The quantity of major corporations, school districts, and other public entities building energy efficient buildings and practicing sustainable principles in their daily operations is way beyond a tipping point. Ray chronicled that effort in 2009 with another signature work, Confessions of a Radical Industrialist. 

The award-winning documentary film that focused on Interface, “So Right, So Smart,” is both a primer on sustainability as well as an unfolding tribute to Ray’s operational philosophy. He gives much credence to moving on a variety of fronts and employing as many strategies as needed to effect change.

Ray chronicles his personal transformation in Mid-Course Correction. He describes how a buttoned-up mainstream wealthy captain of industry preoccupied with his company’s corporate brand can evolve a totally different business model. In the process, he transforms his company, and Interface becomes even more profitable, innovative, and dynamic as the result of this reinvention. 

Ray’s journey was most notable for his taking such a huge risk and having the opportunity to live (in a business sense) to tell about it. He got out in front of a strategy that had the potential of re-engineering his whole industry, i.e., flooring and its allied products. And it paid off handsomely for a whole lot of people: this era’s gift that will keep on giving for generations to come.

In his speeches, Ray told stories of how his individual commitment influenced the behavior of both his braintrust and his rank and file employees. In the process, he shrewdly interwove enough drama to rivet listeners.

At every telling that I witnessed, Ray spoke so glowingly of how his people shaped his leadership style and those interactions shaped this new person that he had become. His humility in the telling was a refreshing element that spoke volumes about the man.

Associated with all of his latter-day successes, Ray’s greatest asset may have been his willingness to don the mantle of environmental advocate. Often as a lone voice in a highly charged corporate environment, his stance took a lot of moxie at a time when Ray and Interface had already made their mark.

In my former capacity as executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, I was fortunate to attend nearly a dozen of Ray’s presentations between 2005 and the time of his death. I heard Ray speak all over the country to large audiences at conferences and in small private settings. As a combination of articulate spokesman tinged with notable humanity and humor, Ray had the goods as a speechmaker as well as being a genuine person.

In his business life, Ray represented all of the great qualities of innovative leadership. Besides its industry bona fides, Interface is one of the leading companies bringing diversity into the sustainability workforce. Two of its vice presidents are African-Americans. Both of these executives are very active and visible within the green building industry. The significant presence of women, including the senior vice president of global marketing and the vice president for sustainability, is also evident throughout Interface’s corporate culture. 

Interface promotes a climate of respect for hard work and rewards innovation. For all intents and purposes, today’s Interface leadership has embraced the importance of Ray’s assiduous risk-taking for all that it is worth.