2017 Men of the Year: Steve Fox

Motivating Factors

Family: My wife, Bird, and I met in high school in Monett and went to three proms together. We have six kids: Taylor, Christina, Datlef, Emma, Dalton and Elise.
Childhood dream: After I realized the NFL wasn’t in my future, I wanted to be an oceanographer as I love being around water and was enamored with scuba diving. While that obviously didn’t happen, my favorite place on the planet is spending time at Table Rock Lake.

As regional president for U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), Steve Fox leads 550 associates across 70 bank branches in the southern half of Missouri.  For him, leadership boils down to service and communication.

“My job is to help others be successful and realize their potential,” Fox says. “Success is realized from a team as opposed to an individual.”

U.S. Bank associate Melissa Boyd says Fox helped propel her career when he hired her as a district manager.

“I was young, less experienced than the other candidates and nine months pregnant,” she says. “He saw something in me that he knew he could develop into a successful manager.”

Today, Boyd is a bank vice president and director of sales.

“Steve created a climate on our team where winning was fun and expected,” she adds. “Several members of the team Steve leads have been developed and promoted due to his mentorship and support, myself included.”

Fox says he abides by the philosophy that “if serving is below you, then leadership is above you.” In communication, he tries to recognize contributions and successes through cards, calls, emails and awards.

“You cannot over-communicate,” Fox says. “We try to be as open and transparent as possible. It is imperative to make everyone feel a part of the team and to understand the importance of their individual jobs and how they contribute to the success.”

That’s where rewards and recognition come into play.

“A person who feels appreciated will always do more than what is expected,” he adds.

The effort has translated into the southern Missouri district, dubbed by associates like Boyd as “the Fox region,” often ranking in the top five throughout U.S. Bank. Additionally, several managers on Fox’s teams have earned the bank’s prestigious Pinnacle Award as top performers in the company.

Fox takes his teamwork approach into civic affairs, where he has served on a dozen nonprofit and community boards.

He’s currently a board member and chairman for the United Way of the Ozarks annual campaign and on the advisory board for Salvation Army. He’s also a member of the Missouri Bankers Association and the Greene County Financial Advisory Task Force. Past leadership positions were as president of the Springfield Business Development Corp. and the Springfield Public Schools Foundation, and as treasurer of the Hickory Hills Country Club. Fox, a graduate of the sixth class of Leadership Springfield, also has served on the boards of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, Junior Achievement and the Springfield Landmarks Preservation Trust.

Prior to working for U.S. Bank, Fox served 10 years as president and CEO of Quest Capital Alliance, a local private equity investment firm, and before that about a dozen years with Boatmen’s Bank of Southern Missouri/Bank of America. After graduating with business administration and MBA degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia, Fox started his career in the Dallas market working at Interfirst Bank and Cherrywood Development Trust.