

Placing Culture at the Core
A company does not continue to see growth and development without emphasizing the key contributors that drive success. How employees view a company’s culture is not just a recruiting tool—it’s the lifeblood of a company. Creating the right culture from your company takes long-term vision and execution. Simply visualizing a group of happy, productive employees sending virtual high fives is not enough to instill a uniformed mentality and state of wellbeing. The cultural DNA consists of goals, values, habits, systems, and beliefs. And according to this year’s Utah Top 100 keynote speaker, Ron McMillan, respect is the number one principle at the foundation of any successful organization.
Respect: A Choice Independent of Behavior
Ron McMillan spoke of a personal encounter with a hostage negotiator. He was intrigued to learn that the hostage negotiator goes into every situation with respect in his heart for the perpetrator, because people have a natural propensity to sense disrespect towards them. After Ron’s conversation with the negotiator, he began to understand the importance of respect among all lines of business communication. The dividing difference between effective and nonproductive relationships is respect. According to Ron, we should choose to be respectful. “Treating others with respect does not depend on how we are treated,” he said. “It is our choice independent of others’ behavior.”