You can tell a lot about a person by their shoes

I’m a fan of Forest Gump. 

I would like to finish the quote now-“where they going, where they been. I can’t remember my first Christmas, or the first time I went on an outdoor picnic. I bet if I think real hard, I could remember my first pair of shoes. Momma said they’d take me anywhere.”

There is ample truth to Mr. Gump’s statement. Just take a look at the athlete after a muddy day of practice, or the executive on his way to work, or the beach bum who doesn’t wear shoes. They all say something. 

Have you thought about what your shoes look like to others? Have you taken a moment and thought about what you wear on your feet and how that connects with who you are and what you are about? 

I work at a restaurant. These are the shoes I wear everyday. And the others are the worn out pair I used to wear. 

What can we tell? 

They are black, non slip, a little dirty. And used frequently. 

What does that tell you about me? 

I’m simple, maybe rough around the edges, and am learning to clean everything around me. With considerable disdain. 

I want you to take a moment and consider how you shoes will make you look today. It seems more revealing that Forest let on. 

What are your favorite pair of shoes? And how does it make you feel to wear them?

Fall down seven

Stand up eight.

Today I got an extra spoonful of humbling pie after a conversation with my boss. There is a reason that every great player has a coach. The reason being, you can't think of everything when you are playing the game.

After a tough day, I just needed to ask some questions.

Why is it I can't just figure it out?

What am I doing wrong? Why doesn't this have an easy button? Why do I continue to struggle with something I have tried to fix?

At the singular moment, I feel like I am the only person on the planet who suffers from prioritizing. If I heard it once I heard it a thousand times as a kid. "Don't let time slip away from ya Austin," she used to call as she walked by me watching another hour of TV. Powerful words from my Mom. I think I was ten. Sixteen years later I am quoting her sound advice.

How true she is.

It's hard to go back to work the next day with a smile, but I know I can do it. Core four to the max.

Same guy, more experience.

Here's to all my friends who have been knocked down, and got back up.

This one's for you.

Leaders are Readers

Books are a fascinating way to learn something, go somewhere or meet someone.

This morning I was reading a book and it referenced another book I read years ago about dreaming big. Really big. The book I was reading was Platform, by Michael Hyatt and the book he referenced was The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz. My copy of the David's book is about to fall apart. I read it about 6 years ago and it forever changed the way I viewed the world. It was powerful stuff to me because I wasn't thinking largely enough at the time.

This morning I got all misty eyed because I could feel the connection between David, Michael, and myself. Now I know the power of associations, but when I came across a book that I read, that meant a lot to me, and to a writer I like, it was euphoric.

I want that feeling again. Connection-emotion-intimacy. I know how masculine those previous three words sound and I'm not shying away from them. I want to feel the way I did this morning again.

I only did it through reading. Picking up a book and seeing what is inside. You gotta try. See if you can't find an experience that could move you to tears. Why not? You want to wake up and just float through life without friends and family, and a closeness that only you and the other person can feel?

Books can give you that if you just let them in a little.

Failing Forward

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

You are going to fail anyway, so why not try. John Maxwell says the quickest way to succeed is to double your rate of failure.

What have you failed in the past 90 days? Did that provide leverage to continuing to push forward?

Framework for solving problems

If you are problem free, then we need to talk. Everybody has problems, and it’s how we deal with those problems that reveals our character.

 

Three possible ways to look at problems. 

1. You are just getting out of solving a major problem.

2. You are in a problem right now. 

3. You are about to get into a problem.

Know theses three things above, I want to provide you a frame work to help you solve problems within your restaurant. 

Ask for help

• I have been very surprised how many people have problems they don’t talk about while working. 
• If you are struggling with an issue, take it to someone and work together to solve it. Two heads working together with the goal of resolution is powerful.

Use the core values of Chick-fil-A as a guide to asking the right question which can lead to the right solution.

1. Customers First

Does this problem represent an opportunity for better service to our guest? If we worked this out, would our guest notice a difference in how we conducting business on a day to day basis? Have you thought about the problem from the guest perspective? 

2. Working Together

Am I using the resources around me to help me solve my problem? Am I tapping into the team for ideas and inspiration and accountability? Does the manner in which I am working to solve this problem reflect teamwork? Are we treating team members with honor, dignity, and respect? 

3. Stewardship

When looking at the problem, should I note how well things are taken care of in the restaurant-labor, facilities, materials, time, sales, money, human capital? Am I being responsible for what task have been given to me? When looking at me, does my team see that I take care of things with care? 

4. Continuous Improvement

Does the work I do today show improvement over yesterday? Am I the model for continuous improvement? What have I done in the last ninety days that demonstrates improvement?

5. Personal Excellence

Is this my best work? How could I have personally done it better? Does the work that is entrusted to me have my stamp, my brand on it?

When you are in the middle of the problem, it is hard to see the forest for the trees. 

5 Reasons to Get Fired Up to Work at Chick-fil-A

Now I know there are more than five, but these are just the basics. If you want more, create your own list and then let’s compare and see how close I might come from a list you might make.

1. Remember that what you do counts, to the end user-our guest

• One of the main reasons to work for Chick-fil-A is because they cater to my mom and dad. When my parents are there, they get exactly what they order quickly after ordering it. They get excited about eating a chicken sandwich for dinner. It is for that reason I chose not continue to embark on my career in the sport industry. After an internship I came home and started a part time job with Chick-fil-A and was hooked. These people get excited to serve good food to good people. What I was doing mattered to someone, and I got fired up to work at a place that took care of my parents, with pride I might add. 

2. You matter. 

• Chick-fil-A does not exist without it’s team members. One of the most powerful quotes that our founder has is, “There are no cash registers at the home office.” The money came in from the field. The work you matters. It matters to your Operator and their family. If you are a parent, it matters to your child. If you are teen still at home it matters that you get some knowledge outside of school from your place of employment. You inherently matter to your business because you are local, you contribute and you are a gold mine full of ideas that is waiting to be mined. 

3. You can have what you want if you help enough people get what they want.

• Zig Ziggler said this one time and it has stuck with me ever since. I can have what I want? No way. For a while I did not believe it. I wanted to just do what I wanted and get what I wanted in the way that seemed right to me. And then I tried the paradoxical proverb out, and it works. Helping others get what they want clearly helps you get what you want. 

4. Chick-fil-A is just the beginning for you

• Not everybody who works for Chick-fil-A becomes an Operator or winds up working at the home office. It just doesn’t happen that way. We know statistically that all 70,000 of our current team embers are not going to become Operators(the beating heart of the company). Most will move on to something better suited for themselves, and rightfully so. Knowing this, it is part of your role as a team member to become as knowledgeable about business as you can before you leave. When you do leave, we want you to look back and know that your time spent there was worth it. 

5. When you show up, you get paid. 

• Every kid wants to get paid. And if you are hired at Chick-fil-A, you will get paid. In the three years working for them, I have never heard of someone earning money and not being paid for what they earned. How exciting is that? Every day you work earns yourself income. 

I almost lost it tonight

I was asked a hard question at lunch today.

“When was the last time you were angry?” 

As lunch ended, we parted ways and my mind lingered on the topic, when was the last time I was actually angry?

borrowed from here

It got me thinking about that moment and the other person in the conversation and their feelings. Sure I knew how I feeling, but how did the person who I directed my anger feel? At the time I am thinking to myself, why were they asking those questions? What angle were they trying to take? I thought about how rash my voice and body language was, even to the point of scowling. I felt confused and a little crazy, but what really surprised me was the answer to my friends’ question. What was I supposed to say about the last moment I was angry? Do I tell him the truth, or do I "beat around the bush" aka lying? 

It was a very revealing question, and I am glad he asked. 

My mentor Jim Rohn gave me these wonderful words: “Emotions must go to school. It’s OK to kick and scream and fall on the floor when you are three, but not thirty three. By the time you are 33 you must have your emotions so well educated that they work for you instead of against you.” What an incredible philosophy. 

As a leader we, myself included, need to learn how to handle our emotions so they work for us instead of against us. 

When was the last time you were angry AND took the anger to school and let it work for you instead of against you? 

When we are seniors, we are going to...

do it differently.

Everybody who gets to senior year wants to make a name for themselves. All of the sudden you get excited about the events you used to dread. Maybe it was prep rallies, maybe you actually showed up to a Friday night football game, maybe you dressed up one day during homecoming week.

I don't know what it was for you, but things changed when you became a senior.

For me, one of the most powerful life lessons I learned as a leader was leading up to my senior season of football. I had been behind the starters for what seemed like forever waiting my turn to get a shot at playing. We just had a wonderful mini camp in which I came out of the starting linebacker. I was pumped. It was getting good. I was getting some recognition for the previous three years of hard work.

Until I showed up late.

As I walked out to practice that day dragging my head, our head football coach gathered the team together in a brief but pointed meeting. He never looked me in the eye, but addressed the whole team, "The quickest way to move down the depth chart is to show up late." I had lost my starting job.

I was crushed, all the momentum I had been building was all for naught because I had not gotten up on time for practice.

My coach never referenced the moment again. The point was made, I was late and had to pay the consequence of losing my starting job.

Where ever you are, if you want to make a good impression-show up on time. If you want to make a terrible impression-show up late. Someone once said, "I do good and no one remembers, I do bad and no one forgets." Both speak volumes.

Wow

I was reading Michael Hyatt's book Platform last night and WOW. He is good at what he does.

As I move forward I think the post will come less often and with more wow. I know that I only share what is stimulating to me. Adversely, I want you to share something from this blog with someone you know who might need encouraging, some training, or maybe just a pat on the back.

I need wow to show up. It will take more form as time goes on, but I want the wow to show up so that you get so excited to share what you have read that you do it immediately.

Seeing a new addition to my family wowed me.

What has been one of your "wow" moments in life? Post about it in the comments below.