Adam Orf believes that as a leader, continuing personal development and teaching others knowledge helps mode the next generation into the next industry leaders. “As a leader, you always have to be observant on what’s ahead and the next adventure,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what industry you are in; business is business and there are similarities at the top of each organization.”
That’s why he has soaked up the knowledge he gained as a Titan 100 while sharing more about his role as the president of Didion Orf Recycling. “It allows me to educate other business owners about safe practices to keep their sensitive data breach free when they choose a vendor for recycling their old equipment,” said Orf.
Didion Orf Recycling has two divisions – scrap metal and electronic recycling/resale. The company provides a service to the community by allowing the general public to drop off scrap metal and end of life electronics and get paid for their products. The firm also runs a fleet of trucks to service construction/demolition and manufacturers with a large inventory of roll off containers, trailers and box trucks for electronic pickups. Didion Orf Recycling sells metal directly to steel mills, foundries, smelters and refineries throughout the world.
Over the past year, Orf said he has focused on combatting turnover and improving the company culture. “It had to start at the top of the organization, including myself and our key executives,” he said. “I found that we needed to reconstruct our interview process and our onboarding process/orientation, which now includes a tour so potential employees see firsthand what the work would look like.”
Orf has also focused more on the electronics recycling and refurbishing division of the company while navigating new construction that involve more office space and two truck scales to accommodate a growing staff and the larger volume of semi-truck traffic coming through the facility.
One of the biggest leadership lessons Orf has learned this year is to lean more on his team to function the business. “I learned to stay out of the team’s way,” he said. “This gave them the freedom to make decisions and learn from the good ones and more expensively, the bad ones.”
In addition, Orf said he may not know everything, but his superpower is to find out who does. “If I can’t figure out obstacles, I find the talent and if they fit precise criteria, mostly culture wise, I’ll hire them,” he said.
For continuing to lead by example while empowering others, Orf has been named a second-time Titan 100.
