A Family Business Published March 7, 2014 By Chief Master Sgt. John G. Evalle 60th Air Mobility Wing command chief TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- As I'm out speaking with different groups of Airmen, I regularly refer to our service in the Air Force and to our country as a family business. I think the highest-functioning organizations create and maintain a culture where members feel their daily duties are valued and recognized by the organization. Furthermore, members of that organization feel appreciated and genuinely cared about. Workers in the best organizations are happy coming to work because they feel like they are part of a family. "Brothers in arms" is a term that has been around for a long time referring to fellow members in military service. Of course, our modern military family has brothers and sisters in arms. The culture of an organization is key to mission effectiveness and unit morale. In the book "Lead with LUV," the former CEO of Southwest Airlines, Colleen Barrett, describes how treating workers with respect, trusting them and valuing their input has produced a work force that enjoys coming to work. Consequently, their workers' enthusiasm and caring attitude is passed onto their customers. An organizational culture that fosters a happy work force tends to enjoy the benefits of high morale and members who take pride in their work. Their workers are consistently looking for more efficient ways to execute their tasks. Some commercial organizations put most of their focus on treatment of external customers, but as with Southwest Airlines, I want you to think about how we treat each other as internal customers within our Air Force ranks. Barrett goes on to describe the sad truth that we often treat those closest to us, our loved ones and co-workers, worse than we treat total strangers. Imagine you were eating at a restaurant and saw a stranger leave from a nearby table and forget his hat. You might grab the hat and run after him, but as you hand him his hat you would most likely not say, "You idiot. You'd forget your head if it wasn't screwed on." Unfortunately, that is sometimes how parents react to their children. This also can be the foundation of a toxic work environment. How we treat each other at work is at the core of a unit's positive culture. No one looks forward to a day of being treated poorly by co-workers and leaders of their company. Units with the highest morale would never tolerate leaders who treat their subordinates poorly. Great leaders understand that they set the tone in their organization for treating people with dignity and respect. Some might refer to this as the "secret sauce" of a high-performing unit. The highest-functioning Air Force organizations typically have groups of Airmen who have become close friends and they feel trusted, valued and cared for by unit leadership. They also take great pride in being a part of that professional work family. While I agree that leaders set the overall tone for an organization's culture, I don't think you need to be the squadron commander to treat people with dignity, respect and care about co-workers as if they were family members. Members at every level of the organization have a part in creating and maintaining this culture. Travis is an amazing assignment with stellar performing organizations because we have members at all levels that treat co-workers well and genuinely take care of the people around them. That's what true families do. We respect and take care of each other. Being a brother or sister in our profession of arms is a family business and I want to thank every Air Force member for being a part of this family and for their service to our country.