The Allen County-Scottsville Class of 2019 received words of wisdom from a hometown son that built and guided one of the nation’s major discount retailer during a special assembly Friday, October 19. Allen County native and retired CEO of Dollar General, Cal Turner Jr. spoke to the senior class offering a fascinating look into his life, the lives of his family, and the building of the Dollar General Corporation.
Last summer, each Allen County-Scottsville High School staff member and rising senior received a copy of Turner’s book “My Father’s Business: The Small-Town Values that Built Dollar General into a Billion-Dollar Company.” The gift not only promoted the release of Turner’s second book but also presented local students and community members with the unique inside look at the core values of a family with deep roots in Allen County. Last week, Turner made a personal visit to the high school to speak to the seniors.
“As you walked in, I was thinking about myself when I was your age and how the future felt to me,” Turner said in his opening remarks. “There is so much ahead for you to do in your life. I want you to go for it and I hope this book helps.”
Turner started his 40-minute presentation with a history lesson about the tragic and humble beginnings of the Turner family legacy.
“The company started in the most unlikely circumstances you can imagine when my 11-year old grandfather suddenly became the head of the family when his father was accidently killed,” Turner explained. “He had three younger sisters, a heavy-mortgaged farm, and a third-grade education. That doesn’t sound like someone that would found an organization that would one day be a Fortune 500 company does it?”
The book traces three generations of the Turner family, starting with Luther Turner. As he started to share stories and highlights from the book, Turner challenged the students.
“I would like for you to think about yourself and look for common traits in Luther Turner, Cal Turner, and perhaps in Cal Turner Jr so you can think about your development as a leader,” Turner asked. “You are called to be a leader.”
Throughout the talk---without notes in more of a conversation style as a grandfather would speak to grandkids---Turner highlighted the lessons and values instilled in him from his grandfather and father.
“Luther Turner had going for him is the assumption that everyone he met was smarter than him therefore he should learn something from everybody he met,” Turner noted. “A leader is a life-long learner and I hope that you are inspired to learn all you can in all of your life. Luther also believed in hard work and he believed in saving something out of every check. He saved something out of every check and if he had not done that there would not be a Dollar General today. It was his financial muscle that got the company through.”
In speaking of his father, Turner pointed that his father was a unique individual as is each member of the senior class.
“My dad, as an only child, found that he naturally liked everyone and that everyone liked him,” Turner said. “You are a unique idea. God has something in mind for you that different from everybody else. That’s what I mean about “My Fathers Business.” I think you are here today to pursue your unique version of My Fathers Business.
Turner also touched on the uniqueness that comes from growing up and living in a small, close-knit community.
“What are the values of a small town,” Turner asked. “I want you to understand the past Scottsville and Allen County so you can go to your contribution to the future of Scottsville and Allen County. My dad used to say that small town is the best place to grow up cause you have to have good behavior because if you get caught, everyone will know about it. It is good to learn how to connect with people. If you grow up in New York City, I don’t think you would know how to connect with people as well as you would know how to connect to people growing up in Allen County. There is something very special about that.”
The students also were reminded that life will bring with it failure with valuable lessons to be learned.
“I predict that when you are 78, you will look back and you will see that some of your greatest opportunities and some of your greater lessons came to you when you weren’t successful,” Turner added. “My father also believed that if you have failure earlier, you are better off than if you have failure later. Learn to learn from failure. God is trying to teach you when things are not going exactly right.”
Turner used his father as the example of how one should learn to meet needs by living a life of service.
“Cal Senior believed in understanding the customer and the customer needs,” Turner said before turning the conversation to the world we live in. “There is so much need in society today. Dollar General really started going well when we adapted a two-word mission statement, serving others. The world is full of people that serve self, who serve us, who serve career, who serve accomplishment. I believe that the persons who are the most blessed are the persons who get that life isn’t about self, it’s about others and about helping others.”
In one of several personal stories, Turner talked about his “elevator ministry,” his idea that even in an elevator one can learn from others. Turner further explained how he believed that communicating value and application to others is also a key to learning about others and showing that you value their life.
“You can communicate to another person in 10 seconds that I value you,” Turner said. “Smile as if you really mean it. Life is full, it’s rich.”
Turner also asked the seniors a question before explaining briefly about the process that went into a making a very tough business decision---a decision that not only had company ramifications but also family issues to consider.
“What are you going to do in your future when you have tough decisions to make,” Turner asked. “I share in the book the process I went through about the decision I made to fire my brother. It tore the family and the company apart but it created life’s greatest opportunity for the company and my brother. I am so proud of him. He and I are closer as brothers as a result of that happening. Geting family right is hard, getting life right is hard.”
In addition to speaking to the Class of 2019, Turner lunched with the class of 2019 Pride Masters---the leadership development program underway at AC-SH. Turner also visited the Allen County Adult Learning Center to learn more about literacy education work underway in the community. The Dollar General Literacy Foundation---chaired by Turner---recently awarded a $10,000 grant to Adult Education.