When I started my leadership peer group a few years ago, one of the key criteria I was looking for in each member was whether they were a ‘legacy footprinter’. 

What I mean by that is: do they hold within themselves a vision of what they want to leave behind for the greater good that goes beyond making a profit or earning money for themselves?

This year, my Christmas gift to each member of the group was a book called The Man who Planted trees by Jean Giono.  And my choice was inspired by someone in my group who is very clear on his legacy: Tommy Dale, MD of FRM Recycling.

The harmony of the countryside

Written in the 1950s, the key message of this allegorical tale has never been more relevant – and 70 years on, it inspires readers to rediscover the harmony of the countryside, protecting it for future generations. 

The central character is a shepherd who dedicates his life to quietly planting 100 acorns a day in an area that was lifeless and desolate. Slowly and imperceptibly, the impact of his actions take form. 

Not only does he create a magical forest that everyone assumes occurred naturally, but the surrounding villages are transformed into thriving, harmonious communities.

The reclusive shepherd sought no fame or credit for his actions; and every day, no matter what setbacks he faced, he continued to plant his acorns methodically.

Tommy is our group shepherd

Back in 2002, he had the vision to invest his £2,000 student loan into founding a sustainable recycling solution for all the garden waste that was either being burnt or sent to landfill by local councils and landscape gardeners.

Giving life to what was once discarded as waste, Tommy and his team create a range of high-quality composts that are sold to gardeners, farmers and landscapers. Watch this video to see how it’s done.

Many of these customers are the very same people who brought their waste along in the first place, which a great example of a circular economy. 

Tommy’s enthusiasm for nature goes much further than this though, and he completely embodies this in all his waking hours. I’ll never forget my very first meeting with him.

“Have you got time to look around the site with me?” he asked as we reached the end of our long conversation. Being given a lift in Tommy’s van was a combination of an episode of Top Gear, mashed with a David Attenborough documentary, as we sped around the rural lanes.

Whilst simultaneously pointing out tree-planting schemes and birds I may have missed, he’d periodically slow the vehicle – just a little – open the driver’s door, and grabbing the steering wheel firmly with his left hand, deftly grab pieces of plastic rubbish from the road with his right. 

I was grateful we were on his private land, but did wonder if this technique would be deployed on the main road we were approaching. 

Chief Litter Picker

Tommy describes himself as Chief Litter Picker as well as MD of FRM. And this also applies to our group meetings, where he’ll quietly remove and take away any waste that our host might not be able to recycle, improvising where necessary with little bins to prompt us. 

He also takes any edible leftovers and donates them to a charity for the homeless. He never gets preachy with us, and always comes from a place of enthusiasm and care and that is part of his success in changing our behaviour.

In short, Tommy inspires us to think about our own rubbish and legacy footprint, and his enthusiastic example has permeated the group’s conscience and consciousness in several ways, from taking more care to segregate waste in their own domestic spheres, to making it a higher priority in their company operations.

The group has even sponsored some tree-planting. 

Planting a single acorn may seem a small thing, but planting them consistently in the right ground – as demonstrated both in the story and by Tommy – can create and inspire a legacy that will far outlast our own lives. 

If making an enduring positive impact for the greater good is important to you, then perhaps you should be asking yourself what you want your legacy footprint to look like. 

And the time to start planting those acorns is right now. If you’d like to support FRM’s community projects, please visit the website.

3 things my group has learnt from Tommy:

1. It’s inspiring and highly motivating to align your personal and business purposes with an ambitious movement that can achieve far more than you could alone. Tommy and his team can’t change everyone’s behaviour or recycle everything, but he can inspire leadership and grow our understanding about why it matters and why little daily habits can make a big difference.
   
2. Tommy’s wider family owns and cares for an area of woodland and one of the most beautiful beaches in Scotland. By allowing the public to access this land, and by managing and protecting it for the benefit of all, they are, above all, its custodians rather than its owners. Tommy’s enthusiasm and care for this place – and the diversity of flora and fauna that make it their home – have made it a significant and special place for many members of the group who’ve made time to visit it with their families.
   
3. Tommy involved his children when starting his business plans, drawing a picture on a single piece of paper to explain his thoughts and ideas to them.  Could you explain your business to a child? The group was stuck by the clarity in which Tommy was able to communicate his plan. It was child-like in the playfulness of its presentation and the simplicity of the message, but it was in no way childish. It didn’t diminish the importance of the plan, but brought it to life and made it accessible and relevant to Tommy’s entire team.

If you’d like to learn with leaders like Tommy in a supportive peer group, book a call with me via Calendly.