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The Impact of Chick-fil-A, Pillar #1 of Alzheimer’s Prevention, Do as Mother Teresa says…

June 8, 2017 4:22 pm Published by Curt Fowler

Business The Impact of Chick-fil-A I have been a long time believer that for-profit businesses are the greatest tools we have to produce positive change in the world. That positive change is not limited to “Christian” businesses like Chick-fil-A. Many great organizations are making huge, positive impacts. But, today I want to take a look at this chicken business so many of us love and get a better understanding of the impact they have made in the world. “Nearly every moment of every day we have the opportunity to give something to someone else – our time, our love, our resources. I have always found more joy in giving when I did not expect anything in return.” – Truett Cathy First, a little history. In 1946 Truett Cathy and his brother, Ben, opened a little Atlanta diner they called The Dwarf Grill.... View Article

The Purpose of Business, 4 Pillars of Alzheimer’s Prevention, Cost per Vote in 2016 Election

May 24, 2017 3:54 pm Published by Curt Fowler

Business The Purpose of a Christian’s Business A couple weeks ago we talked about how the Marketplace is Ministry. We discussed that 250 million people in the United States don’t attend church regularly and an estimated 100 million are completely unchurched. That trend is only growing. These people don’t go to church, but most of them have to go to work! That is where you and I come in. We must first understand that, as Christians, we don’t own anything. Everything given to us is the Lord’s and we are simply stewards. Why does God give a business to a Christian to run? Larry Burkett does a fantastic teaching on this and I want to share with you what he outlines as the purposes for a Christian’s business. 1 – Outreach to the Unsaved – We are called to make... View Article

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters (book summary)

May 15, 2017 4:26 pm Published by Curt Fowler

I listened to this book on audio some time ago. We had four kids in the first five years of our marriage, so I’m sure you understand that time for things like reading is scarce around our house! Every time I’d go out for a run and listen to this book one of two things would happen. 1 – I would stop in my tracks and almost get sick because of the content, or 2 – I would race back home to tell Jill what I had heard so we would both know and be less likely to forget and let our girls fall prey to what I was learning. The facts in this book are that disturbing. Did I mention our 4th child is a girl? That will make 3 girls in our house and what is going on... View Article

The Marketplace is Ministry, How Fitness Improves Memory, Cupcakes!!

May 11, 2017 1:21 pm Published by Curt Fowler

Business The Marketplace is Ministry I will be speaking at the quarterly CBMC Christian Business Leaders luncheon on June 13th. As soon as I have a link for the sign-up, I will post it in this newsletter. My topic will be “How to Become the Brightest Light in Your Industry.” Over the next few weeks, I’ll be giving you a “preview” of the facts I’ll present on the 13th. Let’s start with some stats. There are around 325 million people in the U.S. Seventy percent of us say we are Christians, but 75% of us don’t attend church regularly – which is around 250 million people. The Barna research group says that 100 million Americans are “unchurched” which means that they are not in any way connected to a church body. Anyway you look at it, the harvest is plentiful in the marketplace.... View Article

Lessons from 21 Years at Starbucks, Yoga for your 70’s, The Kind Kids Club!

April 26, 2017 9:03 pm Published by Curt Fowler

Business Lessons from 21 Years at Starbucks For 21 years Howard Behar led Starbuck’s domestic business as President of North American operations. He later became the founding President of Starbucks International opening the very first store outside of North America. During his tenure Starbucks grew from 28 stores to over 15,000. Howard wrote an excellent book titled, “It’s Not About the Coffee” that outlines the 10 principles of personal leadership that have guided his career. I have the privilege of interviewing Howard tomorrow and I cannot wait to share with you what I learn. In the meantime, I wanted to give you the first 5 of his 10 Principles of Personal Leadership. Know You Are: Wear One Hat – This applies corporately and personally. An organization should know where it is going (vision), why it exists (purpose) and the rules it... View Article

Core 4 Leadership @ Chick-fil-a, Exercise for Your Joints, Amazing Story of Forgiveness

April 20, 2017 8:11 am Published by Curt Fowler

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... View Article

6 Steps to a Great Vision, The Safest Exercises, Advice from a Tree

April 12, 2017 9:26 pm Published by Curt Fowler

Business How to Build a Great Vision Statement Getting a group of talented, strong-willed leaders to agree on anything can be a challenge. Getting them to agree on what they are going to chase for the foreseeable future of their business life is near impossible, but it is doable. And, as we discussed previously, completely worth the effort. A compelling vision for the future is the greatest tool a leader can use to align an organization’s capabilities. Alignment and focus are the keys to success for any organization. Here are the steps to follow: Gather your executives and key (A+) staff. Ask them to write an article about your company written X years in the future. Pick the time frame that works for your organization. The time frame will vary from firm to firm based on your stage of development... View Article

Return on Vision, New Stroke Indicator? Inspiration!

April 6, 2017 9:50 am Published by Curt Fowler

Business The Return on Vision Last week we talked about how painful it can be to create a compelling vision statement for your business. Today, I want to tell you why the return on a great vision is worth the effort! Let me clarify what I mean by a great vision. A great vision must be: a stretch goal (50-65% chance of accomplishment), measurable (you’ll know when you get there) and it must honor the purpose of your business. Alignment – Have you watched the rowing competition in the Olympics where they can have up to 8 people rowing at one time? Did you notice how crazy fast they go? What about how synchronized their strokes are? If one rower gets off rhythm, what happens? Certainly a loss. When your entire team has their eye on the vision and are acting... View Article

The Pain of Vision Creation, How Much Exercise Do You Need? Movie Recommendation!

March 30, 2017 4:14 pm Published by Curt Fowler

Business Why Creating a Vision is So Difficult! Creating a compelling vision for your life or business is the best thing you can do to create a life of meaning and significance. But, the work is hard! Why? A Vision Requires Saying No – If you say yes to a compelling vision, it will force you to say no to a lot of “great opportunities” that you could pursue. Ford’s focus on their vision to “democratize the automobile” required a lot of hard choices. To make a car that was affordable to the masses, Ford had to cut costs wherever possible. Ford famously told his early customers that they could have any color they wanted, “as long as that color is black.” Painting his early cars one color kept costs low and sped up production. Both of which were required to... View Article

Not Accepting Applications?, Healthiest Hearts in the World, Worry does not…

March 22, 2017 9:09 pm Published by Curt Fowler

Business Not Accepting Applications? I was at a business that I really love the other day and noticed a sign stating that they were “not currently accepting applications.” This struck me as strange. I have never met a leader who believes that they have too many talented people in their organization. In fact, almost every leader I talk to agrees that there is a massive talent shortage in the market today. If that is true, why would a great company not be accepting applications? I get it. You are tired of stacking up applications and trying to follow up with everyone that applies. But there is a better way. Try these steps: Change the Sign – Replace it with one that states that you are always looking for talented individuals to join your team. When they submit an application you... View Article

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