P&Q Hall of Fame Profile: Charles S. Luck IV

The respect and admiration that leaders across the aggregate industry have for Virginia-based Luck Stone is almost palpable.

As the nation’s largest family-owned and operated producer of crushed stone, sand and gravel, Luck Stone has set countless examples throughout its 101-year history on how to treat people.

From community relations and employee management to safety and even technology, the Luck Stone approach has long been one to watch. Other producers aim to emulate it, but replicating the Luck Stone way is impossible without one key ingredient: the DNA, which has now passed through three generations of company leadership.

That third generation of leadership is represented by Charlie Luck IV, who joins his father (Charles Luck III) and grandfather (Charles Luck Jr.) this month in the Pit & Quarry Hall of Fame.

“All of the Lucks are people-focused,” says John Pullen, chief growth officer at Luck Stone. “It’s in their DNA. They have a tremendous care for humanity. It’s genetic in the Luck family.”

When Pullen first went to work for Luck Stone in 1993, Charlie’s father headed the company. But as Pullen reflects, many of the characteristics that made up the father are innate in the son.

“The things that were so important to Mr. Luck were equally important to Charlie,” Pullen says.

What matters most to Charlie Luck is people – and not just the company’s own, but those in the communities it serves and others it impacts (i.e., customers, vendors).

“The biggest thing that makes Charlie stand out along with the other generations of Lucks that have been inducted [to the Pit & Quarry Hall of Fame] is it starts with the perspective of people,” Pullen says. “I sit on a lot of boards, and I interact with a ton of companies. Our approach is very different – not only in our industry, but in American business in so many ways.”

Igniting potential

With a mission to ignite human potential through Values Based Leadership (VBL), Luck Stone encourages its associates to explore and bring their potential to life while helping others to do the same.

“If you’re a leader in this company, you have to start with the belief and mission of igniting human potential,” Pullen says. “Then, you find leaders who believe in that. When you find leaders who embrace that, they behave in a way that inspires people.”

Values don’t always translate from one generation to the next in family companies, though. It’s possibly why so many stumble from the first generation to the second, or from the second generation to the third.

But the Luck sons clearly heeded the words of their fathers. From Pullen’s view, that continues to this day at Luck Stone.

“I think Charlie – like his dad did for him and his grandfather did for his dad – has spent a tremendous amount of time on succession and development of the next generation with Richard [Luck],” says Pullen referring to Charlie’s son. “Richard is just so expertly prepared for the leadership of the company when Charlie’s ready for him to have that role. Just in general, the Luck family has done an amazing amount of work to create succession development that ensures all of this generational growth. I think they do some of the best work in the world in that space.”

The true impact of such a succession effort is massive, Pullen adds.

“Charlie has done that for Richard, which sustains the company, which impacts thousands and thousands of people,” he says. “It’s just another element where you could say Charlie’s led this VBL model. That impacts customers, communities and vendors into the thousands of people who’ve been engaged with that system.”

Additional perspective

Like Pullen, Paul Mellott Jr. has seen Charlie in action. And he’s a believer in the model Luck Stone deploys.

“In 2005, Charlie had me come down [to Virginia] because he wanted to show me something,” says Mellott, who was enshrined in the Pit & Quarry Hall of Fame in 2013. “He met me at the airport when I landed. He took me into a room and told me all about Values Based Leadership. He was working with his company to learn what Values Based Leadership was. He said it was working and that I should think about this.”

Mellott’s company ultimately adopted Values Based Leadership. Now, Mellott swears by it.

“It changed our company culture,” he says.

Luck Stone’s industrywide impact extends beyond its people, though. Throughout its history, Luck Stone has pressed limits in terms of what’s possible technologically and what’s not.

That mindset continues under Charlie’s leadership.

“He has people constantly looking for better ways to do things,” Mellott says. “They just are unbelievable. He’s not afraid to try anything. He has really great people. I think that’s the best thing he has done, and that’s the best thing you want to be known for is hiring people who love your company and will never leave.”

Featured Photo: Luck Stone