My Grandfather was as an authentic leader as you could get in the 1930s

My Grandfather was as an authentic leader as you could get in the 1930s

Cutting trees, plowing fields with mules, and suckering tobacco ain’t for the faint of heart, Papaw T.D. Gunther would say, but I love it all.

My grandfather was a transparent, soft-spoken, honest man. When he gave you his word, he stood firm on it.

He had high standards and expected the landowners he worked for to follow his advice on cutting timber. He would mark trees and if a tree showed up at Uncle Kell’s mill that didn’t have his mark, he would never mark and cut trees for you again. To say he was principled would be an understatement.

Papaw was a man of integrity, always acting in the best interests of the landowner and the people he worked with. He earned respect. He built trust between himself, the saw men, the truckers, and the landowner.

In this kind of work so, he would say, you gotta work as a team. Trust is most important.

To be around Papaw was to be around a giant of a man standing 6 foot 6 inches. He had a way of making people feel comfortable, whether it was in the woods or at the courthouse.

Although he had a difficult and often dangerous job, he went at it with passion. He had consistent and solid values and led with his heart and his head. He established long-term, workable, and meaningful relationships that lasted his lifetime. And he showed self-discipline, never rushing through a job.

Do it, right boys, he would say between a smoke of his pipe, and you won’t have to do it but once.  

And he was one of the best listeners that ever mentored me.