It is not the title that reflects the leadership of any individual, leadership is known by the personal attributes of leaders such as charisma, eloquence, perseverance, and vision accompanied by the skills of communication, connection, and collaboration. Richard Waryn is a noteworthy instance of these attributes. Richard is the Owner and CEO of a 3PL Logistics Management company, LDK Logistics.
Richard is responsible for all high-level decisions, financial structuring, and providing strategic vision for the company. Previously, he spent over 20 years in international private equity managing a series of funds that invested in a wide variety of companies throughout Europe, Asia, Russia and the Middle East. He was based in Washington DC, London, Moscow and Dubai. Prior to acquiring LDK, he ran part of the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Dubai and worked directly with Sheikh Mohamed and his team. According to Richard, “it was in interesting ride”! Richard did his graduate studies in Finance and Economics at Harvard University and completed his B.SC in Geoscience at the University of Toronto. Among the deals that he did in his private equity career were a turnaround on ESCADA, the woman’s global fashion brand, building the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Prague, and many infrastructure projects throughout Asia including power plants, telecoms networks, toll roads and cement projects. Currently, Richard is focusing on growing the logistics business and creating outstanding customer service and a positive work environment for all employees.
Providing Exceptional Services
LDK logistics was founded on the principle that exceptional service must be innovative, flexible, flawless and exceed expectations. The company is Inside Delivery Agent of choice for the most discerning customers, be it high tech computer servers , specialized medical equipment, telecommunications gear, retail racking, kiosks/ATMs, electronic displays, trade show or other high value/high visibility items and situations. Its skills in planning and execution of complex white glove, non-dock deliveries are regularly trusted and tested by those who know best. To reflect the exceptionally high level of service LDK provides the company trademarked the phrase “Velvet Glove”.
Rather than using national agreements, agents are individually evaluated and selected to provide the “best of the best” in terms of complete and deep national coverage. This approach has led LDK to be uniquely positioned to apply the right tools for each specific service.
LDK has developed its own in-house enterprise software system that manages the full life cycle of its projects. This includes a vender rating database that ensures that LDK’s project managers consistently select the right teams for the right jobs.
Serving Customers Better
Currently, the company is in the process of acquiring specialized trucking companies around the US that will broaden its capabilities to service its customers’ needs better. It also pays a lot of attention to its customers’ expectations. LDK recently also diversified its vendor base and is constantly building out its custom software platform to better integrate with its customers’ systems. LDK’s proprietary, in-house IT platform enables its team to focus less on the tedious details and more on servicing its customers to the best of their abilities. Richard is constantly striving to continue to expand in terms of the company’s customer mix, service offerings, and technological leadership.
Stepping out of the Way
Richard mentions that LDK logistics is a customer service focused company. As such, its people are its main strength and resource. Richard firmly believes in avoiding micromanagement and letting his team do their work to the best of their abilities. He is always available to support them in any way he can. He also believes that a positive working environment is critical to mission success.
In his opinion, vision, stability, self-confidence, empathy, reasonable risk-tolerance, and the ability to step out of the way and let people and processes do what they need to do are some of the essential attributes every CEO should possess.
Creating A Healthy Environment
In his tenure of being a private equity fund manager, Richard invested in many companies across the globe. One thing he learned is that people’s motivations and business needs are pretty much the same across geographies and sectors. People generally want to do a good job, feel appreciated, and ultimately be rewarded for their efforts. According to Richard, leaders that understand this and can create the right environments end up winning big.
Words of Wisdom
In his advice to enlighten upcoming leaders, Richard states, “Be open to experiences beyond your comfort zone. You might discover new passions you never knew you had. Work hard, don’t complain too much and have a vision for how you want to live and do what you can to help others reach their potentials. Helping others is a reward in itself and bringing good people together who are motivated to do their best is when the magic happens!”