NWA C-Suite: Russell Tooley

What is the best business advice someone has ever given you? Make sure you have a great work/life balance. It is so important to clearly know how you will achieve this. For me, it’s God, family and my work in balance.

What’s the top challenge you have faced as a leader, and how did you overcome it? As you take on more responsibility and move up the hierarchy of management, you will not always have all the answers, and you will have to build a team that collectively can accomplish the mission of the organization. I have approached these challenges by building diverse teams. Support them to make decisions and have their back. 

What are some aspects of leadership you are still working to improve? We live in an ever-changing business environment, so it is critical for us as leaders to understand what is changing and make necessary adjustments in our leadership without compromising your values.

What advice would you give someone wanting to be a leader in your industry? It’s not only “what you do,” but it’s “how you do it.” What you do is getting the job done successfully and accomplishing the goals. How you do it, is can you get things done successfully through people, within a team and how you treat others in the organization.

How do you relax? Spending time with family and friends. Anything outdoors that keeps me moving. I like to exercise and keep active.  

How do you stay current with industry trends and changes? I have several daily sources of information that I rely on to give me the quick overview of changes in the industry, and it allows me to dig deeper into possible issues if I see something that may need to be addressed. I also rely on a network of people in the industry, in the region and nationally, who I can call to discuss what they are seeing. 

How significant to you is developing a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) culture within your organization? The strongest teams with the greatest outcomes in my career were some of the most diverse teams. Whether it’s ethnicity, diversity of thoughts, diversity of experiences, what diverse teams can bring an organization is well-thought-out and successful outcomes.

Do you use artificial intelligence (AI) software in your work, and if so, how so? We are early in the stages of how AI can support and help our business. However, we believe there is real value in AI, and the opportunity will be how to apply AI and where.