Clark Whitworth: Lessons from Leadership Conference
Focus on Values
A
s I began to write this message for
Winning Spirit, I wanted to make sure
that it was relevant to each of you, not only
as employees but as members of the community
in which you live. Over the last 30 years, while
working for the Larry H. Miller Group, I’ve had
the opportunity to learn many lessons from my
interactions with the owners as well as the great
employees of the Group.
What makes this Group great is that the
values and principles we follow were not
just taught to me by my leaders but also by
employees in many other positions in the
Group. The recent Who We Are event that
was held on February 20 was focused on
following the values of the Group. The values
of Integrity, Hard Work, Stewardship, and
Service were presented in different ways. Gail
and I spoke concerning the importance of our
values and encouraged everyone to continue
to learn and follow them every day. We also
had video presentations of actual employees
living these values and even had the people
who were involved in these videos speak at
the event. Hopefully, seeing these events and
hearing from those involved will help each of
us to recommit ourselves to understanding
and putting into action these fundamental
keys to our success.
Earlier this year, many of the leaders
of the Group gathered to discuss and
be instructed concerning values-based
leadership. The meetings were excellent
and the speakers were selected from both
the LHM Group as well as other successful
leaders from outside our Group. All of the
presentations were recorded and are available
ON, VISION,
&
GUIDING
NCIPLES
The Larry H. Miller Group of Companies
to view (vimeopro.com/LHMGroup/LC2018).
I encourage each of you to take some time
and view the messages that were delivered
during the conference.
I would like to share a few of the
highlights of the presentations that were
related to integrity and trust. Steve Starks,
LHMSE president, emphasized that the
LHM signature that we use on our logos and
signage is a symbol of our reputation that
was established by Larry. In all my time with
Larry, without question, it was not only our
integrity but how we managed the business
was that was the most important focus of the
organization.
General Hugh Shelton spoke of how
leaders must have integrity at all times and
that it can’t be compromised. He also said
that you can measure the quality of a leader
by the attitude of those who work for them.
Everything we have been taught or learned
from these two events—Who We Are and
the video presentations from Leadership
Conference—is critical to our ongoing success.
However, these values are just written
words unless we practice them every day and
make them part of who we are. I encourage
each of you to develop a personal action
Clark Whitworth, CEO, LHM Group of Companies
plan that will focus your actions and ensure
your individual commitment to the Group’s
mission, vision, and values. Marshall
Goldsmith, a presenter at Leadership
Conference, taught that as we follow our
personal action plan, it will lead to improved
work performance and personal growth. I am
grateful for everyone’s effort, and I challenge
you to focus daily on your individual part in
making this the best place in town to work
and the best place in town to do business. ◆
“These values are just written words
unless we practice them every day and
make them part of who we are. ”
Clark Whitworth,
Leadership Conference and Who We Are 2018: In today’s
digital age, the power to shape a company’s reputation has
shifted from an organization’s leadership to its employees,
customers, and anyone else who has a social media account.
It’s increasingly important that we, as a workforce, go beyond
being simply aware of our company’s mission, vision, and
values. Instead, employees should personify them and help
make them part of our corporate culture. We each own a part
of the company culture by the way we engage with coworkers,
customers, and the community. As Clark Whitworth
emphasized, “These values are just written words unless we
practice them every day and make them part of who we are.”
Discussion ideas for managers, leaders, and teams:
1. As you take time to explore the video
assets from Leadership Conference
(vimeopro.com/LHMGroup/LC2018) and Who
We Are (vimeopro.com/LHMGroup/WWA2018),
what lessons or instructions would be most
beneficial for your team/coworkers?
2. Which company value(s) do you or your team
most strongly represent and why? What areas
could be stronger, and what can you do to help
make that happen?
LHMWSM.com
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