What I Learned About Business While Hunting Ducks

Tommy Maxwell; my husband, Joe; me and Wil Maxwell at the lodge.During the NWFA’s 2015 Expo in St. Louis, my husband, Joe, won a prize from the Hardwood Federation drawing to hunt ducks with Tommy and Wil Maxwell in the Southeast Arkansas delta. I have enjoyed Tommy and Beth Maxwell’s company over the years and was delighted to accompany Joe, although I had quite a few reservations about joining the men on the hunt (like the fear of shooting one of them instead of the ducks). I am glad I put my fears aside and made the trip. In addition to a lot of laughter, delicious down-home cooking, and beautiful scenery, it provided an excellent opportunity to observe how the Maxwell family and their milling and outfitting businesses embody three fundamental business principles.

The first thing Tommy did when we arrived was proudly introduce us to everyone and mention individual details about each person, from the guides who had hunted with him for years to the brand-new staff members helping part-time this past season. Tommy Maxwell lights up when he talks about his people, and he remembers stories about them that left us in awe, from mill workers to grandchildren. Lesson One: People matter. Keep that concept top-of-mind, and your people will reward you with love and their best efforts. People who know Tommy admire him, and many of them learned how to appreciate Tommy from the affection he and Beth demonstrated to them first. When Tommy hunts, he asks a caregiver to stay with Beth and help around their home. That caregiver has a special connection to Beth because many years ago, Beth helped her get her young children ready for school so she could get to her shift at the mill. She would not have been as successful or as productive without Beth’s investment in her personal life. I was moved by the history and examples of generosity we witnessed.

Heading out pre-dawn.Following the introductions, Tommy immediately asked about us to make our experience memorable. Of course, Joe volunteered that I had never even held or fired a shotgun in my life. He didn’t do it to embarrass me (which I didn’t realize until later); he wanted our guides to know that I needed to be educated about gun safety and the basics. Now, I think I lead a pretty adventurous life—being married to and running a business with my contractor husband—and, because of that, I can honestly say that not many things scare me. However, being new at a fast and deadly activity like firing a gun at a flying bird in front of experienced duck hunting guides was terrifying. All of a sudden I found myself attempting to shoot clay pigeons in front of a crowd. I refused to be the girl who couldn’t shoot a duck. After all, the guides made it look easy in one smooth, graceful motion. With shaking hands and jerky movements, I hit a lot of air. And then, as Tommy and Cody Williams, the wildlife manager and guide who spent the most time with Joe and me, provided me with specific directions for my movement and aim, I started hitting clay pigeons and felt good and ready to take down some ducks.

Lesson Two: Practice hard and deliberately. During our tours of Maxwell Hardwood Flooring in Monticello and Townsend Flooring in Warren, Ark., Joe and I saw the results of nonstop calculations to produce a well-calibrated, profitable product that serves the needs of employees to end users and everyone between. And I couldn’t believe the amount of time and consideration each hunting guide took to choose which duck call they used to bring the ducks down from the sky. Inside the lodge, I listened to the calls of Emily Oliver, the world’s first female champion turkey caller, and when I closed my eyes, I thought I was surrounded by turkeys. Learning about and observing both the Maxwells’ milling and hunting operations answers the question of why some people are so good at what they do. They work incredibly hard to practice their craft, they design their work specifically to improve their performance, and they receive feedback from experts, all of which requires a lot of time and, quite honestly, isn’t always much fun. Skeptical? Go visit the Maxwells. If you can’t get there now, listen to or read the book “Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else” by Geoff Colvin. From the kilns to the duck blinds, Joe and I watched people practice and hone their skills deliberately to perfection. It was inspiring.

Each day began before 4 a.m. to load up and drive out to the duck blinds. On the way, we learned the Maxwells have continued the difficult process of banding ducks because the federal government has stopped tracking their migratory and nesting patterns. This might not seem like a big deal, but the environment is of tremendous concern to the Maxwells: Their livelihood, and that of the hundreds of mill workers and dozens of outfitters, relies on a healthy environment. During one drive, Tommy stopped to point out the ugliness and irresponsibility of clear-cutting by another industry. It was sickening to see the destruction of the beautiful Arkansas landscape. The irony: Our income depends on cutting down trees. However, most of us in the wood floor industry understand the consequences of clear-cutting as opposed to sustainable harvesting, and we know we must protect and care for our forests to ensure our future.

Joe has hunted various animals for years with many different people. Every hunter I’ve met has had a great appreciation of and respect for the environment, and that was true with the Maxwell guides and Maxwell land. They provide no-hunt areas for the ducks to rest. They carefully monitor water levels and which fields should be flooded. Everything they carry out in the morning gets brought back home in the afternoon. Our guide, Cody, studies wildlife as part of his forestry degree. He spent most of this past duck hunting season sitting in wet fields in his waders with a smile on his face, and at the season’s end, he will eagerly complete the messy, complicated task of banding ducks, because the Maxwells—and Cody—have committed themselves to something greater than what’s in their own backyard.

Lesson Three: Give back when you can, and when you can’t, give back anyway. When your people feel like you’ve put them first, and you’ve invested time and effort to hone your skills and craft, you’ve made a great local impact. Becoming a member of the National Wood Flooring Association has a global impact, and giving to the Hardwood Federation provides the opportunity to be a part of something great. Your participation and gift advances our industry and our world. Don’t discount the power of numbers and associations; learn from the example the Maxwells set, and work to make a difference in people, your product and service, and your environment.

Thank you to Tommy and all of the Maxwell family and staff for your time, your leadership, your stewardship, and your respect for people and hard work. Joe and I are so glad we got to see you in action—and I will never forget my ducks!