Ann Rhoades & Nancy Shepherson 
Built on Values 
Creating an Enviable Culture that Outperforms the Competition

Most leaders know that a winning, engaged culture is the key to
attracting top talent–and customers. Yet, it remains elusive
how exactly to create this ideal workplace –one where
everyone from the front lines to the board room knows the
company’s values and feels comfortable and empowered to act
on them.

Based on Ann Rhoades’ years of experience with Jet Blue,
Southwest, and other companies known for their trailblazing
corporate cultures, Built on Values reveals exactly
how leaders can create winning environments that allow their
employees and their companies to thrive. Companies that create or
improve values-based cultures can become higher performers, both in
customer and employee satisfaction and financial return, as proven
by Rhoades’ work with Jet Blue, Southwest Airlines, Disney,
Loma Linda University Hospitals, Doubletree Hotels, Juniper
Networks, and P.F. Chang’s China Bistros.

Built on Values provides a clear blueprint for how to
accomplish culture change, showing:

* How to exceed the expectations of employees and customers

* How to develop a Values Blueprint tailored to your
organization’s goals and put it into action

* Why it’s essential to hire, fire, and reward people based on
values alone, and

* How to establish a discipline for sustaining a
values-centric culture

Built on Values helps companies get on the pathway to
greatness by showing the exact steps for either curing an ailing
company culture or creating a new one from scratch.

Table of Content

Foreword v
by Steven R. Covey

Introduction: Launching a Culture Change the Right Way ix

1 Is a values-based culture worth the effort? 1

2 So how’s that working for you?’: uncover your company’s true values 17

3 Craft your values blueprint: the foundation of everything 33

4 Fill your company with a players: a values-based way to hire 51

5 Let your employees impress you: implement a value-centered metrics system 71

6 Reward culture change: values as a competitive advantage 91

7 Astonish your employees: inspire culture change from the c-suite 111

8 Reinforce your values culture: be excessive about communication 129

9 Continuous discipline: create a plan for culture maintenance 151

Leader’s Toolbox 169

Notes 205

References 211

Acknowledgments 215

About the Authors 219

Index 221

About the author

ANN RHOADES IS PRESIDENT OF PEOPLE INK, which helps companies build values-based corporate cultures using the Values Blueprint principles, and CEO of Care Leaders, LLC. She was one of the five founding executives of Jet Blue Airways, Chief People Officer for Southwest Airlines, and Executive Vice President of Team Services at Doubletree and Promus Hotel Corporations. Today, she continues to serve on the Jet Blue Board of Directors, as well as on the boards of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro; Hire Vue, Inc.; Anderson School of Business at the University of New Mexico; ACCION New Mexico * Arizona * Colorado; and is board chair of Safer New Mexico Now. She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

For more information, please visit www.peopleink.com

Nancy Shepherdson is a freelance journalist who has written more than 500 articles and five books over the past twenty years.