Monday morning we had the privilege of hearing from Chick-fil-A Operator, Matt Thompson (he operates a Chick-fil-A Spartanburg, SC). He spoke to us in-depth about two specific letters in the acronym S.E.R.V.E- the R which stands for reinventing continuously and the V which stands for value results and relationships. In order to reinvent continuously, he encouraged us not to be a problem identifier, but a problem solver. The only way to grow and improve is to realize your mistakes and do something about them. He also talked about how we need to be focused on results and relationships- both of these are essential to succeeding. Any business or organization will fail if it is focused on results more than relationships and vice versa.
The cool thing about Matt was that he shared with us some personal examples in his life where he practiced these two letters. Once, he wanted to sell ice cream at a local fair. The problem was that he needed a three-compartment sink if he was going to prepare the food at the fair. He did not have a sink, and there was no way he could afford one for this single event. Instead of giving up, Matt figured out a way to have the ice cream prepackaged so that he would be able to sell it. He also shared with us that he is a person who normally values results over relationships. He realized that this was a problem and that he needed to be more intentional about the relationships he had with his team. He showed us some practical ways to become more focused on relationships if we are mainly concerned about results and vice versa.
We appreciate Matt Thompson for taking the time to come share with us and for giving us some great examples from his life about how to become better leaders.
In Him,
Katelyn Meeks
IMPACT 360 class of 2011