their developing leaders in articulating the company’s values and vision for the future.
Solution: Our InnerWill team facilitated a series of sessions with the group to introduce the principles of VBL, build self-awareness with personal values and insights, foster trust and communication, and cultivate a culture of receiving and giving feedback.
The InnerWill team worked with Knight’s Companies to develop their mission, vision, and values in support of their business goals, identifying the observable behaviors needed to bring the values to life. InnerWill also coached leaders at Knight’s Companies to model and influence the organization around this new framework.
“As we embarked on this Values Based Leadership journey, not only did I see the benefits of our companies, divisions, and markets coming together collectively and being one unified front, but we started to identify where we are stronger or weaker on some of our values than others. It also allowed me to identify who I was and where I could be better as a leader—it has really directed me to be a better me, and inspired others to be better versions of themselves as well,” said Pete Knight, CEO, Knight’s Companies
William A. Hazel, Inc.
A family-established business, William A. Hazel, Inc. is a total site development and construction company in Virginia.
Challenge: John Roddy was the company’s first external CEO and was charged with strengthening its operations, culture, and strategy. John connected with InnerWill to help navigate and facilitate a successful transition.
Solution: First, the InnerWill team worked as executive coaches to help him identify goals and practice new skills to make choices that supported the future success of the business and the family. Then, they helped him get feedback on his leadership style to begin aligning his leadership team around the necessary changes and desired outcomes. Taking the feedback he received and implementing tools and tactics learned from InnerWill, John was able to lead the company through the transition. The InnerWill team also facilitated sessions with the Board of Directors (comprised of family and non-family members) to gain alignment around the company’s strategic plan.
As a result of this work, InnerWill helped William A. Hazel, Inc. reconcile differing visions for the future and create alignment around a single vision. The team at InnerWill worked with them to identify necessary Board skills to support the vision, establish best practices for influencing others, and build commitment with the Board.
Superior Paving Corp.
A multi-family, multi-generation paving business, Superior Paving, Corp., is also a Luck Stone customer based in Northern Virginia.
Challenge: CEO Jim Mitchell wanted to strike the right balance between stepping away from the business’ day-to-day operations and focusing on what’s next for the company and himself. InnerWill had worked with Superior Paving Corp. several years prior to establish its mission, vision, and values.
Solution: Our InnerWill team is using its program Not Retirement, Reinvention, which is designed to help successful family business leaders who are ready to transition their passion, purpose, and potential to foster continued fulfillment in their next chapters. It’s a custom program that leverages each leader’s invaluable insights, wisdom, and talents to overcome challenges, embrace opportunities, and live a life of abundance and purpose after retirement.
Results: “Our work with InnerWill has helped our business and our family tremendously. We now have a deeper understanding of how to lead with our values and we also feel more confident in being able to continue our family-owned business for many decades, as we look to our next generation of leadership,” said Jim Mitchell, CEO, Superior Paving Corp.
“We now have a deeper understanding of how to lead with our values and we also feel more confident in being able to continue our family-owned business for many decades.”
