Core 4 Leadership @ Chick-fil-a, Exercise for Your Joints, Amazing Story of Forgiveness
Business
Core 4 Leadership at Chick-fil-a
No one can argue that a visit to a Chick-fil-a is a higher level experience than you get from most fast food restaurants. Have you ever wondered how they manage to deliver great food and a great experience when restaurants right down the street, paying their people similar wages struggle?
I have. Part of the answer is the people that Chick-fil-a attracts. Their culture and values attract great workers. Higher caliber workers are able and willing to provide higher level service.
Want to attract great employees like Chick-fil-A does? Follow these 4 steps to attract the best.
But is it just great people that make Chick-fil-a great? Nope. Their formula is great people + great training = excellent customer experiences. The key to Chick-fil-a’s customers service training is what they call the “Core 4.” Here they are:
Make Eye Contact – This is simple, but so often overlooked. I was talking to a friend of mine who just went through a nasty health scare at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville. She was raving about the service, cleanliness, pretty much everything about her experience. She mentioned that everyone (including the physicians) walking down the hall would make eye contact. You rarely see this is in a busy hospital, especially from physicians hurrying from one patient to the next, but it makes a huge difference in the feel of a place when people make eye contact and recognize your presence.
There is a rule in the hospitality industry called the 10 and 5 rule. The rule states that if someone is within 10 feet of you, you should greet them with a smile and eye contact. If they are within 5 feet of you, you should greet them verbally. It just takes 2 seconds but will make all the difference in the feel of your business.
Smile – Smiling is an international symbol of kindness. Smiling people are prettier and appear nicer. It doesn’t matter how bad of a day you are having if you will smile at the people you encounter you will have a positive impact on their day. And, bonus… you will actually feel better. The act of smiling is proven to improve your mood. You look happier. You make other people happier and you feel happier. Why not put on a smile?
Speak Enthusiastically – I love the phrase “fake it until you make it.” It applies to so many areas of life. Are you scared of a conversation or situation? Fake confidence. You fake it by adjusting your body language, your speech, your eye contact, your entire presence. You ask yourself how would a confident person act in this situation and then you force yourself to act that way. The cool thing is that as you fake confidence, you really begin to feel confident. Making eye contact, smiling, speaking enthusiastically could all be considered “faking it” but will actually change you as you do these actions!
People respond to what you present to them. If you present yourself as caring, confident and happy they are more likely to respond positively to you. Their response further lifts your mood as you just lifted theirs. It’s a great cycle!
Stay Connected – or Make a Connection. Relationships begin on common ground or shared values. Look for an opportunity to find common ground with everyone you interact with. School, favorite sports team, hometown, hopes, dreams, anything! Just get to know people better, your connection and relationship will grow and the connection will be more positive for both of you.
I have found that the people who are great at this are not naturally gifted at remembering facts and figures about people. The great ones have a system. I keep notes in my contact database so I can recall the nuggets of common ground that I learn from each conversation.
Want to attract great employees like Chick-fil-A does? Follow these 4 steps to attract the best.
At work or in your personal life, the quality of your relationships will determine your ability to positively impact the lives of those around you. Try to implement the Core 4 to improve the quality of your relationships.
In The News
I was talking to a good friend yesterday and mentioned that I had been writing a weekly column for the newspaper for some time now. He had no idea because he does not subscribe to the paper. Most young people are getting their news online these days.
Therefore, I’ll start linking to the articles I am publishing elsewhere in this section. Just click through to find them.
“Don’t Bother Applying…” – A look at the characteristics a great company (WD-40) requires of anyone that applies. Published in the Valdosta Daily Times.
Health
Exercise Bad for Your Knees?
Nope! Even running can be beneficial. A new study looked at the data from 28 previous studies that involved almost 10,000 participants.
“According to the team’s findings, while exercise was linked to osteophytes, or bony spurs, there were no detrimental changes to joint space, the place where cartilage is housed. There were beneficial effects on cartilage integrity, with evidence of greater volumes and fewer defects.”
This means that exercise actually helped improve the cartilage between joints instead of breaking it down.
Exercise is actually good for joint pain, we’ve just got to do the exercise correctly and regularly. We also must include strength and flexibility training. When we do all of these, our pain will decrease. Great tips from the American College of Sports Medicine here.
Life, Fun, Whatever
Forgiveness – Murder on Facebook
If you watch the news (which my family rarely does), there are some terrible things happening in the world. Then, some of these terrible things are met with the most unexpected and amazing responses.
Robert Godwin was walking home from an Easter meal on Sunday when he was brutally murdered. The killer recorded the shooting and uploaded it to Facebook. The following day three of his children publicly forgave the killer.
His daughter Tonya Godwin-Baines said, “each one of us forgives the killer, the murderer. … We want to wrap our arms around him.” Godwin’s son said, “I forgive him because we are all sinners.”
“Our father … taught us about God,” Godwin-Baines said. “How to fear God, how to love God and how to forgive.” In the aftermath of his gruesome death, Robert Godwin Sr. is still teaching people about the fear of God and forgiveness, and his audience just got a lot bigger.
That is just amazing. Would God give me the strength to forgive like Robert’s children did? Am I teaching my children this kind of forgiveness? Amazing. Full story and video at the Washington Post.
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