Smart Business Magazine, June 2016

10 Smart Business Akron Canton June 2016 LEE ELLIS LEADING WITH HONOR Culture leadership Soft skills build strong teams optimize your company employees Zappos com is a compelling example of building culture and employee engagement with its staff and customers The company is so committed to creating a culture of passionate engaged employees that they now offer 5000 to anyone that would like to leave the company at the end of the training period If a one time bonus exceeds ones commitment to the Zappos brand then they want to know at the beginning of the relationship Their cultural development process is more than a tactical plan its a deeper layer that taps into the emotions and deep desires of human nature Building culture Even in challenging times in the prisoner of war camps of Vietnam our senior leaders instinctively created a winning culture to fuel passion and commitment with me and my comrades Heres how they did it As the senior ranking officer in the camps in the early years Lt Col Robbie Risner wasted no time in issuing simple and direct guidance Im in charge and heres what I want you to do Be a good American Live by the Code of Conduct Resist up to the point of permanent physical or mental damage and then no more Give as little as possible and then bounce back to resist again Pray every day Go home proud Risners policies passed quickly through the camps via covert communications clarifying our mission vision and values for what would turn out to be a long war Values beliefs Organizational cultures are shaped by the values and beliefs established by leaders and shared by the people and groups in the organization Positive cultures increase motivation teamwork and commitment With a clear understanding about core values operating styles and standards of behavior people can focus their talents and energies toward common goals A common mindset also enables people to operate independently while remaining aligned together Establishing a culture requires clarity commitment and creativity Once the culture is defined it must be communicated fervently and frequently until it is caught and bought in every corner and on every level of the organization The big payoff Whats the payoff for creating strong employee engagement and a positive culture A Gallup survey found that organizations that engage their employees grow their earnings more than 25 times faster than organizations that do not Its an emotional process that yields positive strategic and tactical outcomes What has been your experience and tactical steps to creating a winning culture Think of the organizations that have strong connections with you more than great service or products you have a strong emotional connection with them To achieve this level of engagement theyve likely worked very hard to create an internal culture that reflects their external culture LEE ELLIS President Leadership Freedom LLC Lee is a nationally recognized consultant presenter and retired U S Air Force colonel He shares his expertise in the areas of leadership team building and human performance His latest award winning book about his Vietnam prisoner of war experience is entitled Leading with Honor Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton www leadingwithhonor com www linkedin com in leonleeellis www facebook com LeonLeeEllis @ LeonLeeEllis www pinterest com leonleeellis www youtube com user freedomstarmedia leonleeellis wordpress com