It’s My Pleasure – Chick-Fil-A’s Compelling Culture Continued

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The Essence of a Compelling Culture

The culture of an institution, I’ve come to learn, is not just one of the things you manage.  It ultimately affects everything that goes on in the institution.  You have to understand it, shape it, and talk about it, and you have to lead it.  – Lou Gerstner, CEO, IBM (retired)

Truett Cathy modeled servant leadership before it had a name or was all the rage among business gurus.  From the very beginning, he based his business on Biblical principles that made it clear how he would treat his employees and his guests.

Truett believed that businesses are built on growing relationships with customers, and culture is created by the stories those relationships tell.

Dee Ann Turner explains, “I learned from [Truett] the importance of selecting and growing great talent and coaching that talent to preserve and strengthen a phenomenal culture.  Truett always believed that if you select the right person again and again, that the collection of the character, competency, and chemistry of those people would develop and strengthen the culture over time.”

 

Creating a Compelling Culture

Creating a strong, compelling culture requires intentionality and vision.  To build a compelling culture, your organization must take several critical steps:

1. Begin with a clear purpose for existing. Why are we in business?  Chick-Fil-A’s purpose is “To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that has been entrusted to us.  To be a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-Fil-A.”  It serves as a daily reminder to everyone who passes through our doors why Chick-Fil-A is in business.
2. Describe a challenging mission. What are we in business to do?
3. Determine core values. These values are the fundamental beliefs that inform decisions, actions, and behaviors and rest at the heart of culture.  Core values answer these key questions:  What do we believe in?  How do we express those beliefs?  Here are Chick-Fil-A’s core values:
   • Excellence: Businesses do not become excellent in the big areas without focusing on the small details, too.
   • Integrity: Team members and staff all have to trust that we will do what we say we will do, how we say we will do it, and when we say we will do it.  The greatest example of Truett’s integrity was his decision to remain closed on Sundays.  He believed that everyone needed a day each week to rest and focus on family or other interests.
   • Loyalty: Truett modeled loyalty, especially in relationships.
   • Generosity was at the heart of who Truett was, and he wrote a book entitled The Generosity Factor. Chick-Fil-A’s leadership model (SERVE – See my summary of Ken Blanchard & Mark Miller’s The Secret for more) was based on leaders doing five things:
     • See and shape the future
     • Engage and develop others
     • Reinvent continuously
     • Value results and relationships
     • Embody the company values

4. Guiding Principles are needed to act as “true North” on the compass of an organization. The principles serve as a guide to what the organization does, why it does it, and how it does it.  A painting of a mountain climber hangs in Truett’s office with this inscription, “No goal is too high if we climb with care and confidence.”  He was known for often saying, especially when reviewing annual plans, that “we can’t get bigger unless we get better.”  Another guiding principle of Chick-Fil-A is that everyone will be treated with honor, dignity, and respect.  Individual differences fuel innovation.

 

Building a Team that Creates a Compelling Culture

Select Talent

People decisions are the most important decisions we make.

It is the who that actually produces, serves, and sells.  The Who delivers!  Consider these six, must-do steps to selecting the right Who:

1. Carefully craft the profile of the role you wish to fill on your team. Use every hire as a chance to make adjustments to your team to maximize everyone’s talent.
2. Cast a wide net to search for candidates. Source potential candidates from different networks to generate a diverse candidate pool.
3. Prepare for the interview with behavioral based interviewing questions. Ask questions that cause the candidate to reply based on how he has performed in the past.
4. Thoroughly check references. Fully understanding someone’s past performance gives you great information to choose the best candidate.
5. Encourage the candidate to make his own careful evaluation before joining your team. The best people decisions are the ones in which both the candidate and the team are certain it is a great fit.
6. Commit to success. Implement a development plan for the new employee that leverages strengths that help the team succeed.

Chick-Fil-A focuses on these three C’s when selecting talent:

1. Select for Character. Some characteristics to consider include:
   • Did the candidate arrive promptly for the interview?
   • How did the candidate respond to the receptionist and other staff who are not considered an official part of the interviewing process?
   • During the interview, are the candidate’s responses consistent from interview to interview and consistent with responses in the application?
   • Does the candidate speak negatively of former employers or others?
   • Does the candidate display a positive and optimistic outlook?
   • Character counts. In fact, in selecting talent, it is the most important thing.
2. Select for Competency. Turner explains, “When I think of hiring People, I think of quantity.  When I think of selecting Talent, I think of capability.  When I look for Talent, I am wisely matching the skills and abilities needed to grow my business with the competency of individuals committed to helping me.  People and Talent are both trained, but Talent is developed and nurtured.  People will stay with you to make a living, but Talent will stay with you to make a life.”
3. Select for Chemistry. It is important to discern which styles, personalities, strengths, weaknesses, attitudes, and desires will combine well to benefit and move the team forward.  Out of the three C’s of selection—Character, Competency, and Chemistry—Chemistry is always the most difficult to identify.  The selection of Talent is an art, not a science.  At the end of every Operator interview, Turner always asked herself this question: “Would I want my three children to work for this person?”  It’s a simple question that sums up my decision.

 

Sustain Talent

There is not an endless supply of talented people, which makes it even more important to sustain the current Talent.  Consider sustainable Talent in three ways:

1. Sustainable talent is physically healthy. Provide opportunities and the environment for each person to be as healthy as possible.
2. Sustainable talent is mentally healthy. Rested minds are more creative and innovative.  Stephen Covey’s seventh habit of highly effective people is to “sharpen the saw.”  Mentally healthy people read, study, listen, and observe to refine and perfect their craft.
3. Sustainable talent is emotionally healthy. Access to employee assistance programs, programs and activities for spiritual development, and emphasis on healthy relationships inside and outside of the marketplace enhances emotional health.

 

Steward Talent

Just like financial resources, Talent is a resource to be stewarded, not squandered.  To be a good steward of Talent, we plan how we will invest in our staff.

The kindest thing you can do for someone is to tell the truth.  This is especially true when providing feedback. How to tell the truth:

• Don’t mince words or confuse the recipient of your feedback by a long introduction.
• Pause and listen. Allow the person to digest your words, ask clarifying questions and even respond with an opinion.
• Never assume you understand the motivation behind a person’s behavior. Only give feedback about the behaviors themselves and tell the truth about the impact of those behaviors.
• Expect the best. Many people do change as a result of thoughtful truth telling.
• Be prepared for worst.
• Always show respect. Honestly communicate the observation or the decision you have made and thank the recipient for listening to you.

The Chick-Fil-A Corporate office has a key People principle: departments or functions do not own Talent; the organization does.

Emerging leader talent must be stewarded and nurtured to truly leverage all of this ability available to you.  How can you steward your emerging leader talent?

• Give emerging leaders and responsibility early and often. The old adage “use it or lose it” can apply here.  Emerging leaders want to contribute in a meaningful way as soon as possible.
• Ask emerging leaders their opinion.
• Create a clear development path.
• Advocate for emerging leaders. They are from that “everyone gets a trophy” generation.  They want and need recognition to motivate them and encourage them in their next assignment.
• Allow emerging leaders to fail without it being fatal. People learn by making mistakes.

People want to do really good work.  If we encourage them, advocate for them, propose a path, clear obstacles and barriers and allow them to learn by making mistakes, we gain their loyalty for a long season.

Here are six ideas for stewarding seasoned leaders:

1. Enable seasoned leaders to mentor other leaders. Make this a key role for tenured leaders to pour their contextual and cultural knowledge of the organization into other leaders.
2. Ask seasoned leaders their perspective about broad issues in the organization.
3. Don’t assume seasoned leaders do not have new ideas. Many of these leaders are attracted to innovation and because they are experienced, they recognize whether or not something is truly a new idea, or simply a repackaged old one.
4. Tap into the wisdom of seasoned leaders. Seek their wisdom when making key decisions.
5. Continue to invest in the growth of seasoned leaders.
6. Respect and appreciate seasoned leaders.

The Power of “AND”:  Leveraging Both Emerging Leadership Talent AND Seasoned Talent

Emerging leadership talent brings a fresh perspective and, sometimes, even updated knowledge to a team.  Their energy creates momentum for the group and their ideas catapult us to a new level.  Seasoned talent understands the culture, key ideas and strategies that helped us to our current state.  Often, they are the architects of the vision that drive the goals of the organization.

This is where endurance meets momentum.  It’s the power of the “and.”

 

When You Must Say “No”

Jimmy Collins said, “It is kindness to refuse immediately what you eventually intend to deny.”

Telling people “no” is often a very difficult thing to do.  Even more difficult, however, and what we often cannot see, is the disappointment that comes when expectations have been raised and then unmet.

If we cannot provide our time, attention, resources, or an affirmative answer, we just need to say so.  It is the kinder thing to do.  Integrity suffers and relationships are diminished when we don’t do what we say we are going to do.

The saying that “bad news does not age well” is very true.  When we are quick and clear with feedback and responses, it allows the person to understand, move on and decide what to do next.

Nothing feels worse than constantly knowing you are not meeting someone’s expectations.  Often, the most respectful thing we can do is help someone out of the organization and into a situation where they can be successful.

For employees who are struggling to perform in their role, consider the following steps:

• Be sure the expectations are clear. Examine your own communication with the employee to be sure that you articulated the expectations clearly and gave enough direction to accomplish your expectations.
• Evaluate the individual’s learning and development plan.
• Consider another role within the company.
• Redirect the employee to roles outside of the company.
• Own the decision and act decisively and promptly.

 

What You Get for What You Give

The employment value proposition is what you get for what you give as an employee.

Jimmy Collins said, “If you are not serving chicken, you better be serving someone who is.”  That is the essential role of a Chick-Fil-A staff member.

Chick-Fil-A asks people to care deeply, serve ceaselessly, and impact the lives of others.  Those three ideas and the actions associated with them have created an amazing promise between our staff and Chick-Fil-A during the first six decades.

Turner describes three compelling principles to Chick-Fil-A’s employee value promise:

1. We care about you personally. My absolute favorite thing about our culture is that we truly care about each other and the organization cares about its people.
2. We serve one another. Serving one another is excellent practice and preparation for serving guests.  A demonstrated track record of serving and a genuine desire to help others succeed is a key trait we seek in those we hire.  At Chick-Fil-A, we not only serve guests, but we also serve one another and that helps make our organization a special and unique place to work.
3. We impact lives.

 

Growing a Compelling Culture Among Your Team

Tim Tassopoulos, Executive Vice President, Operations at Chick-Fil-A, often says, “Employers of choice add value to people, rather than extract value.  Team members are a gift to be stewarded not an asset to be managed.”

 

Consider Your Calling

Christine Caine, founder of A21 Campaign and PropelWomen, recently made the comment during a Sunday morning message, “What are you going to do—retire and play golf?  Really?  As long as we are breathing, God has placed us on this earth for a purpose.”

Turner explains, “Many years ago, I found my calling was to help others find their calling.”

How do you discover your calling?

• • It’s the thing that gets you up in the morning.
  • It’s what others tell you that you do best. A calling draws upon your greatest gifts and deepest talents.
  • A calling is the way you use your energy that makes an impact on the world, or at least your part of the world.
  • It’s the moment and the activity in which you fell God’s pleasure. There is nothing quite like the feeling of knowing you are doing what you were made to do.  As Olympic runner and 400-meter champion Eric Liddell described it:

A job is printed on your resume.  A calling echoes in your epitaph.

 

Practice Servant Leadership

Leaders at Chick-Fil-A are called to serve.  Chick-Fil-A recognizes the tremendous responsibility to not only lead, but also to serve.  In their culture, leaders are first to arrive and last to leave.

Here are five critical principles of servant leadership:

• • 1. Don’t expect others to do what you are unwilling to do. Spend time working side by side with staff.
    2. Acknowledge that every member of the team is important. In traveling to Chick-Fil-A restaurants with her leader, Turner watched as the very first thing he did was to introduce himself to every member of the team, learning names and asking questions to know them better.
    3. If there is a line, be the last one in it. Putting others above yourself is the hallmark of a servant leader.
    4. Share opportunities and privileges with those who might not otherwise have the opportunity.
    5. Be inclusive. Dan Cathy, who sees his responsibility to be a “curator of the culture,” learned from his father and knows that inclusivity is important to creating and growing a compelling culture.  He seeks opinions and spends time with employees in all areas of the business and particularly enjoys connecting with Chick-Fil-A Operators and their team members.

A team’s culture can grow significantly when leaders model and exhibit servant leader attitudes and behaviors.

 

Nurture an Abundancy Mentality

Do team members believe there is enough opportunity for everyone, or feel that opportunities are scarce?

Members of a healthy team celebrate the accomplishments of others, believing progress for some is progress for all.  Healthy team members also believe there is enough opportunity for everyone and realize the success for one gives hope for all.

Great leaders have an abundancy mentality and they nurture it in their teams to strengthen the culture.

 

Facilitate Opportunities

Turner explains, “A friend describes my role as a ‘blessings broker.  Without a doubt, one of my favorite roles during my career has been an Opportunity Facilitator for Chick-Fil-A.”

When Truett decided to open multiple restaurants, he wanted to select people who would solve problems and treat the business as if they were the owner.  So he devised a brilliant Operator agreement that allowed an individual to go into business with him for a nominal investment and to share in the profits.

Truett was the original opportunity facilitator.  He loved the idea of helping people get a start in life then watching the return on his investment grow.

 

Leverage Loyalty

Loyalty is a two-way street.  Employees will often be as loyal to you as you are to them.

Investing on the front-end to make a great selection and effectively onboarding, training, and developing employees is an investment to ensuring the kind of loyalty that increases retention.

Chick-Fil-A values both results and relationships.  They care immensely that the work is executed with excellence, but also care how the work is done.

While other organizations might only plan to have an employee for just a few years, Chick-Fil-A hopes they work together for years to come.

 

Cultivate Commitment

Cultivating a spirit of commitment versus a command to compliance reaps continuous rewards, especially in employee loyalty.  Compliant employees will do exactly what you ask.  If the employee is doing only what they are told to do and only what is necessary, they are not looking for ways to further please the customer.

Commitment, on the other hand, looks very different.  Leaders encourage employees to anticipate and meet guest needs, even when there is no procedure in place.

Leaders who coach for commitment instead of merely compliance invest more to prevent people problems rather than incurring the expense of having to solve people problems.  Committed members of your team build the brand of a business.

If you want to lead a winning team, seek commitment from team members, rather than compliance from employees.

 

Foster Dreams

As the NCAA ad says, “Many go pro” in something other than sports.

While most people show up to work to earn a paycheck, all employees have options about where they earn it.  We have the opportunity to engage their hearts by fostering their dreams.  As a steward of the Talent entrusted to us, we receive 100% of our employees’ efforts when they know we care about their dreams and desires.

To foster the dreams of our employees, we must know and understand what the dream is and be willing to encourage the accomplishment of it.

 

Engaging Guests in a Compelling Culture

Joy comes from surprise and connection and humanity and transparency and new…  If you fear special requests, if you staff with cogs, if you have to put it all in a manual, then the chances of amazing someone are really quite low.  – Seth Godin

Dan Cathy says, “Grow a small company.”

It is Chick-Fil-A’s desire to nurture the spirit, so guests and employees alike enjoy the unique Chick-Fil-A experience for decades—even generations—to come.  Maintaining a small-company feel among the guests is a strategic cultural imperative at Chick-Fil-A.

 

Treat Everyone with Honor, Dignity, and Respect

Chick-Fil-A’s hospitality policy is to treat everyone with honor, dignity, and respect.

For years, Truett encouraged his team members to not only treat guests and others as we want to be treated, but to treat them as they want to be treated.  See my summary of The Platinum Rule for more on this philosophy.

 

Authentically Demonstrate “It’s My Pleasure!”

Signature service is an important key to building brand loyalty among customers.  Chick-Fil-A believes that it is a privilege to serve guests, not a duty.

Horst Schultze, formerly of the Ritz Carlton Hotel Group, attracted an intensely loyal following of guests by focusing on signature service.  He motivated the employees of the Ritz Carlton by reminding them daily that they were “Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen.”  He nurtured this loyal following of guests through unexpected, exceptional service followed by the phrase, “My pleasure.”

As Truett dreamed of a service model in his restaurants far beyond anything a guest would expect in a quick-service restaurant, he remembered the Ritz-Carlton experience.

Operators and staff alike respond to a “thank you” with “It’s my pleasure!”

The phrase did not just become required nomenclature at Chick-Fil-A; it became a sincere response of the true service spirit of Chick-Fil-A.

Most importantly, “It’s My Pleasure!” is only the language Chick-Fil-A has chosen to express the spirit of gratitude they have for guests and the opportunity to serve them.

 

Make Second-Mile Service Second Nature

Second-Mile Service is Chick-Fil-A’s hospitality model.

Several years ago, Dan Cathy sought to explain the level of service he expected in Chick-Fil-A restaurants by referring to Matthew 5:41.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “If a soldier forces you to carry his pack for one mile, carry it for two.”

Jesus was teaching how to influence others even among enemies.  However, there was an important point to the principle.  The act could not be prescriptive and only behavioral.  The gesture is most influential when it comes from the heart.

It is not uncommon to be in the café and have someone offer to “refresh your beverage” or return your trays to the dish room.  Doors are held and courtesies are extended consistently.

In short, organizations that go the second mile treat customers as friends and family.  When Second-Mile Service originates from the heart, it truly is a pleasure and a behavior that creates a compelling culture among guests.

 

Create Remarkable Experiences

Another key to leveraging talent and culture to create enduring impact among guests is to provide unexpected fun and remarkable experiences.

When schoolchildren visit Truett’s office, one of their takeaways is a ruler with the words of the “Golden Rule”: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

 

Conclusion:  Leverage Talent and Culture to Create Enduring Impact

A compelling culture grows in the big events, but mostly, it flourishes in the smallest of gestures consistently applied and executed again and again.

Every Thanksgiving, Turner explains that she receives a text message from a Chick-Fil-A leader that simply says, “Have a great Thanksgiving.  I am grateful for you.”  Chick-Fil-A has grown a compelling culture by living life together.

Treating people with honor, dignity, and respect, and providing remarkable experiences and unexpected second-mile service strengthens a culture, but even more so, it creates something that is enduring.  Even the greatest of companies do not last forever, but the influence on the people who were nurtured, developed, grown and impacted can leave a lasting legacy that far surpasses sales records and growing profitability.

Turner wraps up by saying, “It’s been so worthwhile to play a small part in creating a compelling culture that is not just about a product, but so much more about people. It is, indeed, my pleasure!”