When people speak of Don Soderquist, descriptions usually involve words like this:
Moral.
What’s the point?
We offer respect for the life Don Soderquist chose to live and condolences to his family and friends.
Character.
A servant.
Leadership.
Values.
It was usually after such descriptions one might also recall he rose to be the chief operating officer and vice chairman of Walmart Stores Inc. in a 22-year career with the Bentonville-based retail behemoth. For a lot of people, a prominent position at the home office would be the first thing others might bring up. Soderquist's leadership, his life, made it clear he wasn't about a title or position, but about how he related to people.
Early this year, this newspaper published a special section, often referred to internally as a "progress" edition, in which Jeremy Wilson was profiled. He's president, CEO and managing partner of NewRoad Ventures, a Bentonville-based venture capital firm, as well as founder and chairman of Now Diagnostics, a Springdale firm that develops diagnostic tests. He counted Soderquist among the most influential people in his life, and his description went like this:
"I never worked directly for Don, but I got to travel with him a lot. I got to see how Don approached people, approached problems, developed organizations. What I loved about Don is he had this real balance of softness and firmness. He had high expectations for the organization, but he gave people a lot of grace. One time he told me that if you do what's right you will never be wrong. He said it's a hard thing to do, but if you carry that philosophy through your career and through your life, you will look back at the end of it and feel very good about the things you've done."
Don Soderquist, 82, died last week due to complications from heart surgery, a loss made even more heartbreaking by its suddenness. We offer our condolences to his family and the many touched by him and the choices he made in the way he conducted himself.
With his wife JoAnn, he gave back to the community in too many ways to list, but their philanthropy will continue to influence lives for many decades to come. His devotion to passing on vital lessons he picked up over the years has undoubtedly lifted the expectations in our region and beyond for what exceptional leadership looks like.
Northwest Arkansas has many great leaders and others in their formative stages. All can learn valuable lessons from the life of Don Soderquist.
Commentary on 07/27/2016