1
00:00:08,227 --> 00:00:08,917
Hey everybody.

2
00:00:08,917 --> 00:00:10,837
We're talking to Jeff Henderson today.

3
00:00:10,837 --> 00:00:15,907
What an amazing guy He is a former
Chick-fil-A marketing executive,

4
00:00:16,027 --> 00:00:20,767
turned pastor and leadership strategist
who founded the four company to help

5
00:00:20,767 --> 00:00:25,297
organizations grow with purpose and has
some incredible stories from turning

6
00:00:25,297 --> 00:00:27,487
plush cow toys into Peach Bowl phenomenon.

7
00:00:28,762 --> 00:00:31,912
To leaving corporate success
to plant thriving churches.

8
00:00:32,002 --> 00:00:33,382
He's a great new friend of mine.

9
00:00:33,562 --> 00:00:36,952
You don't want to miss this
incredible conversation.

10
00:00:38,722 --> 00:00:41,182
Welcome to the last 10%.

11
00:00:41,602 --> 00:00:46,162
Your host, Dallas Burnett, dives
into incredible conversations that

12
00:00:46,162 --> 00:00:48,142
will inspire you to finish Welch.

13
00:00:48,662 --> 00:00:50,787
And finish strong, strong.

14
00:00:51,392 --> 00:00:56,942
Listen as guests share their journeys in
valuable advice on living in the last 10%.

15
00:00:57,422 --> 00:01:01,922
If you are a leader, a coach, a
business owner, or someone looking to

16
00:01:01,922 --> 00:01:05,042
level up, you are in the right place.

17
00:01:05,102 --> 00:01:10,412
Remember, you can give 90% effort and
make it a long way, but it's finding

18
00:01:10,412 --> 00:01:12,572
out how to unlock the last 10%.

19
00:01:12,877 --> 00:01:17,647
That makes all the difference in your
life, your relationships, and your work.

20
00:01:18,397 --> 00:01:19,927
Now here's Dallas.

21
00:01:20,087 --> 00:01:23,445
Welcome, welcome, welcome.

22
00:01:23,445 --> 00:01:28,785
I am Dallas Burnett, sitting
in my 1905 Koch Brothers

23
00:01:28,785 --> 00:01:31,768
barber chair in Thrive Studios.

24
00:01:32,068 --> 00:01:35,458
, But more importantly,
we have a great guest.

25
00:01:35,518 --> 00:01:38,458
Jeff Henderson is an Atlanta native.

26
00:01:38,458 --> 00:01:42,838
We both lived in Atlanta, who's bridged
the worlds of business and faith as an

27
00:01:42,838 --> 00:01:45,268
author of books like What to Do Next.

28
00:01:45,538 --> 00:01:49,288
He's a sought after speaker on
leadership and vision and the

29
00:01:49,288 --> 00:01:51,658
founder of the four company.

30
00:01:51,658 --> 00:01:54,748
Man, I can't wait to get
into this conversation.

31
00:01:54,748 --> 00:01:56,998
I've heard Jeff speak
and I'm just so excited.

32
00:01:56,998 --> 00:01:58,160
Welcome to the show, Jeff.

33
00:01:58,460 --> 00:01:59,000
Hey Dallas.

34
00:01:59,000 --> 00:01:59,810
Good to see you again buddy.

35
00:01:59,810 --> 00:02:00,410
Thanks for having

36
00:02:00,710 --> 00:02:01,400
Absolutely.

37
00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:05,390
So I, I have to tell the listeners
how we came to get you on the show.

38
00:02:05,390 --> 00:02:09,520
You actually, were speaking at an event
and I was sitting in the audience and man,

39
00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:13,115
I hear a lot of leadership content, read
a lot of books and hear a lot of speakers.

40
00:02:13,115 --> 00:02:15,665
We have a lot of great guests on
the show, but I was sitting in

41
00:02:15,665 --> 00:02:17,945
the back and I was like, man, I
hope he is not looking back here.

42
00:02:17,945 --> 00:02:20,345
'cause he is gonna think that
I'm just typing text on my phone.

43
00:02:20,345 --> 00:02:21,575
But I was filling up.

44
00:02:21,785 --> 00:02:24,695
The notes section on my phone 'cause I
didn't have a piece of paper or anything.

45
00:02:24,695 --> 00:02:28,355
And it's like, man, you were dropping
some amazing value in that talk.

46
00:02:28,355 --> 00:02:29,555
So I just appreciate it so much.

47
00:02:29,555 --> 00:02:32,105
We got to connect afterwards
and have you on the show.

48
00:02:32,105 --> 00:02:34,655
So man, just really thankful,
for you to be on the show today.

49
00:02:35,255 --> 00:02:35,975
Absolutely my pleasure.

50
00:02:35,975 --> 00:02:36,880
Thanks for being there that

51
00:02:37,180 --> 00:02:37,540
Yeah.

52
00:02:37,540 --> 00:02:40,450
So let's talk a little bit about,
'cause you started out, you were

53
00:02:40,450 --> 00:02:45,520
from Atlanta, which means you, you've
kind of got this Atlanta Hawks and

54
00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:47,440
Falcons and all this stuff going on.

55
00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:49,870
You're a big fan, you're
a big sports band.

56
00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:52,280
but you, you were actually
early in your career.

57
00:02:52,310 --> 00:02:56,840
Tell us how you, kind of, your career
from kind of the start to maybe, maybe

58
00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,980
the time you gotta Chick-fil-A, 'cause
you had some really amazing time down

59
00:03:00,980 --> 00:03:02,480
the hall from some famous people.

60
00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:03,180
I'd love to hear about that.

61
00:03:03,780 --> 00:03:08,400
Well, I grew up huge fan of Hank
Aaron, who, in my humble opinion,

62
00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:10,800
is still the alt time home run
king, but we won't go there.

63
00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,850
But I just loved Hank and,
uh, just idolized him.

64
00:03:14,850 --> 00:03:17,740
And I can remember watching,
on television when he broke

65
00:03:17,740 --> 00:03:19,360
Hank Aaron's home run record.

66
00:03:19,980 --> 00:03:21,840
actually have over in my office.

67
00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,435
It's so right over there,
the Sports Illustrated cover

68
00:03:24,435 --> 00:03:25,935
and he autographed it for me

69
00:03:25,970 --> 00:03:26,190
Oh.

70
00:03:26,235 --> 00:03:27,725
along with a, with a baseball.

71
00:03:27,725 --> 00:03:28,805
So it was fantastic.

72
00:03:29,285 --> 00:03:33,485
Um, I may have borrowed the sports
illustrator from my, middle school library

73
00:03:33,485 --> 00:03:37,285
back in the day, but, if they wanted,
they're not gonna get it back, but yeah.

74
00:03:37,715 --> 00:03:41,615
I actually literally wrote, when
I was in college, I just literally

75
00:03:41,615 --> 00:03:44,988
wrote the Braves and a letter,
and here's a principle in life.

76
00:03:44,988 --> 00:03:48,138
Just ask, you know, you're probably
gonna get told no many times, but

77
00:03:48,618 --> 00:03:51,348
I just said, Hey, is there, can I
come work a season in marketing?

78
00:03:52,218 --> 00:03:54,438
And this is before the days of email.

79
00:03:54,438 --> 00:03:56,268
I, and I got a letter back that said.

80
00:03:56,538 --> 00:03:56,988
Sure.

81
00:03:57,048 --> 00:03:58,068
Just call us and

82
00:03:58,263 --> 00:03:59,133
Oh my

83
00:03:59,148 --> 00:03:59,238
the

84
00:03:59,583 --> 00:04:00,333
gosh.

85
00:04:00,643 --> 00:04:04,687
the guy that was over the promotions
area, at the time, Promotions being

86
00:04:04,687 --> 00:04:08,937
like, Chick-fil-A poster night, or,
Coca-Cola helmet night or whatever.

87
00:04:10,402 --> 00:04:12,682
he was, I was a huge North Carolina fan.

88
00:04:12,682 --> 00:04:14,722
He was, he went to North
Carolina, so we kinda hit it off.

89
00:04:14,722 --> 00:04:17,502
So anyway, I ended up, working
a whole season there for them.

90
00:04:17,502 --> 00:04:18,342
It was fantastic.

91
00:04:18,342 --> 00:04:22,362
I got to write television scripts, I
got to write promotional radio scripts.

92
00:04:22,362 --> 00:04:24,372
I got to work with corporate sponsors.

93
00:04:24,922 --> 00:04:25,762
it was fantastic.

94
00:04:25,762 --> 00:04:30,832
And obviously being a huge brace
fan, I was just dropped into the

95
00:04:30,832 --> 00:04:32,482
field of dreams, if you will, but.

96
00:04:33,457 --> 00:04:35,527
Two offices down from me was Hank

97
00:04:35,932 --> 00:04:37,042
Wow.

98
00:04:37,342 --> 00:04:40,427
over the minor league,
system at that point.

99
00:04:40,817 --> 00:04:44,537
And I remember one night I was leaving,
it was, this was the old Atlanta Fulton

100
00:04:44,537 --> 00:04:46,427
County stadium where he, hit that home

101
00:04:46,592 --> 00:04:47,162
Yeah.

102
00:04:47,462 --> 00:04:51,167
and there's only two cars out in the
parking lot and the bras were outta town.

103
00:04:51,467 --> 00:04:54,822
So I look over and it's just my car
and somebody else's car, and there's

104
00:04:54,827 --> 00:04:57,497
somebody there, I look over and
it's Hank, he's just getting in his

105
00:04:57,497 --> 00:05:01,182
car and he turns over and he sees
me and he waves at me and I'm like.

106
00:05:02,177 --> 00:05:04,877
Oh my gosh, I'm waving to
the all time home Run King.

107
00:05:04,907 --> 00:05:10,067
So, um, so he was phenomenal,
so kind, so gracious.

108
00:05:10,127 --> 00:05:13,327
And, but Dale Murphy was playing
for the Braves at that time, and

109
00:05:13,327 --> 00:05:17,917
Dale, who I believe belongs in
the Major League Baseball Hall of

110
00:05:18,217 --> 00:05:18,532
Yes.

111
00:05:18,532 --> 00:05:19,012
Yes.

112
00:05:19,807 --> 00:05:21,847
the top player for the Braves.

113
00:05:21,877 --> 00:05:25,657
And all the corporate sponsors wanted to
get Dale Murphy to sign whatever for them.

114
00:05:26,797 --> 00:05:28,207
he always.

115
00:05:28,597 --> 00:05:31,327
Always accommodated any requests.

116
00:05:31,327 --> 00:05:33,177
Just an incredibly nice guy.

117
00:05:33,477 --> 00:05:33,497
great.

118
00:05:33,797 --> 00:05:36,777
And, so yeah, so that was, that,
that was really, really fun.

119
00:05:36,777 --> 00:05:42,247
But eventually led me to doing some
work down the road with the Braves.

120
00:05:42,247 --> 00:05:45,787
But when I eventually landed with
Chick-fil-A, they were, we were launching

121
00:05:45,787 --> 00:05:50,887
the cow campaign of Eat more chicken,
and then also sports sponsorships,

122
00:05:51,067 --> 00:05:53,497
particularly in the college realm because.

123
00:05:53,987 --> 00:05:57,887
you know, Chick-fil-A at that time
was basically in the Atlantic Coast

124
00:05:57,887 --> 00:05:59,537
Conference in Southeastern conference

125
00:05:59,842 --> 00:06:00,192
Right.

126
00:06:00,587 --> 00:06:03,407
and a predominant characteristic
of a Chick-fil-A customer at

127
00:06:03,407 --> 00:06:05,207
the time was a college graduate.

128
00:06:05,207 --> 00:06:08,147
So college sports, um, really.

129
00:06:09,102 --> 00:06:12,102
Made a lot of sense and because of
my sports background, just kind of,

130
00:06:12,972 --> 00:06:14,742
morphed into part of my role there too.

131
00:06:14,787 --> 00:06:15,327
Wow.

132
00:06:15,522 --> 00:06:16,087
so it was great.

133
00:06:16,087 --> 00:06:20,527
So yeah, Braves and Chick-fil-A and
then, and also did, I managed beverage

134
00:06:20,527 --> 00:06:24,457
marketing for Chick-fil-A, so I got to
work for the other Atlanta pillar at the

135
00:06:24,457 --> 00:06:26,197
time, which was, and still at the time is

136
00:06:26,497 --> 00:06:27,247
Coca-Cola.

137
00:06:27,247 --> 00:06:27,577
Yeah.

138
00:06:27,577 --> 00:06:28,057
Huge.

139
00:06:28,087 --> 00:06:30,937
I mean, you worked for some of the
biggest brands in Atlanta for sure.

140
00:06:31,177 --> 00:06:31,927
That's amazing.

141
00:06:31,927 --> 00:06:32,857
I love, I love it.

142
00:06:32,857 --> 00:06:34,532
Just ask, you just
literally wrote a letter.

143
00:06:34,932 --> 00:06:37,122
Hey, I'd like to come do this,
and it's just kicked off an

144
00:06:37,122 --> 00:06:38,292
amazing adventure for you.

145
00:06:38,292 --> 00:06:40,272
That's really, really good.

146
00:06:40,482 --> 00:06:43,422
So when you got into Chick-fil-A,
what was the story like?

147
00:06:43,522 --> 00:06:45,802
how did you end up getting into that?

148
00:06:45,802 --> 00:06:48,262
Involved in marketing area
in Chick-fil-A corporate?

149
00:06:48,862 --> 00:06:52,582
So there are two resorts in
Atlanta, one outside of Atlanta.

150
00:06:52,642 --> 00:06:53,422
One is Callaway

151
00:06:53,502 --> 00:06:53,922
Mm-hmm.

152
00:06:54,142 --> 00:06:56,672
and one is Lake Linear, lake
Linear Islands, and pretty well

153
00:06:56,672 --> 00:06:59,162
known within Atlanta, maybe
not so much outside of Atlanta.

154
00:06:59,882 --> 00:07:04,502
But I did Mark, I did, I worked for both
of those organizations in marketing.

155
00:07:04,622 --> 00:07:08,762
And so, um, I would do promotions
with Chick-fil-A, like,

156
00:07:09,182 --> 00:07:11,312
you know, Callaway Gardens.

157
00:07:11,402 --> 00:07:14,522
We would have coupons in Chick-fil-A
to trying to drive customers to

158
00:07:14,522 --> 00:07:19,572
Chick-fil-A restaurants to get coupons
to come down to Callaway Gardens.

159
00:07:19,602 --> 00:07:22,242
And then when I was at Lake Linear
Islands, I came up with this idea

160
00:07:22,242 --> 00:07:25,662
called, we called Magical Nights of
Lights, which is basically drive through

161
00:07:25,812 --> 00:07:27,492
the islands with Christmas lights and.

162
00:07:28,602 --> 00:07:30,642
we charged you $15 a car for that.

163
00:07:30,642 --> 00:07:34,022
So, I went to my friends at Chick-fil-A
and said, Hey, can we do the same

164
00:07:34,022 --> 00:07:34,982
thing we did at Cowboy Gardens?

165
00:07:34,982 --> 00:07:37,232
And so I just hit it off with them.

166
00:07:37,232 --> 00:07:41,092
And then, a friend of mine who's
become a wild time best friend and

167
00:07:41,122 --> 00:07:45,121
mentor David ER's, he was, you know,
like, Hey, we're gonna, you know, why

168
00:07:45,121 --> 00:07:46,741
don't you jump on board and help us?

169
00:07:46,771 --> 00:07:48,541
so that's what I did, and it was just.

170
00:07:49,231 --> 00:07:50,041
I had the best job.

171
00:07:50,041 --> 00:07:52,171
But other than Truet, Kathy, the
founder of Chick-fil-A, I feel like

172
00:07:52,171 --> 00:07:56,191
I had the best job 'cause I was doing
sports marketing, beverage marketing.

173
00:07:56,251 --> 00:08:00,121
I got to open up restaurants from a
marketing standpoint and just learn so

174
00:08:00,121 --> 00:08:02,821
much about just marketing, but culture

175
00:08:03,121 --> 00:08:03,341
Hmm.

176
00:08:03,481 --> 00:08:05,221
to, how to create a thriving.

177
00:08:05,431 --> 00:08:09,331
and when I left Chick-fil-A, which
I blame Chick-fil-A for 'cause, they

178
00:08:09,331 --> 00:08:13,951
took me to a leadership conference in
Chicago at Willow Creek Community Church.

179
00:08:13,951 --> 00:08:14,821
And that really.

180
00:08:15,186 --> 00:08:17,106
Was where I felt called to start a church.

181
00:08:17,106 --> 00:08:21,099
So if Chick-fil-A hadn't, you know,
invited me to go to that conference,

182
00:08:21,099 --> 00:08:22,299
we probably wouldn't be talking today.

183
00:08:22,299 --> 00:08:26,982
But, but that was, but even when
I left, I kept thinking What would

184
00:08:26,982 --> 00:08:28,572
Chick-fil-A do in this situation?

185
00:08:28,572 --> 00:08:31,152
And there's so many similarities
between the business world

186
00:08:31,152 --> 00:08:32,822
and the nonprofit world.

187
00:08:32,822 --> 00:08:36,492
There's a lot that nonprofit leaders
can learn from business leaders, but

188
00:08:36,492 --> 00:08:39,672
there's a lot that business leaders can
learn from nonprofit leaders and a lot of

189
00:08:39,672 --> 00:08:41,282
that you're seeing today, you're seeing.

190
00:08:41,632 --> 00:08:45,522
for profit businesses talk about
they, talk as if they're a nonprofit.

191
00:08:45,752 --> 00:08:45,852
They're

192
00:08:45,852 --> 00:08:50,627
talking about purpose and they
should, but it's more than I believe

193
00:08:50,687 --> 00:08:54,107
now, more than ever, you know,
profit and purpose travel together.

194
00:08:54,737 --> 00:08:58,367
So the more purpose you have, the more
profit you'll have, and the more profit

195
00:08:58,367 --> 00:09:00,137
you have, the more purpose you can fund.

196
00:09:00,707 --> 00:09:03,467
And that's one of the questions that.

197
00:09:04,277 --> 00:09:08,267
This younger generation is asking
organizations such as, what

198
00:09:08,267 --> 00:09:11,027
are you doing to help make our
community a better place to live?

199
00:09:11,997 --> 00:09:13,987
you need to have a good,
good answer to that.

200
00:09:14,107 --> 00:09:16,477
And it could be connected
to your business.

201
00:09:16,477 --> 00:09:18,077
It doesn't have to be totally random,

202
00:09:18,377 --> 00:09:18,637
Yeah.

203
00:09:18,937 --> 00:09:19,087
be.

204
00:09:19,207 --> 00:09:21,667
And one of the things I've encouraged
businesses is don't forget, one of

205
00:09:21,667 --> 00:09:25,447
the things you do for every community
is you provide jobs, you provide

206
00:09:25,517 --> 00:09:30,557
economic stability for people,
and you help support the tax base.

207
00:09:30,907 --> 00:09:31,197
Yeah.

208
00:09:31,637 --> 00:09:33,017
So a lot of that I
learned from Chick-fil-A.

209
00:09:33,422 --> 00:09:35,492
I think that's so, such a great point.

210
00:09:35,492 --> 00:09:39,142
I mean, just a few years ago I was
in an interview and we kinda get to

211
00:09:39,142 --> 00:09:41,572
the end of the interview and it was
a standard interview you're going

212
00:09:41,572 --> 00:09:44,212
through and checking the boxes and
just understanding, get to know the

213
00:09:44,212 --> 00:09:46,222
person and it was their first one.

214
00:09:46,222 --> 00:09:49,012
So it was just kind of the
first of several and it was

215
00:09:49,012 --> 00:09:49,912
just interesting because.

216
00:09:50,812 --> 00:09:53,602
At the end, it was kind of like, well,
do you have any questions for us?

217
00:09:53,602 --> 00:09:54,562
You know, that kind of follow.

218
00:09:54,612 --> 00:09:59,232
and the person was like, Hey, I need to
know what this company, you know, how

219
00:09:59,232 --> 00:10:00,792
are you engaging with the community?

220
00:10:00,972 --> 00:10:03,702
What exactly are you doing
to help the community?

221
00:10:03,702 --> 00:10:06,852
And what volunteer opportunities
do you have if I come on board?

222
00:10:06,852 --> 00:10:08,502
And it was like, thankfully we.

223
00:10:08,547 --> 00:10:12,117
We had at the time had just
implemented a lot of that kind

224
00:10:12,117 --> 00:10:15,867
of, those kind of programs and we
had a a big vision around purpose.

225
00:10:16,167 --> 00:10:19,137
But it was like the person was like,
if you don't have a good answer, then

226
00:10:19,137 --> 00:10:20,667
this is be the last time I show up.

227
00:10:20,667 --> 00:10:22,617
And it was, you could tell they
were very serious about that.

228
00:10:22,617 --> 00:10:23,577
So I think you're exactly right.

229
00:10:23,577 --> 00:10:26,797
I think there's, people are hungry,
if they're gonna spend a lot of their

230
00:10:26,797 --> 00:10:30,937
time and energy and effort, you know,
coming in every day and showing up

231
00:10:30,937 --> 00:10:33,427
that it has to be, they have to know
and feel like what they're doing

232
00:10:33,427 --> 00:10:34,477
is matter and makes a difference.

233
00:10:34,477 --> 00:10:35,767
So I think that's, that's on point.

234
00:10:35,857 --> 00:10:36,517
I love that.

235
00:10:36,759 --> 00:10:40,429
you've got some great content and,
and you have a great story around your

236
00:10:40,429 --> 00:10:45,579
experience at Chick-fil-A, specifically
in sports and specifically around event.

237
00:10:45,579 --> 00:10:46,109
I'd love for you.

238
00:10:47,124 --> 00:10:50,579
Share what you can, what you want
to about the, the, uh, the event

239
00:10:50,579 --> 00:10:55,049
that, that kind of created an
opportunity for you to, I don't know.

240
00:10:55,049 --> 00:10:58,089
I think you're an expert on the
pivot and you took, you know, kind

241
00:10:58,089 --> 00:11:01,069
of making, lemonade from lemons,
especially in this situation.

242
00:11:01,069 --> 00:11:03,739
So tell everybody what you were
doing with Chick-fil-A and then

243
00:11:03,899 --> 00:11:07,029
some of the story about what, uh,
what went down, at the Peach Bowl.

244
00:11:07,336 --> 00:11:09,736
Yeah, it's connected to the
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, which is

245
00:11:09,736 --> 00:11:11,506
still in existence to this day.

246
00:11:11,506 --> 00:11:13,912
And now it's in the, you know, it
seems like they're changing every

247
00:11:13,912 --> 00:11:15,177
year, the college football playoffs.

248
00:11:15,477 --> 00:11:15,767
Yeah.

249
00:11:16,067 --> 00:11:18,142
but they're in that mix now, and so.

250
00:11:18,892 --> 00:11:20,662
So, we were really wanting to get there.

251
00:11:20,662 --> 00:11:23,962
That was our goal, was to try to
get the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl

252
00:11:23,962 --> 00:11:25,767
into the college football rankings.

253
00:11:26,067 --> 00:11:26,287
Wow.

254
00:11:26,422 --> 00:11:30,402
it was, back in those days, it was, a
team from the A, CC versus a team from

255
00:11:30,402 --> 00:11:33,772
the SEC, which as I mentioned earlier,
really fit our geographic footprint.

256
00:11:34,432 --> 00:11:37,222
And, but we wanted to just, we
wanted to be more than just.

257
00:11:38,437 --> 00:11:40,957
and signage and commercials on television.

258
00:11:40,957 --> 00:11:46,447
We wanted to really engage fans and
so, this was back in the Georgia Dome.

259
00:11:46,487 --> 00:11:49,157
we blew up that stadium a few
years ago, built another one.

260
00:11:49,937 --> 00:11:53,462
Hoping that the Falcons would play
better, but that hasn't really happened.

261
00:11:53,942 --> 00:11:57,962
but at each cup, at HH seat, there
was a cup holder and I had the idea of

262
00:11:57,962 --> 00:12:02,102
putting an eat more chicken plush cow in
the cup holder, and I didn't have money

263
00:12:02,102 --> 00:12:05,702
in my budget to pay for it, but I knew
true Kathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A.

264
00:12:05,732 --> 00:12:08,732
And I went, and again, going back to.

265
00:12:09,325 --> 00:12:14,665
Might as well ask and went and met with
Truitt and said, you know, rumor has it,

266
00:12:14,665 --> 00:12:19,705
your 401k is fully funded and so, you
know, would you a personal check for this?

267
00:12:19,705 --> 00:12:21,865
And Truitt was the most generous
person I've ever been around.

268
00:12:21,865 --> 00:12:26,485
He was generous before all the
and eat more chicken and all that.

269
00:12:26,545 --> 00:12:28,285
But he also grew up in
the Great Depression.

270
00:12:28,585 --> 00:12:28,805
Um.

271
00:12:29,105 --> 00:12:34,595
And so he was very, generous and very
frugal, which is a fantastic, combination.

272
00:12:34,655 --> 00:12:36,995
And we had a good
conversation in his office.

273
00:12:37,025 --> 00:12:37,745
But anyway, he.

274
00:12:38,330 --> 00:12:41,270
Convinced that I convinced him and
said, okay, well let's go do it.

275
00:12:41,270 --> 00:12:45,920
So I bought 72,000 cows and I never
bought a single cow in my life

276
00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,560
and went from zero to 72,000 in a

277
00:12:48,650 --> 00:12:49,435
gracious day.

278
00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:50,240
of minutes.

279
00:12:50,300 --> 00:12:53,960
but then I gotta figure out how
do I get 72,000 cows in the cup

280
00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:55,340
holders at the Georgia Dome?

281
00:12:55,340 --> 00:12:58,250
As my wife says, I'm wow, but I'm
not, how, I don't know how to do

282
00:12:58,250 --> 00:12:59,840
any of these ideas I come up with.

283
00:13:00,470 --> 00:13:04,220
So it took us like three days
to get these cows in there, but.

284
00:13:04,985 --> 00:13:05,585
Fast forward.

285
00:13:05,585 --> 00:13:07,265
I mean, I'm so excited about it.

286
00:13:07,325 --> 00:13:11,855
And it was Virginia versus
Georgia and, um, Virginia Game

287
00:13:11,855 --> 00:13:13,475
begins, Virginia scores first.

288
00:13:13,505 --> 00:13:15,185
They, score again.

289
00:13:15,335 --> 00:13:16,595
They score a third time.

290
00:13:16,925 --> 00:13:18,305
They're up 21 to nothing

291
00:13:18,335 --> 00:13:18,555
Uh.

292
00:13:18,725 --> 00:13:19,925
into the first quarter.

293
00:13:20,315 --> 00:13:24,275
and I'm a Georgia alum, so we're getting
a little antsy, but Georgia gets the ball.

294
00:13:24,275 --> 00:13:25,595
They're heading down
toward their end zone.

295
00:13:26,525 --> 00:13:29,615
An official drops a penalty flag,
effectively ending the drive.

296
00:13:29,615 --> 00:13:32,225
And the fans in the Georgia
section just lose their minds.

297
00:13:32,225 --> 00:13:36,425
And so there's one guy that a cow on
the field and everybody else follows.

298
00:13:36,455 --> 00:13:40,985
And I'm standing in the Chick-fil-A
suite and I, you know, see my

299
00:13:41,015 --> 00:13:42,695
marketing career flash before my

300
00:13:42,730 --> 00:13:47,885
because I just wasted, Truitt
kathie's hard earned money.

301
00:13:48,395 --> 00:13:51,995
But David ERs, who I just mentioned,
who's now a lifelong friend of

302
00:13:51,995 --> 00:13:53,675
mine, who was my boss at the time.

303
00:13:53,765 --> 00:13:55,145
It came up to me.

304
00:13:55,145 --> 00:13:58,025
It's as they're sweeping the
dead little cows off the field.

305
00:14:00,035 --> 00:14:02,685
he said, Hey man, there's an idea here.

306
00:14:03,135 --> 00:14:04,455
I'm like, what are you talking about?

307
00:14:04,455 --> 00:14:05,475
This is a disaster.

308
00:14:05,475 --> 00:14:05,865
He said, no.

309
00:14:05,865 --> 00:14:08,805
Well, first of all, the publicity
value we're getting out of this.

310
00:14:08,935 --> 00:14:11,035
they're talking about Chick-fil-A
right now, which is great, and,

311
00:14:11,035 --> 00:14:14,485
but if we could get the cows on
the field in a different way?

312
00:14:14,605 --> 00:14:18,085
And so he and I and a couple other
people got together in an office

313
00:14:18,085 --> 00:14:19,165
at Chick-fil-A the next week.

314
00:14:19,686 --> 00:14:23,316
The idea we came up with was that next
year's game when the two teams run into

315
00:14:23,316 --> 00:14:26,616
the field, we went to the top of the
Georgia Dome and we had cases of cows.

316
00:14:26,686 --> 00:14:30,136
but the difference this time was
that we put parachutes on the cows

317
00:14:30,406 --> 00:14:35,906
and we just dropped, hundreds and
hundreds of parachuting cows the fans.

318
00:14:35,906 --> 00:14:38,426
And it was a. Huge hit.

319
00:14:38,546 --> 00:14:42,146
And, uh, it's become a Chick-fil-A
tradition for the last 25 years.

320
00:14:42,656 --> 00:14:43,016
And,

321
00:14:43,316 --> 00:14:43,606
Sure.

322
00:14:43,726 --> 00:14:45,356
I don't always go to the game.

323
00:14:45,356 --> 00:14:45,836
I'm not sure.

324
00:14:45,836 --> 00:14:49,706
I mean, I go this year, but whether
I go or not, people start sending

325
00:14:49,706 --> 00:14:52,226
me videos of the parachuting cows.

326
00:14:52,396 --> 00:14:54,706
and it's actually gone across
the country now, and there was, I

327
00:14:54,706 --> 00:14:59,191
think it was at a. it was a Orlando
Magic basketball game recently.

328
00:14:59,191 --> 00:15:00,361
I got one in as well.

329
00:15:01,111 --> 00:15:05,361
but I think the principle is what
I thought was the worst day in my

330
00:15:05,391 --> 00:15:08,151
marketing career actually ended up
being one, one of my best because I

331
00:15:08,151 --> 00:15:11,721
had a boss who was genuinely for me and
was like, Hey, let's figure this out.

332
00:15:11,721 --> 00:15:14,901
and you have two people looking
at the same situation, coming to

333
00:15:14,901 --> 00:15:16,761
diametrically opposed conclusions.

334
00:15:16,761 --> 00:15:19,566
And so how you view life
determines how you do life.

335
00:15:20,341 --> 00:15:23,041
And that's, so I'm very,
very grateful for that.

336
00:15:23,041 --> 00:15:27,916
And then that eventually led to him
inviting me to Willow Creek and left

337
00:15:27,916 --> 00:15:29,776
three years later to go Pel Start Buckhead

338
00:15:30,176 --> 00:15:31,436
Good gracious.

339
00:15:31,466 --> 00:15:33,326
Well, I think that's a fantastic story.

340
00:15:33,328 --> 00:15:35,578
to me, I, I mean, it is
just a great visual, right?

341
00:15:35,578 --> 00:15:37,858
So I'm sitting there and I'm, you
know, I've gone to the Peach Bowl and

342
00:15:37,858 --> 00:15:39,658
it's just a, it's a great experience.

343
00:15:39,658 --> 00:15:43,798
So much fun, but to know that the
whole tradition of the cows parachuting

344
00:15:43,798 --> 00:15:47,668
out of the rafters of the, you
know, the, the stadium is, it's.

345
00:15:47,813 --> 00:15:53,603
It's all coming out of this moment of
crisis that you're experiencing, that you

346
00:15:53,603 --> 00:15:55,133
witnessed, like right before your eyes.

347
00:15:55,353 --> 00:15:58,593
I just see that guy in slow
motion, like, ah, you know, and

348
00:15:58,593 --> 00:15:59,583
it's like, there goes the cat,

349
00:15:59,668 --> 00:15:59,958
Yeah.

350
00:16:00,453 --> 00:16:00,783
no, you know?

351
00:16:00,783 --> 00:16:02,253
And then 20,000 more just.

352
00:16:02,668 --> 00:16:04,378
Pile onto the field.

353
00:16:04,558 --> 00:16:05,218
Oh.

354
00:16:05,518 --> 00:16:07,318
And so, yeah, but I mean,
like, it's just awesome.

355
00:16:07,318 --> 00:16:11,758
I, I love that you're describing that
power of perspective and how sometimes

356
00:16:11,758 --> 00:16:15,918
when we're so close to it, I also think
it's really cool that, your boss at

357
00:16:15,918 --> 00:16:17,778
the time just had that perspective.

358
00:16:17,778 --> 00:16:18,243
'cause you were so.

359
00:16:18,823 --> 00:16:24,133
So tied to that idea, like the idea
that you had and you know, the idea

360
00:16:24,133 --> 00:16:26,263
of like, I want everybody to have a
cow and everybody's gonna have this

361
00:16:26,263 --> 00:16:28,993
when they come to the game and then
all of a sudden you see that go on

362
00:16:28,993 --> 00:16:30,583
the field and you're like, it's over.

363
00:16:30,823 --> 00:16:34,333
Mainly it was, 'cause that idea that
you had created in your mind was just

364
00:16:34,333 --> 00:16:36,853
kind of blown, blown apart, right?

365
00:16:37,093 --> 00:16:39,043
But it was like he, he was just enough.

366
00:16:39,043 --> 00:16:42,553
It was almost like he was just enough
outside that he could, that he had

367
00:16:42,553 --> 00:16:45,493
a different perspective on that and
could say, Hey, actually wait a minute.

368
00:16:45,888 --> 00:16:46,848
this is the beginning.

369
00:16:46,908 --> 00:16:47,808
This isn't the finish.

370
00:16:47,868 --> 00:16:48,228
You know?

371
00:16:48,228 --> 00:16:52,398
And so, uh, man, I just think that's
so great about collaboration and also

372
00:16:52,758 --> 00:16:56,448
just how we are, how when we move.

373
00:16:57,163 --> 00:16:59,743
That it's not necessarily we
get it right the first time.

374
00:16:59,953 --> 00:17:03,373
It's that we have to be willing to
iterate and we have to be willing to pivot

375
00:17:03,373 --> 00:17:06,463
and, you know, try something different
or look at things a different way.

376
00:17:06,463 --> 00:17:09,103
And so I just think that's a
great story how you, you took

377
00:17:09,103 --> 00:17:10,353
that and, and morphed it.

378
00:17:10,353 --> 00:17:14,013
what was the word back at
Chick-fil-A after that first event?

379
00:17:14,043 --> 00:17:18,123
I mean, did, was everybody like, whoa
band, or were they like, that was awesome.

380
00:17:18,123 --> 00:17:21,123
And did they have any, did you have
any kind of feedback once you got

381
00:17:21,123 --> 00:17:22,353
back to the office the next week?

382
00:17:22,953 --> 00:17:24,828
In terms of, uh, them throwing the

383
00:17:25,128 --> 00:17:26,448
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

384
00:17:26,883 --> 00:17:30,393
So the good news visit was
during the holidays, so I

385
00:17:30,393 --> 00:17:31,803
didn't have to go in the office.

386
00:17:31,923 --> 00:17:38,156
but we already started to see impact
the, the Atlanta Journal Constitution,

387
00:17:38,156 --> 00:17:39,296
which I think I just heard.

388
00:17:39,346 --> 00:17:39,796
they're gonna.

389
00:17:41,161 --> 00:17:43,771
their print division down, but

390
00:17:44,071 --> 00:17:44,101
Oh.

391
00:17:44,451 --> 00:17:47,631
in the sports page, the next sec,
the next day, the headline was

392
00:17:47,631 --> 00:17:49,701
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl goes to the cows.

393
00:17:49,791 --> 00:17:51,771
And so, I mean, you couldn't

394
00:17:52,071 --> 00:17:52,806
Wow.

395
00:17:53,271 --> 00:17:56,871
So we began to already see impact of it.

396
00:17:56,891 --> 00:17:57,011
Hmm

397
00:17:57,111 --> 00:17:58,521
And, you know, Truet.

398
00:17:58,820 --> 00:18:02,538
Truett took the business seriously, but
he never took himself too seriously.

399
00:18:02,538 --> 00:18:05,028
One of his famous lines at
Chick-fil-A is, if you're not

400
00:18:05,028 --> 00:18:06,318
having fun, you're not doing it

401
00:18:06,648 --> 00:18:07,158
hmm.

402
00:18:07,218 --> 00:18:10,248
So the ability to laugh at yourself is.

403
00:18:10,975 --> 00:18:11,575
a strength.

404
00:18:11,575 --> 00:18:14,285
I think, that's one of the
things the cows brought.

405
00:18:14,285 --> 00:18:17,495
I think the cows brought a little
levity to Chick-fil-A in terms of

406
00:18:17,495 --> 00:18:19,755
their humor, with Eat More Chicken.

407
00:18:19,755 --> 00:18:22,335
And my favorite billboard that we
did, I think we actually had to take

408
00:18:22,335 --> 00:18:27,675
it down, but it was when I think
Oprah Winfrey was saying something

409
00:18:27,675 --> 00:18:30,495
against the cattle industry or
something, I can't quite remember.

410
00:18:30,495 --> 00:18:34,365
And so we did a billboard with the
cows that said, Oprah, you go girl.

411
00:18:34,785 --> 00:18:36,125
And, loved it, but.

412
00:18:37,505 --> 00:18:40,475
Sometimes you have to cross that
line a little bit before you, you

413
00:18:40,475 --> 00:18:43,475
know, you, so we actually ended
up pulling that billboard down.

414
00:18:43,475 --> 00:18:48,065
But, but you, you know, you, but
you've gotta try some things.

415
00:18:48,065 --> 00:18:49,520
You're not willing to fail.

416
00:18:50,375 --> 00:18:54,195
You're probably not trying hard enough
and John Maxwell says you're never

417
00:18:54,195 --> 00:18:58,125
good the first time, so you've gotta
keep, keep trying and keep iterating.

418
00:18:59,295 --> 00:19:03,315
but it does require someone many times
to come outside and see things that you

419
00:19:03,315 --> 00:19:04,755
can't see 'cause you're too close to

420
00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:05,370
Yeah.

421
00:19:05,530 --> 00:19:09,490
I was the only one in the office with
Truett that day convincing him to do

422
00:19:09,655 --> 00:19:10,225
Yeah.

423
00:19:10,540 --> 00:19:16,390
So I, to have somebody on the kind of
the outside going, oh, hold on, seeing

424
00:19:16,390 --> 00:19:17,770
this from a different point of view.

425
00:19:18,610 --> 00:19:21,760
for your listeners, if they're facing
a particular situation, if they've,

426
00:19:21,940 --> 00:19:25,045
you know, many times we just think
about it too much in our minds

427
00:19:25,345 --> 00:19:25,885
Yes.

428
00:19:26,650 --> 00:19:29,260
to be able to let someone who's
coming at it from a different

429
00:19:29,260 --> 00:19:33,490
perspective and then ask them,
what would you do if you were me?

430
00:19:33,970 --> 00:19:37,600
usually that's a, you're gonna get
some, depending on who it is, you're

431
00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:39,010
gonna get some helpful information.

432
00:19:39,310 --> 00:19:42,240
I love that we always say,
clarity begets clarity.

433
00:19:42,270 --> 00:19:45,720
You know, as we move through these
experiences and we have this clarity,

434
00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,560
you had clarity like, oh, the
cows in the seats, and you went to

435
00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:51,180
Truett and was like, let's do this.

436
00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:53,280
And then as you moved through that.

437
00:19:53,645 --> 00:19:57,005
you actually had another level
of clarity that was like, okay,

438
00:19:57,005 --> 00:20:00,025
yes, but this is the way where
they're coming outta the rafters.

439
00:20:00,025 --> 00:20:01,045
They're coming down with parachutes.

440
00:20:01,045 --> 00:20:05,208
And it may have taken a lot longer or it
may have never come to be if you hadn't

441
00:20:05,208 --> 00:20:06,468
have moved through that first clarity.

442
00:20:06,468 --> 00:20:07,668
So I, I think that's really.

443
00:20:07,673 --> 00:20:08,321
Very true.

444
00:20:08,411 --> 00:20:09,071
I love that.

445
00:20:09,311 --> 00:20:10,241
So let's talk about this.

446
00:20:10,241 --> 00:20:13,211
So you had these great and amazing
experiences at Chick-fil-A.

447
00:20:13,261 --> 00:20:14,011
you have a great boss.

448
00:20:14,011 --> 00:20:17,521
You've just made this, you know,
at the time what you didn't know,

449
00:20:17,521 --> 00:20:22,301
but stumbled on this new 20 year
tradition, 20 plus year tradition on

450
00:20:22,301 --> 00:20:24,251
the cows and Marketing Chick-fil-A.

451
00:20:24,251 --> 00:20:27,666
And it seems like everything is
just like up and to the right.

452
00:20:28,636 --> 00:20:34,156
what was it like to start saying, wait
a minute, this doesn't, maybe there's

453
00:20:34,156 --> 00:20:38,866
something else, you know, because
ultimately you, you went full pivot and

454
00:20:38,896 --> 00:20:41,146
went into a new, a new whole career.

455
00:20:41,146 --> 00:20:42,736
So how, what did that look like for you?

456
00:20:43,336 --> 00:20:46,481
I think it's helpful to remember
that I'm a preacher's kid, so I,

457
00:20:46,481 --> 00:20:49,786
I promised myself I would never,
ever, ever work at a church.

458
00:20:49,846 --> 00:20:54,466
And so, and we were involved in church
and love the Lord and all that, but,

459
00:20:54,856 --> 00:20:59,246
um, You know, and I promise God I,
I'm never gonna work at a church.

460
00:20:59,246 --> 00:21:03,556
So I worked at a church for 18 years
and so if if your listeners get nothing

461
00:21:03,556 --> 00:21:07,126
out of this, they may just don't ever
say you're never gonna do something.

462
00:21:08,356 --> 00:21:09,076
and.

463
00:21:09,526 --> 00:21:13,156
I had started, I started speaking
in with my dad in churches.

464
00:21:13,156 --> 00:21:16,186
We would travel around the state,
so I really cut my teeth on

465
00:21:16,186 --> 00:21:20,206
speaking when I was in high school,
which was a fantastic experience.

466
00:21:20,626 --> 00:21:24,846
But I really enjoyed the excellence
of the business world, strategy

467
00:21:24,846 --> 00:21:27,096
of the business world, the
creativity of the business world.

468
00:21:27,576 --> 00:21:29,796
And I didn't know that you
could do that in church world.

469
00:21:30,216 --> 00:21:32,826
so I go to Willow Creek
and I'm with David.

470
00:21:33,636 --> 00:21:37,386
walk into this massive cafeteria
and I said, well, I thought

471
00:21:37,386 --> 00:21:38,676
we were coming to a church.

472
00:21:38,676 --> 00:21:39,516
This is a mall.

473
00:21:39,546 --> 00:21:41,016
He goes, no, this is the church.

474
00:21:42,426 --> 00:21:48,866
And then the conference begins and
there's speakers like Woodall and

475
00:21:48,866 --> 00:21:51,486
Bill Hybels and others, Irwin McManus.

476
00:21:51,786 --> 00:21:52,591
Oh wow.

477
00:21:52,941 --> 00:21:57,951
they are just connecting
dots and wires in my brain.

478
00:21:59,061 --> 00:22:03,400
To in such a way that I just thought I
did, and these are countless stories that

479
00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:06,670
happened out of the Global Leadership
Summit that's still happening to this day.

480
00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:10,985
But I walked out, this was back in the
days when they would do two and a half

481
00:22:11,035 --> 00:22:12,565
I think they just do two days now.

482
00:22:13,015 --> 00:22:17,775
But, so this was, I think on Saturday
I kind of, they have a lake outside.

483
00:22:17,775 --> 00:22:21,165
I stumbled outside next to the
lake and I just felt like God said,

484
00:22:21,285 --> 00:22:22,755
you're gonna start a church someday.

485
00:22:22,995 --> 00:22:23,745
And I'm like, whoa, whoa,

486
00:22:24,045 --> 00:22:24,885
Wow.

487
00:22:25,650 --> 00:22:28,500
That's not what I'm gonna do.

488
00:22:28,500 --> 00:22:32,990
But I came home and I told Wendy, our
daughter was just one at the time.

489
00:22:32,990 --> 00:22:34,430
I said, I don't know if it was all the.

490
00:22:36,350 --> 00:22:38,210
Deep dish Malnati's pizza.

491
00:22:38,210 --> 00:22:44,330
I ate in Chicago, or the Lord spoke
to us, but I feel like we're supposed

492
00:22:44,330 --> 00:22:45,590
to help start a church someday.

493
00:22:45,590 --> 00:22:46,700
And that's about all I got.

494
00:22:46,790 --> 00:22:47,270
Wow.

495
00:22:47,900 --> 00:22:50,690
And you know, she could have
said, Hey, well Jesse's one our

496
00:22:50,690 --> 00:22:53,030
daughter's, one Chick-fil-A loves you.

497
00:22:53,030 --> 00:22:54,890
You got, you see where this is going.

498
00:22:55,130 --> 00:22:56,360
why in the world would you think that?

499
00:22:56,360 --> 00:22:58,880
But instead she said, if you think
that's what we oughta do, I'm in.

500
00:22:59,530 --> 00:23:03,420
And, so now it's helpful for your
listeners to know that I didn't walk

501
00:23:03,420 --> 00:23:05,340
into Chick-fil-A on Monday and quit.

502
00:23:05,390 --> 00:23:05,740
Right.

503
00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:07,185
we went on a, we went on a journey.

504
00:23:07,235 --> 00:23:10,555
We started attending North Point
Community Church, here in Atlanta.

505
00:23:11,335 --> 00:23:13,885
over the course of three years,
just gotten more and more

506
00:23:13,885 --> 00:23:15,355
and more and more involved.

507
00:23:16,255 --> 00:23:17,520
as we got involved this whole.

508
00:23:18,260 --> 00:23:22,760
Plan that I or no one really could
have imagined started to unfold.

509
00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:29,420
And, it's, it was bigger and better than I
would've ever imagined, and it took time.

510
00:23:29,420 --> 00:23:33,560
But as my friend Louis Giglio says,
you know, God, it seems like God

511
00:23:33,650 --> 00:23:37,520
moves slow from our standpoint, but
when he decides to move, he moves

512
00:23:37,895 --> 00:23:38,465
Yes.

513
00:23:38,765 --> 00:23:45,305
so suddenly this idea of Buckhead Church
and North Point's first multi-site, campus

514
00:23:45,305 --> 00:23:49,355
and video church, which is kind of an
unheard of thing back in the day, all it

515
00:23:49,355 --> 00:23:53,735
just started suddenly just started coming,
coming out of the woodworks, if you would.

516
00:23:54,289 --> 00:23:55,969
And that's when they approached me.

517
00:23:55,999 --> 00:23:58,549
'cause I was really three
years in, I was really involved

518
00:23:58,639 --> 00:23:59,719
in a lot of different ways.

519
00:23:59,749 --> 00:24:02,899
And they said, Hey, we're, you know,
based on your franchise background

520
00:24:02,899 --> 00:24:06,559
with Chick-fil-A, your leadership
background, your church background, and.

521
00:24:07,669 --> 00:24:09,469
that you've been a volunteer
for three years, could you

522
00:24:09,529 --> 00:24:10,549
come over here and help us?

523
00:24:10,789 --> 00:24:12,229
in the early days of Buckhead Church.

524
00:24:13,099 --> 00:24:18,079
And so it really, you know, from a
career standpoint didn't make much sense.

525
00:24:18,139 --> 00:24:22,009
But, 'cause I thought I was
starting all over at the age of 35.

526
00:24:22,309 --> 00:24:27,739
But I learned is that all my business
experience from the Atlanta Braves

527
00:24:27,739 --> 00:24:34,879
to Callaway to including obviously
Chick-fil-A started coming out of me and.

528
00:24:35,704 --> 00:24:38,794
From a culture standpoint,
there were so many similarities.

529
00:24:39,004 --> 00:24:42,514
I mean, the biggest difference
really was that as a pastor, I was

530
00:24:42,694 --> 00:24:45,694
closed, I was open on Sunday at
Chick-fil-A, I was closed on Sundays.

531
00:24:45,694 --> 00:24:47,554
But you know, there's so many different.

532
00:24:47,867 --> 00:24:49,427
There's so many similarities.

533
00:24:49,427 --> 00:24:50,327
People need to be led.

534
00:24:50,327 --> 00:24:51,622
Well, you gotta pay the power

535
00:24:51,922 --> 00:24:52,002
Hmm.

536
00:24:52,127 --> 00:24:53,987
You need to, excellence
is really important.

537
00:24:53,987 --> 00:24:55,367
Creativity is important.

538
00:24:55,847 --> 00:24:59,327
Um, leading team meetings,
how you deal with conflict.

539
00:24:59,327 --> 00:25:02,207
All that stuff that I'd learned from
Chick-fil-A and others just started coming

540
00:25:02,207 --> 00:25:04,457
out of me and I'm like, oh my goodness.

541
00:25:04,457 --> 00:25:09,077
Now I can see why I was kind
of that culture for a season.

542
00:25:10,157 --> 00:25:14,777
and I also love the fact that now I can
talk, I can go into business settings and

543
00:25:14,777 --> 00:25:19,757
talk to business leaders, or I can go into
nonprofit settings and talk to nonprofit

544
00:25:19,757 --> 00:25:21,797
leaders because of that background.

545
00:25:21,947 --> 00:25:25,847
And I've seen John Maxwell do that a
lot, and I love seeing him do that.

546
00:25:25,847 --> 00:25:32,657
And so, um, that was such a gift to be
able to think like, because I do believe

547
00:25:32,657 --> 00:25:34,367
the church should be the most well led.

548
00:25:35,192 --> 00:25:36,422
Organization on the planet,

549
00:25:36,582 --> 00:25:36,722
Yeah.

550
00:25:38,012 --> 00:25:40,922
that's where I caught a
vision of it at Willow Creek.

551
00:25:40,922 --> 00:25:44,132
And then working at
Chick-fil-A in North Point.

552
00:25:44,777 --> 00:25:49,055
We were talking before the show and what's
amazing is my wife and I had actually

553
00:25:49,055 --> 00:25:50,765
moved to Atlanta for several years.

554
00:25:51,125 --> 00:25:55,475
In 2008 was our first year in
Atlanta, and when we moved down

555
00:25:55,475 --> 00:25:56,435
we didn't know where to go.

556
00:25:56,465 --> 00:25:57,815
We didn't know anything about Atlanta.

557
00:25:57,815 --> 00:25:58,145
it was.

558
00:25:59,090 --> 00:25:59,930
It was incredible.

559
00:25:59,930 --> 00:26:03,620
We showed up with like a couch in
the back of my truck and we were just

560
00:26:03,620 --> 00:26:07,850
like pulling in like, well, we're
here and we grabbed an apartment.

561
00:26:08,060 --> 00:26:09,560
It happened to be in Buckhead.

562
00:26:09,860 --> 00:26:12,710
And so one Sunday we get up
and we're like, Hey, we need

563
00:26:12,710 --> 00:26:13,730
to, where's the church here?

564
00:26:13,730 --> 00:26:16,520
And we look it up on like the,
you know, the, the phone and

565
00:26:16,550 --> 00:26:17,450
or the computer, whatever.

566
00:26:17,450 --> 00:26:20,000
And it was like, oh, there's
one like three blocks down.

567
00:26:20,060 --> 00:26:21,350
You know, it's Buckhead Church.

568
00:26:21,620 --> 00:26:23,060
So we literally showed up.

569
00:26:23,390 --> 00:26:24,080
At your church.

570
00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,290
Had no idea until we were talking
before the show that we actually

571
00:26:27,290 --> 00:26:30,510
came, to, to services at your
church for several months.

572
00:26:30,540 --> 00:26:34,170
And an amazing, so I've seen you
in, in services that had no idea.

573
00:26:34,170 --> 00:26:37,850
And so it was just really cool to connect
that if you were, if you, and by the

574
00:26:37,850 --> 00:26:39,590
way, it was an incredible goodness.

575
00:26:39,590 --> 00:26:43,250
What an operation that when you
talk about excellence and you

576
00:26:43,250 --> 00:26:45,020
talk about how well it was run.

577
00:26:45,620 --> 00:26:48,350
you know, I couldn't, I don't
know how you could run it better.

578
00:26:48,380 --> 00:26:50,760
'cause when we saw it, it
was unbelievably impressive.

579
00:26:50,790 --> 00:26:52,140
It was so impressive.

580
00:26:52,290 --> 00:26:52,590
Yeah.

581
00:26:52,590 --> 00:26:55,565
Facilities, the flow, the
message, just everything.

582
00:26:55,565 --> 00:26:56,495
The service was great.

583
00:26:57,065 --> 00:26:59,135
But when you were thinking
about this, 'cause this is, you

584
00:26:59,135 --> 00:27:00,365
went through a whole process.

585
00:27:00,365 --> 00:27:04,305
So if someone is in there, and this
doesn't have to be from, the private

586
00:27:04,305 --> 00:27:07,905
sector to the ministry or vice versa, but
if you're just talking to our listeners

587
00:27:07,905 --> 00:27:12,345
on navigating uncertainty, if they're in
their thirties or their forties or even

588
00:27:12,345 --> 00:27:16,785
fifties and they're thinking about maybe
a career pivot or something like that,

589
00:27:16,935 --> 00:27:21,625
do you have a routine or a mindset shift,
that may be helpful for them as they're

590
00:27:21,625 --> 00:27:23,515
making these considerations on what may.

591
00:27:23,675 --> 00:27:24,395
Should I do this?

592
00:27:24,395 --> 00:27:25,145
Should I make the jump?

593
00:27:25,145 --> 00:27:25,685
Should I not?

594
00:27:25,925 --> 00:27:27,935
Any advice that you
would give young leaders?

595
00:27:28,535 --> 00:27:29,255
Absolutely.

596
00:27:29,255 --> 00:27:30,795
I think first of all, you need to be.

597
00:27:31,061 --> 00:27:33,941
Going close or drafting
near your strengths?

598
00:27:34,031 --> 00:27:34,241
I mean,

599
00:27:34,251 --> 00:27:34,331
Hmm.

600
00:27:34,661 --> 00:27:38,951
the way I say it is God's thumbprints on
you are clues about his plans for you.

601
00:27:39,311 --> 00:27:43,871
So I'm not gonna make a career
trajectory to go into working

602
00:27:43,871 --> 00:27:45,221
in the accounting department.

603
00:27:45,461 --> 00:27:47,021
I'm just not good with numbers.

604
00:27:47,591 --> 00:27:52,001
So my gift mix, that's where I'm
going to, that's where I'm gonna lean.

605
00:27:52,001 --> 00:27:55,631
And even though I from
the business world to the.

606
00:27:56,786 --> 00:27:57,176
world.

607
00:27:57,476 --> 00:28:02,276
I was still leveraging the strengths that
I had in vision casting, communicating,

608
00:28:02,306 --> 00:28:05,656
leadership, creativity, and communication.

609
00:28:05,656 --> 00:28:09,976
And so was just used in a different
format, in a different way.

610
00:28:10,276 --> 00:28:13,606
So if you're not clear about
what your strengths are,

611
00:28:13,606 --> 00:28:15,946
you need to figure that out.

612
00:28:16,096 --> 00:28:17,326
There's a lot of ways to do that.

613
00:28:17,386 --> 00:28:19,456
You can do the Now Discover
Your Strengths book.

614
00:28:19,456 --> 00:28:21,171
You can ask people, what
do you think I'm good at?

615
00:28:21,951 --> 00:28:22,851
But that's.

616
00:28:23,641 --> 00:28:28,381
The more you are clear about what
your strengths are, that's a huge step

617
00:28:28,736 --> 00:28:28,956
Hmm.

618
00:28:29,431 --> 00:28:33,631
Then I also think it's that, that
networking, Hey, you know, who do you,

619
00:28:33,721 --> 00:28:37,891
John Maxwell taught me this question to
ask, who do you know that I need to know

620
00:28:37,891 --> 00:28:40,081
and will you contact them on my behalf?

621
00:28:40,951 --> 00:28:44,991
it's not sometimes what, you know, as, as
the old adage says, it's really who you

622
00:28:45,141 --> 00:28:45,561
Yeah.

623
00:28:45,891 --> 00:28:48,771
and then you've got to, another thing
that John taught me is you gotta

624
00:28:48,771 --> 00:28:51,561
keep moving forward and don't, don't.

625
00:28:52,206 --> 00:28:55,386
Make the mistake of thinking one
email is a small thing now that

626
00:28:55,416 --> 00:28:55,496
Hmm.

627
00:28:55,506 --> 00:29:00,306
if you send an email to somebody asking
to meet with them, that's a step.

628
00:29:00,426 --> 00:29:04,856
Just keep doing that, but
to keep moving forward and.

629
00:29:05,411 --> 00:29:07,931
That's, you know, those steps will align.

630
00:29:07,931 --> 00:29:11,531
I feel like, you know, apparently we're
all six, six degrees away from Kevin

631
00:29:11,651 --> 00:29:11,801
Yeah,

632
00:29:12,431 --> 00:29:16,651
So if that's true, then I think
we're six degrees away from trying

633
00:29:16,651 --> 00:29:18,031
to figure out what to do next.

634
00:29:18,571 --> 00:29:23,311
But the more that you can do that
and more, you can be cognizant of it.

635
00:29:24,133 --> 00:29:28,033
The better you're gonna be positioned
when these seasons come, if you

636
00:29:28,033 --> 00:29:32,053
feel like a season is over, or
sometimes a season of next is

637
00:29:32,143 --> 00:29:34,843
thrust upon us company or whatever.

638
00:29:36,073 --> 00:29:39,493
a spouse has to move, so now
you find yourself in a different

639
00:29:39,493 --> 00:29:40,783
city, but you wanna do something.

640
00:29:40,783 --> 00:29:44,833
So all of that, and again, in today's
world, it's a little bit easier thanks

641
00:29:44,833 --> 00:29:48,463
to platforms like LinkedIn and others.

642
00:29:48,613 --> 00:29:50,083
But I think all of
that's really important.

643
00:29:50,083 --> 00:29:51,013
What are your strengths?

644
00:29:51,763 --> 00:29:52,783
Keep moving forward.

645
00:29:52,783 --> 00:29:53,953
And who do you know?

646
00:29:54,743 --> 00:29:59,003
those are really clear indications
or really clear pathways,

647
00:29:59,003 --> 00:30:01,463
if rather of what to do.

648
00:30:01,913 --> 00:30:07,743
And there's, when you're in a season
of waiting, recklessly waiting.

649
00:30:07,773 --> 00:30:09,003
Like, I'm just tired of waiting.

650
00:30:09,008 --> 00:30:09,398
I'm just gonna go.

651
00:30:10,128 --> 00:30:11,148
Do my own thing.

652
00:30:11,193 --> 00:30:12,063
Right, right,

653
00:30:12,326 --> 00:30:13,526
passively waiting.

654
00:30:13,526 --> 00:30:15,086
Like I'm just gonna sit around and watch.

655
00:30:15,296 --> 00:30:18,446
I'm just gonna write, play video games
all day long and then hope that somebody

656
00:30:18,746 --> 00:30:19,096
right.

657
00:30:19,406 --> 00:30:21,416
or there's act actively waiting.

658
00:30:21,896 --> 00:30:24,776
I'm gonna take the strengths test.

659
00:30:24,836 --> 00:30:28,796
I'm going to ask people, seven
people, what do you think I'm good at?

660
00:30:29,111 --> 00:30:29,171
Hmm.

661
00:30:29,276 --> 00:30:30,206
I'm going to.

662
00:30:31,226 --> 00:30:34,616
Network, look at my phone and
network, and I'm gonna try to

663
00:30:34,616 --> 00:30:36,416
do something every single day.

664
00:30:37,076 --> 00:30:39,626
And that's what you have to
ask yourself in a season.

665
00:30:39,626 --> 00:30:43,796
When if you're in a transition, what did
I do today to get closer to my next step?

666
00:30:44,366 --> 00:30:44,456
Oh yeah.

667
00:30:44,936 --> 00:30:46,286
word being today.

668
00:30:46,856 --> 00:30:50,816
Yeah, I love that because you're you're
controlling what you can control in

669
00:30:50,816 --> 00:30:55,346
the present, but you are preparing for
the opportunity that is on the horizon.

670
00:30:55,346 --> 00:30:56,756
And I, man, I love that.

671
00:30:56,786 --> 00:30:59,156
I just think that's a fantastic advice.

672
00:30:59,426 --> 00:31:02,411
I love, talking about drafting your
strengths, man, that's just a great.

673
00:31:03,176 --> 00:31:06,456
Great advice because I think through
it in this, it goes back a lot to

674
00:31:06,486 --> 00:31:07,746
what you were talking about earlier.

675
00:31:07,746 --> 00:31:11,516
As a company is gonna find that profit,
but when they unlock their, when they

676
00:31:11,516 --> 00:31:17,336
can articulate and align with purpose
and because it just infuses energy into

677
00:31:17,336 --> 00:31:21,506
that organization and people have that
belief and they start coming alongside

678
00:31:21,506 --> 00:31:23,671
that purpose and working towards this end.

679
00:31:23,996 --> 00:31:26,996
It reminds me of Hershey, Pennsylvania
that, you know, when they were,

680
00:31:27,266 --> 00:31:28,726
touring the Hershey factory and.

681
00:31:28,991 --> 00:31:32,591
And they were making chocolate in this
massive factory, but they could look up

682
00:31:32,591 --> 00:31:36,371
on the hill and the house that Hershey was
supposedly building for him and his wife

683
00:31:36,371 --> 00:31:41,181
ended up being a house for, like an orphan
educational facility for these kids.

684
00:31:41,391 --> 00:31:43,371
And so when someone came in,
I was reading this quote.

685
00:31:43,371 --> 00:31:46,041
Someone came in and they said,
well, hey, tell me you know, why

686
00:31:46,041 --> 00:31:47,271
you work and what you doing here?

687
00:31:47,271 --> 00:31:49,401
And they're like, well, we work
right here to pay for that.

688
00:31:49,746 --> 00:31:52,806
Up on the top of the hill and it
was like, man, they could be saying,

689
00:31:52,806 --> 00:31:55,866
well, we make chocolate so we can
make money and you know, make kids

690
00:31:55,866 --> 00:31:57,306
that know it's like that right there.

691
00:31:57,306 --> 00:31:59,436
They could look every time they
came outta the factory, they could

692
00:31:59,436 --> 00:32:02,436
look at the top of the hill and see
that reason why they were doing it.

693
00:32:02,436 --> 00:32:04,426
I think the strengths, your.

694
00:32:04,501 --> 00:32:06,901
Comment about drafting your
strengths is almost taking

695
00:32:06,901 --> 00:32:08,161
that to the individual level.

696
00:32:08,161 --> 00:32:12,061
You're saying if you have a thumbprint,
if there's a purpose, there's a purpose

697
00:32:12,061 --> 00:32:17,791
that has been implanted on you, in you,
on you, then you know, it's part of

698
00:32:17,791 --> 00:32:19,551
our responsibility to figure that out.

699
00:32:19,551 --> 00:32:21,891
Just like a company has
to figure out its purpose.

700
00:32:21,891 --> 00:32:25,401
As an organization, we kind of
have to figure out, well, hey,

701
00:32:25,401 --> 00:32:26,871
what are my strengths like.

702
00:32:27,246 --> 00:32:28,116
Am I good at?

703
00:32:28,116 --> 00:32:31,746
Because the more we can align with that,
it's just like unlocking that energy.

704
00:32:31,746 --> 00:32:34,026
We're gonna get energized
from living in our strengths.

705
00:32:34,026 --> 00:32:35,226
We're gonna do a better job.

706
00:32:35,226 --> 00:32:37,746
We're gonna, people are gonna
notice that because we're living and

707
00:32:37,746 --> 00:32:39,186
doing what we were created to do.

708
00:32:39,486 --> 00:32:43,501
So I think that's just a.
Fantastic, fantastic advice.

709
00:32:43,501 --> 00:32:47,521
So if you're listening to the last 10%
and you're facing a transition, do what

710
00:32:47,521 --> 00:32:49,501
our friend, Mr. Jeff Henderson says.

711
00:32:49,541 --> 00:32:52,961
start focusing on what you can do today
to prepare for that opportunity tomorrow.

712
00:32:53,021 --> 00:32:55,661
And look and lean on those
strengths and discover those

713
00:32:55,661 --> 00:32:56,951
strengths, draft those strengths.

714
00:32:56,951 --> 00:32:58,931
So, uh, I really like that a lot.

715
00:32:59,621 --> 00:33:03,731
Um, so, you know, we've talked
a lot about Chick-fil-A.

716
00:33:03,731 --> 00:33:05,831
We've talked a lot about
moving and transitioning.

717
00:33:06,101 --> 00:33:11,111
What do you feel like is one thing
that you learned going from a very

718
00:33:11,111 --> 00:33:15,651
corporate, very strong centered,
culture centered kind of environment

719
00:33:15,651 --> 00:33:20,126
in the non, in the for-profit
industry to, a ministry or nonprofit?

720
00:33:20,126 --> 00:33:22,556
what do you feel like is one of the
things that was like the biggest,

721
00:33:22,556 --> 00:33:24,566
like, oh wow, this is not the same.

722
00:33:24,666 --> 00:33:26,181
this is something that's
even different for me here.

723
00:33:26,791 --> 00:33:29,041
Even though you took your strengths
from one place to another.

724
00:33:29,641 --> 00:33:32,291
Well, again, I, I think there
were so many more similarities.

725
00:33:32,591 --> 00:33:32,951
Hmm.

726
00:33:33,001 --> 00:33:36,271
things that I noticed at Chick-fil-A
in North Point is that everyone

727
00:33:36,271 --> 00:33:37,606
could recite the purpose.

728
00:33:37,906 --> 00:33:38,026
Hmm.

729
00:33:38,401 --> 00:33:42,061
Like everyone knew the corporate purpose
at Chick-fil-A, which is to glorify

730
00:33:42,061 --> 00:33:45,301
God by being a faithful steward of
all that's entrusted to us and have

731
00:33:45,301 --> 00:33:48,901
a positive influence on all incoming
contact with Chick-fil-A at North

732
00:33:48,901 --> 00:33:52,081
Point, it was to lead people into
a growing relationship with Jesus.

733
00:33:52,291 --> 00:33:53,191
Everybody knew that.

734
00:33:53,791 --> 00:33:55,621
right, so it's easy to go,
oh, that's pretty cool.

735
00:33:55,651 --> 00:33:56,381
No, no, no, no, no.

736
00:33:57,101 --> 00:33:58,511
That's that.

737
00:33:58,511 --> 00:34:01,901
So when people ask, well, why,
how do they, know, stay on

738
00:34:01,901 --> 00:34:03,161
vision and mission and purpose?

739
00:34:03,161 --> 00:34:04,871
It's because everybody can recite it.

740
00:34:05,591 --> 00:34:07,541
And for many organizations.

741
00:34:08,626 --> 00:34:13,066
I encourage leaders to do what I call as a
vision inventory, just to walk around and

742
00:34:13,066 --> 00:34:14,266
go, what do you think we wanna be known

743
00:34:14,566 --> 00:34:14,786
Hmm.

744
00:34:15,316 --> 00:34:19,906
And if you get blank stares or you're
like, well, I think, you know, we had

745
00:34:19,906 --> 00:34:25,156
this retreat seven months ago and it
was a 14 paragraph mission statement

746
00:34:25,156 --> 00:34:26,686
that we came up with on a retreat.

747
00:34:26,806 --> 00:34:30,526
If nobody can recite or remember
it, then nobody's living it.

748
00:34:30,536 --> 00:34:30,756
Hmm.

749
00:34:31,056 --> 00:34:33,616
And so we want to be living.

750
00:34:34,381 --> 00:34:36,356
Down the hall, what's on the wall,

751
00:34:36,656 --> 00:34:36,776
Hmm.

752
00:34:36,781 --> 00:34:40,981
if you can't recite it or re or
remember it, why I encourage leaders.

753
00:34:40,981 --> 00:34:42,721
Your vision needs to be memorable.

754
00:34:43,051 --> 00:34:46,081
It needs to be repeatable,
and it needs to be portable.

755
00:34:46,471 --> 00:34:48,216
That it goes with people.

756
00:34:48,486 --> 00:34:50,706
So again, I saw that, with.

757
00:34:51,561 --> 00:34:56,631
With both organizations, you're
talking a different level of scale.

758
00:34:57,051 --> 00:34:59,661
You're talking about a multi-billion
dollar company versus a

759
00:34:59,661 --> 00:35:02,301
multi-million dollar nonprofit.

760
00:35:02,721 --> 00:35:05,441
But again, there's so many similarities.

761
00:35:05,581 --> 00:35:11,671
the was really critical that, and
really vital that the operators

762
00:35:11,671 --> 00:35:13,621
out in the field at Chick-fil-A.

763
00:35:14,626 --> 00:35:17,966
Had a really good relationship
and honest and open and thriving

764
00:35:17,966 --> 00:35:19,931
relationship with the corporate staff.

765
00:35:20,231 --> 00:35:20,351
Hmm.

766
00:35:20,651 --> 00:35:23,711
now at NorthPoint, it was reversed for me.

767
00:35:23,771 --> 00:35:26,656
'cause now I was the operator,
I was the field versus I at

768
00:35:26,656 --> 00:35:27,946
Chick-fil-A was the corporate staff.

769
00:35:27,946 --> 00:35:34,001
So I got to see those dynamics
you want to have tension in

770
00:35:34,001 --> 00:35:37,376
those relationships because that
means that we're pushing forward,

771
00:35:37,571 --> 00:35:39,521
But that tension can become.

772
00:35:40,311 --> 00:35:42,821
a tremor and an earthquake
if you're not careful.

773
00:35:43,871 --> 00:35:47,471
And that's what you see in a
lot of franchise organizations.

774
00:35:47,471 --> 00:35:49,841
And when, you know, when churches
ask me, should we go multi-site?

775
00:35:49,841 --> 00:35:51,341
I try to talk them out of it.

776
00:35:51,371 --> 00:35:54,041
Not because I don't believe in
it, I firmly do believe in it.

777
00:35:54,491 --> 00:35:57,791
Both my kids work in
multi-site churches, but.

778
00:35:58,241 --> 00:36:02,741
It's just, you've got to be really,
really careful about what you're doing

779
00:36:02,741 --> 00:36:08,861
with your culture because if your culture
is dysfunctional at your first location,

780
00:36:09,161 --> 00:36:09,381
Hmm.

781
00:36:09,521 --> 00:36:11,846
just gonna spread that
dysfunction around the community.

782
00:36:12,146 --> 00:36:12,566
Yeah.

783
00:36:12,641 --> 00:36:19,031
so that's it's, and it's much easier
to operate one location versus.

784
00:36:19,921 --> 00:36:20,701
Four.

785
00:36:21,386 --> 00:36:21,836
Yes.

786
00:36:21,931 --> 00:36:24,691
when we went from one to two at
North Point, that was one thing.

787
00:36:24,691 --> 00:36:30,221
But when we went from two to three, it
was now there's all sorts of complexity.

788
00:36:30,561 --> 00:36:35,541
imagine Chick-fil-A going from one
over the last few decades to 3000.

789
00:36:36,066 --> 00:36:36,186
gosh.

790
00:36:36,281 --> 00:36:37,571
just complexity

791
00:36:37,596 --> 00:36:37,896
Yeah.

792
00:36:38,196 --> 00:36:42,311
that the organization did not have
when there was only 300 restaurants.

793
00:36:42,326 --> 00:36:42,846
Right.

794
00:36:43,146 --> 00:36:47,761
So there's again, so many different
lessons that are the same.

795
00:36:48,481 --> 00:36:53,221
And and the thing I really loved
about NorthPoint and Chick-fil-A

796
00:36:53,221 --> 00:36:55,021
is they really valued purpose

797
00:36:55,321 --> 00:36:55,401
Hmm.

798
00:36:55,621 --> 00:36:57,931
they knew that they were
working for a higher purpose.

799
00:36:58,421 --> 00:37:03,401
and so to be able to work for those
and both really value valued family.

800
00:37:03,726 --> 00:37:04,146
Hmm.

801
00:37:04,446 --> 00:37:08,136
Really did not just talk a game
about that they really did value.

802
00:37:08,676 --> 00:37:10,206
Obviously Chick-fil-A's closed on Sundays.

803
00:37:10,206 --> 00:37:14,763
So there, there's that and, so again,
so many similarities that I was just

804
00:37:14,763 --> 00:37:16,233
really blessed with that I could.

805
00:37:16,533 --> 00:37:18,153
and both were learning organizations.

806
00:37:18,153 --> 00:37:18,673
They wanted to learn.

807
00:37:19,578 --> 00:37:22,603
And sometimes in church world
it seems odd that we would

808
00:37:22,603 --> 00:37:23,653
learn from the business world.

809
00:37:23,713 --> 00:37:27,043
I don't know why that's odd, but
some people think it can be odd.

810
00:37:27,043 --> 00:37:30,703
But I love that NorthPoint would
be bring in business leaders and I

811
00:37:30,703 --> 00:37:34,093
would bring in business leaders to
our staff to say, you don't have

812
00:37:34,093 --> 00:37:36,103
to connect the dots to what we do.

813
00:37:36,133 --> 00:37:37,303
Just tell us what you do.

814
00:37:37,513 --> 00:37:38,443
We'll figure that out.

815
00:37:40,038 --> 00:37:43,578
uh, both were learning organizations,
meaning that we just want, we don't

816
00:37:43,578 --> 00:37:46,083
want the world outside to outgrow

817
00:37:46,383 --> 00:37:46,923
Hmm.

818
00:37:47,273 --> 00:37:50,543
and I love what Dan Kathy said at
Chick-fil-A, you know, as Chick-fil-A

819
00:37:50,543 --> 00:37:53,648
continue to grow, he said, we
want to grow a small company,

820
00:37:53,948 --> 00:37:54,518
Hmm.

821
00:37:54,743 --> 00:37:57,983
that we wanna grow, but we
don't wanna lose the culture

822
00:37:57,983 --> 00:37:59,273
and the feel of a small company.

823
00:37:59,273 --> 00:38:00,503
And that's easier said

824
00:38:00,658 --> 00:38:01,358
Oh yeah.

825
00:38:02,333 --> 00:38:02,598
Yeah.

826
00:38:02,898 --> 00:38:03,888
So those.

827
00:38:04,263 --> 00:38:08,313
That's why it's important for leaders
in growing organizations to not talk

828
00:38:08,313 --> 00:38:12,763
themselves out of, doing good gestures.

829
00:38:13,063 --> 00:38:13,183
Hmm.

830
00:38:13,483 --> 00:38:13,983
yourself.

831
00:38:14,133 --> 00:38:18,273
The way I say it is don't talk
yourself out of warm hearted impulses.

832
00:38:18,273 --> 00:38:18,873
Do that.

833
00:38:18,918 --> 00:38:19,458
Yeah.

834
00:38:19,808 --> 00:38:23,078
Andy Stanley used to say, do for one
what you wish you could do for everyone.

835
00:38:23,078 --> 00:38:26,048
If you do that consistently,
that the compound interest of

836
00:38:26,048 --> 00:38:28,418
that really impacts your culture.

837
00:38:28,418 --> 00:38:29,288
I love that.

838
00:38:29,628 --> 00:38:32,793
I would love for you to share this just
on what you just talked about because you,

839
00:38:32,868 --> 00:38:35,838
you said two things that stuck out to me
that I would love for you to speak on.

840
00:38:36,228 --> 00:38:37,848
number one, if I'm a leader.

841
00:38:38,573 --> 00:38:39,683
I'm a young leader.

842
00:38:39,683 --> 00:38:43,793
Maybe I'm 35 or 40 or 45,
and I'm leading this team.

843
00:38:43,823 --> 00:38:48,768
You mentioned there being a tension
between this leadership and, and some

844
00:38:48,828 --> 00:38:53,318
either corporate and managers or between
managers and line, on the line in the

845
00:38:53,318 --> 00:38:55,223
field, or on the floor or whatever.

846
00:38:55,463 --> 00:38:58,233
First question is how would you advise.

847
00:38:58,978 --> 00:39:04,258
I guess the leader that's in that spot
to manage that tension well, or what does

848
00:39:04,258 --> 00:39:08,368
it look like when they're not managing
it Well, you know that if any advice you

849
00:39:08,368 --> 00:39:11,398
could give a leader that's having to live
in that tension and maybe even feels like,

850
00:39:11,428 --> 00:39:13,138
oh, is this, am I doing something wrong?

851
00:39:13,168 --> 00:39:14,368
'cause I'm in this tension spot.

852
00:39:14,828 --> 00:39:17,768
and the other thing is, If they're not
the CEO, they may not be able to do

853
00:39:17,768 --> 00:39:21,308
it for their whole organization, but I
love the idea of when you said we were,

854
00:39:21,368 --> 00:39:26,498
I were part of two organizations that
were learning organizations, and so if I

855
00:39:26,498 --> 00:39:30,938
wanted to lead a team that was a learning
team, if I couldn't do it for the whole

856
00:39:30,938 --> 00:39:35,978
organization, any advice you would give to
a leader to try to create that atmosphere

857
00:39:36,188 --> 00:39:37,478
and what that would look like for a team?

858
00:39:37,478 --> 00:39:40,058
Those are two things I'd love
to hear your insights on.

859
00:39:41,393 --> 00:39:43,293
Yeah, I'll start with
the second one first.

860
00:39:43,293 --> 00:39:46,178
I think it really starts with you
as the leader, are you learning?

861
00:39:46,478 --> 00:39:46,598
Hmm.

862
00:39:46,953 --> 00:39:50,193
Because if you're asking the team to learn
and you're not reading any books, you're

863
00:39:50,193 --> 00:39:51,483
not sitting down with people that are.

864
00:39:52,608 --> 00:39:55,788
You know, you're trying to learn from,
that's, you know, as John Maxwell

865
00:39:55,788 --> 00:39:58,038
says, if you're the smartest person
in the room, you're in the wrong

866
00:39:58,338 --> 00:39:58,628
Yeah.

867
00:39:58,938 --> 00:40:00,678
and then what podcast
are you listening to?

868
00:40:00,978 --> 00:40:01,058
Hmm.

869
00:40:01,068 --> 00:40:02,478
what are you doing to get better?

870
00:40:02,508 --> 00:40:06,468
Truet used to say, the two ways
you are the books you read and

871
00:40:06,468 --> 00:40:07,638
the people you interact with.

872
00:40:08,118 --> 00:40:10,398
So what's your improvement plan?

873
00:40:10,458 --> 00:40:15,108
And then when you go first, you're,
oh, I read this book, or I know this

874
00:40:15,108 --> 00:40:17,008
person, I'm gonna have 'em come in and.

875
00:40:17,383 --> 00:40:23,141
I think so many times we waste a lot
of overhead cash in an organization

876
00:40:23,531 --> 00:40:27,461
with ineffective staff meetings,
uninspiring staff meetings.

877
00:40:27,821 --> 00:40:32,411
We don't have a plan for it, and so
that's one of the things I love to do

878
00:40:32,411 --> 00:40:33,911
is just bringing business leaders in.

879
00:40:33,911 --> 00:40:35,651
I, you know, everybody from.

880
00:40:36,406 --> 00:40:42,465
Chick-fil-A to Sid Mashburn, who owns
a clothing brand to, Dana Spinola,

881
00:40:42,465 --> 00:40:43,905
who also owns a clothing brand.

882
00:40:43,905 --> 00:40:47,535
I had all these different people
come in and just tell us what they

883
00:40:47,535 --> 00:40:49,455
did and so we could learn from them.

884
00:40:51,345 --> 00:40:55,215
I think when it comes back to the,
your first question about that tension

885
00:40:55,215 --> 00:40:58,265
in organizations that would Start.

886
00:40:58,265 --> 00:41:03,125
I think the most important one is what
I call the above all else strategy,

887
00:41:03,485 --> 00:41:06,935
which is if you forget everything else
above all else, don't forget this.

888
00:41:07,385 --> 00:41:13,775
And it's, It's Proverbs 4 23, which starts
with, above all else, guard your heart

889
00:41:13,985 --> 00:41:15,815
for everything you do flows out of it.

890
00:41:16,895 --> 00:41:21,185
when franchised organizations and not
just franchise organizations, when leaders

891
00:41:21,185 --> 00:41:27,095
don't guard their hearts and there's
conflict that can lead to bitter leaders.

892
00:41:27,845 --> 00:41:30,485
and a bitter leader is easily cynical.

893
00:41:30,705 --> 00:41:34,425
a brittle leader is easily discouraged
because they just don't think they can

894
00:41:34,425 --> 00:41:36,495
get anything done in this organization.

895
00:41:37,335 --> 00:41:39,975
you wanna have leaders that
are trending toward better.

896
00:41:40,095 --> 00:41:46,335
And that's not that we always get along,
but that we feel heard and valued better.

897
00:41:46,425 --> 00:41:47,955
A better leader is easily.

898
00:41:48,585 --> 00:41:50,255
Resilient and we're hopeful.

899
00:41:50,735 --> 00:41:52,865
And so you have to fight for that.

900
00:41:53,315 --> 00:41:56,525
And that's why, but it, this,
here's the challenging thing in

901
00:41:56,525 --> 00:41:58,385
today's world, that takes time.

902
00:41:58,795 --> 00:41:59,420
Oh yeah.

903
00:41:59,660 --> 00:42:00,170
Yeah.

904
00:42:00,470 --> 00:42:03,410
as much as AI is gonna help things,
I don't think it's gonna solve

905
00:42:03,545 --> 00:42:04,085
I don't either.

906
00:42:04,220 --> 00:42:09,673
the emotional capacity it's
gonna take to deal with people

907
00:42:09,673 --> 00:42:11,203
to, to deal with one another.

908
00:42:11,503 --> 00:42:11,923
So.

909
00:42:12,358 --> 00:42:14,818
That's what you know,
thriving organizations.

910
00:42:14,848 --> 00:42:17,908
Cheryl Bachelder, who's a
huge hero of mine, she was,

911
00:42:17,978 --> 00:42:21,328
the CEO of Louisiana Chicken.

912
00:42:21,388 --> 00:42:24,568
She really led one of the best turnarounds
in business, in recent business history.

913
00:42:24,568 --> 00:42:25,978
In my humble opinion.

914
00:42:26,218 --> 00:42:30,058
she went all in on the strategy of
valuing people and serving people.

915
00:42:30,208 --> 00:42:33,088
And someone on our leadership team
said, yeah, this is working, but

916
00:42:33,088 --> 00:42:34,458
it's just taking so much time.

917
00:42:34,758 --> 00:42:34,978
Uh,

918
00:42:35,758 --> 00:42:37,983
And she's like, yeah, that's
what happens with people, right?

919
00:42:38,283 --> 00:42:38,613
yeah.

920
00:42:38,963 --> 00:42:42,590
in a fast-paced business world,
you have to, again, as John Maxwell

921
00:42:42,590 --> 00:42:45,915
says, you know, you have to walk
slowly through the crowd, even though

922
00:42:45,915 --> 00:42:47,175
you got a lot of stuff going on.

923
00:42:47,205 --> 00:42:47,475
Hmm.

924
00:42:47,925 --> 00:42:48,705
I love that.

925
00:42:48,705 --> 00:42:52,810
I think it's fantastic advice and I, I
agree a hundred percent and I think that,

926
00:42:53,290 --> 00:42:57,700
um, the trending toward better, we have a
coaching system that we help organizations

927
00:42:57,700 --> 00:43:01,930
implement so they can drive coaching
further down in their, the organizations

928
00:43:01,930 --> 00:43:03,310
because of that exact principle.

929
00:43:03,310 --> 00:43:06,690
You know, the one-on-one coaching app
is what we like to implement, so that.

930
00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:12,660
they may can hire a 2000 or more dollar
coach a month for a CEO or a vice

931
00:43:12,660 --> 00:43:16,530
president or whatever, but they, you know,
the ladies and gentlemen that's on the

932
00:43:16,530 --> 00:43:19,140
front lines can benefit from that as well.

933
00:43:19,140 --> 00:43:23,280
And so, to your point though, it's not
something that just happens overnight.

934
00:43:23,280 --> 00:43:26,250
You don't get better just by,
clicking your heels together,

935
00:43:26,250 --> 00:43:26,970
snapping your fingers.

936
00:43:26,970 --> 00:43:27,180
Right.

937
00:43:27,180 --> 00:43:29,970
It's a, it's a process that you
have to be able to engage in.

938
00:43:30,300 --> 00:43:31,400
And Man, that's really good.

939
00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:34,990
Just being in the trenches with people
and, and moving through the work together.

940
00:43:34,990 --> 00:43:35,770
So I love it.

941
00:43:35,770 --> 00:43:37,750
Man, this has been a
fantastic conversation.

942
00:43:37,750 --> 00:43:42,080
I really appreciate, you being on
the last 10% today, you've mentioned

943
00:43:42,080 --> 00:43:46,970
several huge names of people, John
Maxwell Truet, Kathy, Hank, Aaron.

944
00:43:47,810 --> 00:43:51,590
What would be one principle that
you've gleaned from like the,

945
00:43:51,890 --> 00:43:54,110
just the proximity principle?

946
00:43:54,110 --> 00:43:55,160
Like just what?

947
00:43:55,220 --> 00:43:57,410
Just being around some
of these great leaders.

948
00:43:57,590 --> 00:44:01,550
What is one thing that, that, from any
of those people stands out that in your

949
00:44:01,550 --> 00:44:05,360
life and your career is like, man, this
is something that, that has jumped out to

950
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:08,150
me that, would help leaders, and coaches.

951
00:44:08,750 --> 00:44:13,135
Truet was more interested in getting
better than he was getting bigger, and he

952
00:44:13,135 --> 00:44:18,935
was not in it for the money, even though
he wanted to grow and he wasn't, you know?

953
00:44:19,842 --> 00:44:24,222
It's not, there's nothing wrong
against that, I think he, his

954
00:44:24,222 --> 00:44:26,922
goal was not to be the biggest
restaurant company in the world.

955
00:44:26,952 --> 00:44:32,052
He wanted to be the best that he could
be because that was a stewardship issue.

956
00:44:32,742 --> 00:44:36,142
And so he knew that in his leadership.

957
00:44:36,772 --> 00:44:40,197
He was gonna be held accountable
not for how Burger King was doing,

958
00:44:40,497 --> 00:44:40,577
Hmm.

959
00:44:40,877 --> 00:44:42,682
but how was he doing?

960
00:44:42,682 --> 00:44:45,072
And his life verse was Proverbs 22 1.

961
00:44:45,072 --> 00:44:47,442
A good name is rather to
be chosen in great riches.

962
00:44:47,892 --> 00:44:48,852
And so that.

963
00:44:49,842 --> 00:44:53,642
To see him live that out was, fantastic.

964
00:44:53,732 --> 00:44:58,142
And the first time I had dinner with
John Maxwell, he was asking me questions.

965
00:44:58,202 --> 00:44:59,252
I mean, he kind of tricked me.

966
00:44:59,252 --> 00:45:00,002
I'm like, what?

967
00:45:00,122 --> 00:45:02,672
Oh wait, what do I know
I should be asking you?

968
00:45:03,032 --> 00:45:06,362
But that showed me that he had
the heart of a student and was

969
00:45:06,362 --> 00:45:08,832
curious, and still has that heart.

970
00:45:09,762 --> 00:45:10,392
Today.

971
00:45:10,422 --> 00:45:13,332
And so those leaders that just kind
of really modeled and they were

972
00:45:13,332 --> 00:45:14,842
really in it for the right reasons, I

973
00:45:15,167 --> 00:45:15,457
Yeah.

974
00:45:15,532 --> 00:45:17,452
you have to understand,
and I'll close with this.

975
00:45:18,333 --> 00:45:22,053
Chick-fil-A started, Truit
started his restaurant in 1946.

976
00:45:22,713 --> 00:45:27,273
we could go back in time and tell
Truet or ask him, so, okay, it's 1946.

977
00:45:28,059 --> 00:45:31,899
So tell us your vision for
launching Chick-fil-A here in 1946.

978
00:45:31,899 --> 00:45:33,639
he didn't, he wouldn't know
what you're talking about.

979
00:45:33,729 --> 00:45:36,789
He wasn't even serving, he wasn't
serving chicken at the time.

980
00:45:37,389 --> 00:45:37,929
That's right.

981
00:45:38,269 --> 00:45:41,419
you look at people from a distance,
you're like, oh, so they just had

982
00:45:41,419 --> 00:45:46,699
this grand master plan, and, but
it reminds me of what my dad said.

983
00:45:47,839 --> 00:45:50,389
Be faithful in the small
things, God's paying attention.

984
00:45:50,949 --> 00:45:51,219
and

985
00:45:51,219 --> 00:45:55,429
Truett just would be faithful, faithful,
serve people really, really well.

986
00:45:55,759 --> 00:45:57,529
Treat his staff really, really well.

987
00:45:57,919 --> 00:46:01,729
And then one day, many years later,
these two guys walk in from Delta

988
00:46:01,729 --> 00:46:06,919
Airlines and said, Hey, we just
had Delta cancel a large order of

989
00:46:06,919 --> 00:46:08,719
chicken that we were gonna serve them.

990
00:46:08,719 --> 00:46:10,399
Do you have any use for this?

991
00:46:10,969 --> 00:46:15,144
And as he often did, he negotiated a
really good price and now suddenly he's.

992
00:46:15,829 --> 00:46:18,439
You know, sitting on this chicken, he is
like, what am I supposed to do with this?

993
00:46:19,129 --> 00:46:23,169
And, 50 something years later,
it's now one of the largest

994
00:46:23,319 --> 00:46:24,739
chicken restaurants in the world.

995
00:46:25,309 --> 00:46:31,769
And so part of that is just the
faithful obedience day in and day out.

996
00:46:32,589 --> 00:46:33,019
And

997
00:46:33,019 --> 00:46:33,199
you

998
00:46:33,359 --> 00:46:36,114
your best and then God
shows up and you're ready.

999
00:46:36,424 --> 00:46:40,804
what breaks my heart for a lot of people
that I see is when the opportunities

1000
00:46:40,834 --> 00:46:42,724
arrive and they're not ready for them.

1001
00:46:43,554 --> 00:46:47,484
and that's why I tell people in career
transitions, of the most important

1002
00:46:47,484 --> 00:46:50,779
things that you need to do right now
is I tell this to married couples.

1003
00:46:50,959 --> 00:46:52,969
I know this isn't the most romantic thing.

1004
00:46:52,999 --> 00:46:56,179
It may not sound like it is,
but trust me, it is romantic.

1005
00:46:56,449 --> 00:46:58,144
You need to get your finances in order.

1006
00:46:58,444 --> 00:46:58,924
yeah.

1007
00:46:59,104 --> 00:46:59,824
Right outta the

1008
00:46:59,949 --> 00:47:00,169
Yep.

1009
00:47:00,694 --> 00:47:04,774
because Wendy and I did not know
that six years into our marriage,

1010
00:47:05,554 --> 00:47:11,404
this opportunity with Buckhead Church
would come along, which was fantastic.

1011
00:47:11,404 --> 00:47:12,589
We loved, but.

1012
00:47:13,429 --> 00:47:16,399
We had to take a significant
pay cut to do that.

1013
00:47:16,399 --> 00:47:20,449
But because we had done the due diligence
and God, because God had been faithful,

1014
00:47:20,899 --> 00:47:23,509
we were able to make that transition.

1015
00:47:25,219 --> 00:47:28,639
so we were being, we were
preparing for something that we

1016
00:47:28,639 --> 00:47:30,049
weren't even sure what it was.

1017
00:47:30,379 --> 00:47:30,409
Mm.

1018
00:47:30,589 --> 00:47:34,099
And so that's why I tell
people, just 'cause you can't.

1019
00:47:34,469 --> 00:47:35,489
See the future.

1020
00:47:36,599 --> 00:47:39,689
you can see right now what can you
do now be faithful where you are.

1021
00:47:39,899 --> 00:47:41,699
And so that's one of the
lessons I've learned.

1022
00:47:41,699 --> 00:47:44,879
And nobody was calling true at
1950 and saying, can we, the Wall

1023
00:47:44,879 --> 00:47:46,909
Street Journal wasn't calling
him saying, can we interview

1024
00:47:47,209 --> 00:47:47,429
No.

1025
00:47:47,729 --> 00:47:51,179
' cause he was just this little restaurateur
with this little bitty restaurant.

1026
00:47:51,629 --> 00:47:57,899
but over time that faithful diligence,
um, you know, led us to where they are

1027
00:47:58,199 --> 00:47:58,714
That's awesome.

1028
00:47:59,284 --> 00:48:00,844
Well, I, I just appreciate it.

1029
00:48:00,844 --> 00:48:01,864
This is, unbelievable.

1030
00:48:01,864 --> 00:48:04,744
We could talk for three hours today
'cause this has just been great, man.

1031
00:48:04,744 --> 00:48:05,644
Jeff, this is awesome.

1032
00:48:05,644 --> 00:48:09,794
I know our listeners have just enjoyed
this conversation, but we asked the guest

1033
00:48:09,824 --> 00:48:11,444
when we close out the show, two questions.

1034
00:48:11,444 --> 00:48:14,214
Number one, how can people reach you?

1035
00:48:14,844 --> 00:48:18,534
If they wanna connect with you or
buy your books or hire you to speak

1036
00:48:18,534 --> 00:48:19,854
or whatever, how can they do that?

1037
00:48:20,194 --> 00:48:20,854
so that's first.

1038
00:48:20,854 --> 00:48:21,989
So we'll start there and then
we'll ask the last question.

1039
00:48:22,589 --> 00:48:25,459
Sure they can just, go to jeff
henderson.com and you'll see that

1040
00:48:25,459 --> 00:48:28,519
there's some free resources there in
terms of some free assessments that

1041
00:48:28,519 --> 00:48:32,094
you can take and, they can contact our
team and yeah, we'd be happy to help.

1042
00:48:32,209 --> 00:48:32,839
That's awesome.

1043
00:48:32,899 --> 00:48:33,439
That's awesome.

1044
00:48:33,439 --> 00:48:35,569
We'll put that in the show notes,
so if you're driving, don't worry.

1045
00:48:35,569 --> 00:48:37,759
That'll be in the show notes so you
can check it out after the show.

1046
00:48:38,209 --> 00:48:41,869
Jeff, we always end by asking
our guests who they would like to

1047
00:48:41,869 --> 00:48:45,199
see as a guest on the last 10%.

1048
00:48:45,799 --> 00:48:48,769
Have you had our mutual
friend Kas McCaslin on here?

1049
00:48:48,814 --> 00:48:50,554
Oh, no, I haven't actually.

1050
00:48:51,094 --> 00:48:51,904
Oh, that's good.

1051
00:48:51,904 --> 00:48:52,444
Yeah.

1052
00:48:52,969 --> 00:48:54,289
that's who I'm voting for.

1053
00:48:54,374 --> 00:48:55,514
that would be a good episode.

1054
00:48:55,514 --> 00:48:57,944
Yeah, I think that's the,
we need to make that happen.

1055
00:48:57,974 --> 00:48:58,424
I think.

1056
00:48:58,424 --> 00:49:00,344
Hey, we can actually make
that happen, you know.

1057
00:49:00,344 --> 00:49:04,034
We'll, uh, we'll reach out to Cas and,
see if he wants to be a guest on last two.

1058
00:49:04,034 --> 00:49:07,604
I'll say that he has to 'cause
Jeff, you know, Jeff said so, so

1059
00:49:07,604 --> 00:49:08,714
he's gonna have to do it right.

1060
00:49:09,014 --> 00:49:12,539
Absolutely, and I don't even live
in Spartanburg, so there you go.

1061
00:49:13,319 --> 00:49:13,949
That's right.

1062
00:49:14,339 --> 00:49:17,129
Alright, well Jeff, thank you
again for being on the show and,

1063
00:49:17,129 --> 00:49:18,625
being a guest on the last 10%.

1064
00:49:18,925 --> 00:49:19,370
Thanks Dallas.