Jim Haslam - Co-Piloting: Luck, Leadership, and Learning That Its All about Others: Our Story

Co-Piloting

Luck, Leadership, and Learning That Its All About Others

Our Story

2020 Jim Haslam

All rights reserved.

No part of this book shall be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, and photographic, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission of the publisher.

No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

Published by Forefront Books in association with the literary agency of Wolgemuth & Associates.

Interior Design by Bill Kersey, KerseyGraphics

Jacket design by Bruce Gore | Gore Studio, Inc.

Jacket photos Courtesy of the Author.

ISBN: 978-1-948-67758-5

ISBN: 978-1-948-67759-2 (eBook)

ISBN: 978-1-948-67738-7 (Audio)

Dedicated to the Senior Leadership Team of Pilot Company and our 28,000 team members who serve others with excellence every day.

All proceeds from the sale of this book will benefit nonprofits that support small business, entrepreneurial, or community-based venturesso that like Jim Haslam, others also may be afforded the chance to be fortunate in their own unique endeavors.

In memory of Team Members Denise Nibbe, Nettie Spencer, Joyce Whaley of the Stawberry Plains Travel Center: you will never be forgotten.

By Bill Haslam

I AM A LITTLE BIASED , but I think the story before you is unique, inspirational, and often hilarious. You should also know that it has been written against the will of its author. You dont see that every day, I know.

But then again, you dont meet many people like my dad every day.

As you will soon learn, Jim Haslam hates to talk about himself, so there was no way he was going to write about himself. His interests lie in many other places. His beloved wife, Natalie. His family. His faith. His community. His church. His alma mater. His endeavors in politics and philanthropy. And last, but certainly not least, the company he founded and the tens of thousands of employees (or team members, as Dad insists they always be called) who look up to him not only as a boss but, also as a role modeland even as a father figure.

But write about himself? That has never been in his playbook.

Despite all this, his family has been pestering him for years to write his storyand the story of Pilot Company, of course. As you will see, not only is his life story a great one, but he also has many great stories about his life. Our family has heard most of these stories many times around our family tableand we are excited that Dad has finally relented so that you might enjoy them as well.

Before he tells his side of the whole unlikely narrative, let me share a few thoughts as his youngest childthat is, one of the people, amid his many protests, who helped set into motion this whole process of putting his life story into a book.

There is a certain story that comes to mind that epitomizes what it was like to have Jim Haslam as a father. When he started Pilot, most of his gas stations were in southwest Virginia, so Dad constantly had to be there. It had taken every penny he owned or could borrow to build those first stations, and there was certainly no guarantee the company would make it. This meant he was away from home a lot. Yet somehow in my memory, Dad was always home. I still dont know how he was able to pull this off with his schedule, but the bottom line is that, whenever it mattered, Dad was always there.

I remember being seven years old and preparing to play my first Pee Wee baseball game. For whatever reason, it was really important to me that I have my own baseball cleats, not my brothers hand-me-downs. The day before the game, I told Dad that I really needed new cleats. To my dismay, he said he had to leave first thing the next morning for Virginia, so Mom would have to get them for me. That wasnt going to work. Moms dont know how to buy baseball cleats! In my seven-year-old brain, this felt like the end of the world.

The next day, I was at the ball field before the game, wearing my brothers hand-me-downs, of course. The baseball field was at the bottom of a hill. To this day, one of my most vivid memories is of my dad running full speed down that hill with a shoebox in his hands. Im sure he blew off some important meeting to make it back in time, and Im still not sure where he found the time to stop and buy baseball cleats. As a busy executive and father of three, he couldve just said, Youre seven. Its a Pee Wee baseball game. You will be fine.

But he figured out a way to show up. And he still does. His children, step-children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren can all tell you their own stories about how he has shown up and loved them well.

You will discover throughout the story to come that, despite his protests and constantly pushing away the limelight, my dad has accomplished so much in business, the community, and in politics. However, I honestly believe that he never did any of these things for himself. In fact, to understand who Jim Haslam really is as a person, you must understand that everything he has ever done has been done for other people: his family, the university he loves, and the community he feels has given him so much. Over the years, I have had hundreds of people I dont know stop me to tell of something my dad did for them in secret.

In his world, he is never just giving; rather, he is always giving back.

I have always been a little befuddled when people act as if my dads efforts in community and political arenas are just Big Jim trying to use his power to pull strings and get his way. Anyone who actually knows him knows that this is not what he is about. He is an offensive lineman blocking for others to score touchdowns. His natural inclination is to be a team player, sometimes even to a fault.

Dad has always found time to invest in relationships, including being there for the people in these relationships. To be honest with you, I cant figure out how he has always found a way to help others so much. I have been in business and have spent time in public office, so I know that time is a difficult commodity to manage, much less manage well. However, it always seemed that Dad found a way to manage it better than anyone else, always being there to spend time with us. He was always coaching our Little League or sports teams. He was there for talks and trips to the beach.

The other kids in the neighborhood always wanted to play at our house so Dad could be the quarterback or pitcher for our backyard games. I now know how much he was doing in the community, how hard it is to build a business, and how he also somehow maintained a host of really close friendships through it all. Looking backespecially during his thirties and fortiesI still cant figure out how he pulled it all together. Again, in my memory, he was simply always there.

There arent enough words, but suffice it to say that having a father who is so loving, hardworking, full of integrity, fun, and optimistic has shaped my entire life. As Dan Fogelberg sang, My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man, Im just a living legacy, to the leader of the band.