Chris, my Chick-fil-A's operator, took me and two other leaders to a workshop at Chick-Fil-A corporate. We got to listen to Mark Miller (the author of a ton of leadership books, who just so happens to work for Chick-fil-A), Dan Cathy (the president of Chick-fil-A for those of you who don't know), and a couple other speakers.
It was pretty instructional. I love seminars like this where I get to listen and learn (like TED Talks, I love TED talks!) to other people and grow from it.
We had a lovely talk about second mile service. I was actually pretty moved by this when we were given a Bible quote to go by on providing second mile service. At Chick-fil-A we're always working on this second mile service. It's getting refills for people that are sitting down, clearing their trays, walking trays out to people who are sitting down, etc. It's going that second mile to give exceptional service and blow people's minds away with high quality service.
But why?
Why go above and beyond to make someone's day?
Why do I, and my team, work so hard to make people happy? We bring out high chairs to people with kids, and carry out trays when we're slow or the guest is elderly or disabled. We make such a big deal about making eye contact and sharing a smile. We love getting the cow out to play with kids and we hand balloons out like it's profitable. We have umbrellas in the store, and are more than happy to walk people to and from their cars when it's raining. I have had my fair share of jobs, and I have never worked for a company that is so willing to bend over backwards to make the guest happy.
Why though? Why is it our pleasure to serve relentlessly like we do?
I always have, and so does my team. We go about our jobs with servants' hearts and it truly is our pleasure to serve. But I have never seen the "Why?" to what we do so beautifully depicted.
Take a moment to watch this video, it's amazing!
And it applies to anything and everything we do. It's not just at Chick-fil-A while serving guests that I need to keep this at the forefront of my mind. It's all day long. Every interaction I have needs to be preceded with this idea.
Everyone is going through something, and I don't know what it is. I don't know if the guy who just cut me off on the highway is rushing to get to the hospital to make it in time for his first child's birth. I don't know what's going on in the life of that lady who was rude to me at the supermarket, what if some tragic thing just happened in her life and I don't know? I have no idea what's going on with the cashier's life, and the huge difference a smile I give him could make.
I had a professor tell me something crazy once. He said: "If you think you have terrible struggles in your life, just look to your neighbor and you'll find someone struggling even more."
That statement has stuck with me over the years. No matter how bad of a day I'm having, I can't let that affect how I treat others. I never know if the person I'm letting it out on is having a worse day.
I learned a lot at the conference and I walked away with a ton more knowledge and inspiration than I had the day before, but this video just did it for me. It was too amazing and moving.
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