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As competition in the private sector continues to become more and more competitive, companies looking for a way to differentiate themselves are increasingly turning to corporate culture as a key differentiator.
Valor
Hanna Howard
Corporate culture is no longer just a workplace buzzword, and even the most unimaginative of organizations have begun to move away from the stale “work hard, play hard” mantra.
Now more than ever, companies are putting an ever-increasing amount of effort into building a unique corporate culture that resonates with the employees it represents.
At Valor, we believe corporate culture should reflect the organization’s core values, ethics, beliefs, and how your employees interact with one another in an environment where each individual feels seen, heard, and valued.
From Coaching to Corporate America
I’ve always been part of team-oriented environments, which has been the greatest asset in my transition from coaching to corporate leadership.
Being a member of teams throughout my life has been invaluable in developing my natural leadership skills. I believe everyone can be a leader — it just takes an intentional effort to learn about yourself and what strengths you have to offer the team.
My coaching career was instrumental in defining my transformational leadership style. As most people know, coaching at the collegiate level comes with extremely high expectations for success. I’m someone who thrives under pressure — and being a coach at the collegiate level offers plenty of it.
Both of these experiences have been so valuable for me in the transition to corporate leadership. Teamwork and competitiveness — that inner drive to win — both fall right in line with the culture and climate here at Valor.
Similarities in Coaching and Culture
The commonalities of coaching and culture are endless.
One of the biggest challenges and most satisfying accomplishments as a coach is in building a program from the ground up, so your culture can stand on its own as a tangible asset. To get there takes an incredible amount of intentionality. Everything from how you structure your offseason, how you recruit, assigning designated roles or positions on a team, and the style or system you implement — these factors all contribute to building the foundation of your culture.
I find it easy to connect the dots from my coaching experience to my current role as COO. I play a vital role in shaping our company's character, exemplifying our advantage in the marketplace, identifying needed roles and functions to support our service lines, as well as strategizing priorities for continued growth. But nothing is more important than evaluating, nurturing, and retaining talent in the workplace.
In sports, it’s a roster. In the boardroom, it’s an organizational chart. Ultimately, you’re setting people up for success, so, they can continually contribute to the company’s growth and expansion.
What Today’s Employees Want (and Need) From Leadership
Trustworthiness is vital. Trust can be a catalyst for greatness, but lack of it can break anything.
Over the years, I’ve built trust by demonstrating an intentionality in how I go about things. I believe being consistent, vulnerable, and approachable is imperative in leadership roles – it’s what employees today want to see firsthand.
Leadership isn’t just a title because people don’t follow titles.
Leadership is about influence. And my greatest influence on others isn’t earned from a position of power or authority, but rather through the quality of the relationships I’m able to develop. This is what employees want to see from their leaders.
To that end, Valor has developed initiatives that address these needs, implementing opportunities for employees to share their perspective, expertise, ideas, and input — all in a safe and inclusive environment where each individual feels seen, heard, and valued. We’ve also begun an internal management development program (MDP), open to all employees, which provides a curriculum to develop our leaders of tomorrow.
Building a Unique Culture That Resonates
I believe there are certain tenets of leadership. For instance, before you can lead others, you have to be capable of leading yourself. And to do so effectively, you must know yourself. It sounds simple, but it takes incredible vulnerability and strength to accomplish. It’s important to demonstrate leadership that’s seen as transformational, as not everyone responds to the same approach.
You have to know the members of your team on an individual basis — their strengths, capabilities, and where their potential lies in contributing to the company’s success. As for culture — above all, it should be authentic, which ties directly back to leadership. Establishing a corporate culture that resonates with employees has to come from within, because it’s very personal to the company. Whatever culture you build, how you nurture it, and how you maintain it should always spring from a personal and internal place.
Hanna Howard serves as the chief operating officer at Fort Worth-based Valor, a specialty asset management company with expertise in providing mineral management, and oil and gas outsourcing. As COO, she’s responsible for project management, internal communications, and strategic planning. Prior to joining Valor, Howard was the associate head coach and defensive coordinator of the TCU women’s basketball team. Howard earned her bachelor’s degree in organizational communication from the University of Portland, where she played college basketball, and received her master’s degree from Concordia University, Irvine in Coaching and Athletic Administration and Sports Science. She can be reached at [email protected].