The Mosbacher Institute for Trade, Economics, and Public Policy at the Bush School of Government and Public Service was honored to award Mr. David Weekley, founder and chairman of David Weekley Homes, with the 2016 McLane Leadership in Business Award on October 5th. The award is given annually to recognize outstanding contributions in the area of business, public service, or community service at the national level.
Dean Mark Welsh gave the welcoming remarks, pointing out various state and campus dignitaries in attendance and followed by the introduction of Mr. Weekley by Dr. Lori Taylor, Director of the Mosbacher Institute. Dr. Taylor outlined a few of the many honors and recognitions that Mr. Weekely and his company have received over the years including customer and employee satisfaction recognitions and builder of the year.
After the introduction, Mr. Weekley took the stage to give a speech titled, “Success v. Significance.” Making a reference to the Bob Buford’s pivotal book, Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance, Mr. Weekley noted that often times in life the most successful people get caught in the trap of money and moving up the ladder, so much that they forget that they also need to be significant. Mr. Weekley’s argument, to which the rest of the speech was dedicated, was to become significant and not just successful; it was important to give back and start looking at what he terms “the others.” Mr. Weekley claimed that changing to a focus on his employee team, his customers, and his community not only helped people in a positive way, but also improved his business. He was able to see his home building grow in ways he never could have imagined, all while instituting profit-sharing models and an 8 percent match on retirement in his company for the betterment of his employees.
At the conclusion of his remarks, Dr. Lori Taylor joined Mr. Weekley on stage for a conversation expanding on some of the key features of his talk. Prompted by a question over what non-profit students should focus on at the Bush School,Mr. Weekley responded, noting that self-knowledge, recognition of our strengths, and use of those strengths in the most effective ways would benefit a non-profit more than anything. A devoted philanthropist, Mr. Weekly and his wife Bonnie made the conscious decision to start donating not only half of their profits from David Weekley Homes, but also half of their time. Mr. Weekley noted that being able to donate his time and efforts into helping non-profits is worth more than any financial services he can offer, turning that dollar donation into four.
To conclude the event, Mr. Drayton McLane, Jr., namesake of the McLane Leadership in Business Award, joined Mr. Weekley on stage with Dean Mark Welsh and Dr. Lori Taylor. Mr. McLane added his own commendations of Mr. Weekley and presented the award, capping off the evening by outlining the success and significance of an outstanding leader in the business community.
