One of the hottest words for leaders today is culture. Culture affects perception. It influences behavior and it shapes our personalities. Creating culture is a concentrated, conscious choice.

Tony Hsieh, the late former CEO of Zappos, said, “If you get the culture right, most of the other stuff will just take care of itself.”

Creating a positive, high-performing, people-focused, result-oriented environment does not just happen. It takes a tremendous amount of work and soul-searching and cannot occur without both. It is what separates the highest-performing organizations.

Every company has a culture, intentional or unintentional, desirable or undesirable. Managers and leaders influence culture by the attention they give it. Those who focus on culture tend to create a vibrant environment, while those who ignore culture end up with a struggling and confused workplace.

Hence, leaders must make creating a positive culture a priority. Employees recognize the difference between a workplace where they want to come to work, feel valued and know what the company stands for. Customers notice as well.

Leadership author Glenn Van Ekeren observes: “Culture is movable, fluctuating, shifting. It requires continual attention, nurturing, direction and adjustments. Culture doesn’t function well on automatic pilot. It flourishes when leadership is continually passionate about infusing culture with their influence.”

Van Ekeren said you have to be there for people and demonstrate that you have their back and best interests at heart. He mentioned the conversation between Winnie the Pooh and his dear friend Piglet. Piglet crept up to Pooh from behind and said, “Pooh?”

“Yes, Piglet?”

“Nothing,” Piglet replied. “I just wanted to be sure of you.”

In an organization with a healthy culture, employees should never have to ask to be sure. You cannot build a culture if you are disconnected from your people.

Culture at a company is everyone’s responsibility, but leadership is heavily responsible for its development. Employees and middle managers will learn what their bosses permit and reward, and will enforce it on each other. And if management fails at any point, it requires immediate proactive effort to mitigate the damage.

So how does an organization develop a desirable culture? I can tell you what I did when I started my company, and we continue to do six decades later.

Know why you are in business. What is your purpose? Set goals, and make them known throughout the company, so your employees understand what’s important to your business.

Hire thoughtfully and carefully. Ask questions during interviews and make your position regarding expectations crystal clear. I believe in being completely upfront about what we need, because I don’t want to waste my time or theirs training someone who isn’t a team player. And I don’t hesitate to fire an employee who won’t comply.

Lead by example. Staff should look forward to coming to work and doing a stellar job. Recognize and reward people for their efforts. Give credit where it is due. And absolutely be the first to admit when you’ve messed up. Then let folks know how you are going to fix it.

Love what you do. I know I may sound like a broken record, but if you don’t love what you do, you will have a hard time doing it well. Your attitude will show whether you are just in it for the money or if you really want to make a difference.

Mackay’s Moral: A team culture is a living organism. Feed it and watch it grow.

A small boy was auditioning with his classmates for a school play. His mother knew that he'd set his heart on being in the play -- just like all the other children hoped -- and she feared how he would react if he was not chosen. On the day the parts were awarded, the little boy's mother went to the school gates to collect her son. The boy rushed up to her, eyes shining with pride and excitement.

“Guess what, Mom?” he shouted, and then said some words that provide a lesson to us all: “I've been chosen to clap and cheer.”

Not everyone gets to play the part they want, but a positive attitude like this little boy’s goes a long way.

I am an eternal optimist. I firmly believe that there is hardly anything we can’t do if we set our minds to it. It helps to be realistic -- I know I am never going to pitch in the World Series, but I can be a player/manager of a top-notch company. I took a big gamble getting my company off the ground, but I’ve never looked back.

All the technology in the world will never replace a positive attitude. It’s good to know that a positive attitude can be booted up anywhere, anytime, by anyone.

In these uncertain times, we are bombarded by bad news and human misery, criticism and pessimism, so it’s understandable that we all get a little down from time to time. Fight it. I have never met a successful pessimist.

The mind can convince competent people that they are incompetent, or conversely that merely adequate performers are highly talented. Unfortunately, self-doubt and negative attitudes seem to have a more powerful influence on the mind than positive attitudes.

So, concentrate on developing a positive attitude. Here are some ideas.

-- Savor pleasure. We are good about experiencing pleasure at special events like parties, but try and focus your attention on pleasant daily things as they occur. Celebrate the little things.

-- Practice gratitude. It takes only two words to say, “Thank you.” It takes only one word to say, “Please.” It’s so easy to say thank you, and it can have such a powerful impact. Gratitude should be a continuous attitude. Have you told the people around you how grateful you are for their roles in your life? You might be surprised at how they respond -- perhaps because no one has ever told them they’ve made a difference.

-- Emphasize the positive. Attitudes are contagious, and you will be a welcome carrier of this condition! A Harvard Special Health Report published in Positive Psychology found that older people tend to minimize the negative, accept their limitations and use their experience to compensate. The earlier in life that people adopt these practices, the better they sustain a positive attitude.

-- Surround yourself with positive people. Negativity makes a person look at the land of milk and honey and see only calories and cholesterol.

-- Try to make other people happy. Consider how you would like to be treated and try to put yourself in their place. Look for win-win situations where everyone can have a positive outcome.

-- Listen to other ideas and give others credit. There is no “i” in team, but there are two i’s in positive. It means that “I” must be positive to help my team be positive, and to perform our best.

-- Focus on what you get to do. As the song says, “You can’t always get what you want,” but usually you can get some satisfaction. Focus on small victories as well as major ones.

-- Practice handling rejection. If there is anything that can get you down, it’s being constantly rejected. Rejection is a fact of life. It’s going to happen. Don’t take it personally. Learn from it, but don’t wallow in it. Rejection doesn’t have to be permanent.

It’s like the old farmer who was celebrating his 90th birthday. He'd seen it all -- the Dust Bowl, years of flooding rains and scorching heat, banks taking back mortgages on every farm in the county. But through it all, he'd remained positive and determined, even downright cheerful. His family and friends pressed him for his secret to maintain his optimism.

“It ain't so hard,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “I just learned early on to cooperate with the inevitable.”

Violet is chasing Charlie Brown in a “Peanuts” cartoon yelling, “It’s no use running! I’ll get you! I’ll knock your block off!”

Charlie then turns around and says, “Wait a minute! Hold everything! We can’t carry on like this! We have no right to act this way ... The world is filled with problems ... People hurting other people ... People not understanding other people ... Now, if we, as children, can’t solve what are relatively minor problems, how can we ever expect to ..."

In the next frame Violet punches Charlie Brown and explains to her friend, “I had to hit him quick ... He was beginning to make sense!”

Unlike most of us, Violet clearly is not afraid of confrontation. I suspect that most people would prefer to avoid confrontation. It is more in our nature to get out of the way.

NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw, who saw his share of confrontation on the field, said, “I don’t like confrontation.” He’s on Team Charlie Brown.

But NFL coaching great Bill Parcells disagrees, saying, “I think confrontation is healthy, because it clears the air very quickly.” Score one for Team Violet.

Confrontations can be difficult, but they are a very essential aspect of relationships. The most essential aspect of confrontation is honest communication, clarity and confession.

When confrontation is handled properly, it establishes clear lines of communication. It should never be about punishing or humiliating people. You want to express yourself without blaming others.

Duke University basketball Hall-of-Famer Mike Krzyzewski said, “Confrontation simply means meeting the truth head-on.”

It starts with overcoming your fear of confrontation. Most of us think of confrontation in negative terms -- people who are assertive, aggressive, hostile and so on. We’re focused on the outcome instead of the issues. One of the best ways to overcome your fear of confrontation is to prepare for it. What do you want to say? Think about what you want to accomplish from the conversation. What is your goal? Do you want to make a specific point?

If you enter any confrontation in attack mode, chances are you’re not going to get a satisfactory result.

Glenn Van Ekeren in his book “Little Leadership Lessons ... From an Old Guy” outlines some simple yet profound considerations he has found useful that I would like to expound on.

Be factual. Do you have the complete story, including the other side? If not, ask and then listen. Avoid rumors and perceptions.

Be fair. Confrontation is not a ticket for personal attack. It should always be about the issues. Accept responsibility if you were in the wrong. Don’t make it into a competition. Look for solutions together. Keep in control of your emotions.

Be firm and honest. Too often, people hide their feelings and bite their tongue because they don’t want to offend anyone. It’s the wrong approach. Tell it as you see it -- with tact and compassion. People will appreciate your honesty.

Be respectful and polite. Be approachable, pleasant and nonargumentative. Let people know you appreciate and care about them. Be calm. Don’t lose your cool. I repeat, don’t make it personal.

If all else fails and the other person isn’t willing to have a constructive conversation, it’s OK to simply walk away and revisit things at a later time, when both parties have had time to mull things over.

Of course, there are occasions when immediate action is required, as illustrated by this story. This fanciful legend is told as the transcript of a radio transmission between two different naval operators.

OPERATOR 1: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the south, to avoid a collision.

OPERATOR 2: Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid a collision.

O1: Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision.

02: WE ARE A LARGE NAVAL VESSEL ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, I SAY AGAIN, THAT IS 15 DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTERMEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.

O1: We are a lighthouse. Your call.

Mackay’s Moral: You can’t change what you refuse to confront.