Mark Miller is Vice President of High Performance Leadership at Chick-fil-A, and has spent the last two decades ensuring the growth of Chick-fil-A isn’t hindered by their supply of top talent.
Mark talks about how to create a leadership pipeline of internal and external talent, and why execution can be the difference between a stuck organization and a thriving organization.
Welcome to Episode 346 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.
Plus, in this episode’s What I’m Thinking About segment, Carey talks about what Caucasian leaders can do to understand and make a difference for racial reconciliation.
Guest Links
Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | goodreads | Website
Episode Links
Financial Peace University
Has anybody else felt any stress the past few months? If there’s one thing that hits really close to home for a lot of people, it’s stress about money. So many people have lost their jobs recently. They’re staring at an empty bank account and a house full of kids to feed. They don’t know when this crisis will end or where their next paycheck will come from.
You CAN help others though, right now, by leading a virtual Financial Peace University class.
Financial Peace University is THE proven plan that has helped nearly 6 million people stop worrying about money by learning how to pay off debt and save for emergencies. The class is totally free to lead—and it’s all done through a video chat like Zoom.
And right now, our friends at Ramsey Solutions are offering a FREE webinar, where you can learn all about leading a Financial Peace University class. Plus, when you register for the webinar, you’ll be entered to win a collection of Ramsey books worth over $250.
If you want to help people leave money stress behind for good, register for the free webinar by texting CAREY to 33789
Pro Media Fire
There is a disruption happening in the church space right now and things will not go back to normal. Do you need a partner that can help you navigate the digital shift? That is exactly what Pro Media Fire is doing with their Church Growth Program.
The Church Growth Program provides your church with a digital coach, creative team, web team and social team for less than the cost of a staff hire. Your church can have an entire team of professionals providing digital strategy and a creative framework to help your church grow online.
If you are a ready to be a trendsetter in the new digital hybrid church model this program is for you.
Book your free digital strategy session today at
ProMediaFire.com/ChurchGrowth
CONVERSATION LINKS
Barbarians to Bureaucrats by Lawrence M. Miller
The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker
High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard
Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud
The Secret by Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller
Leaders Made Here by Mark Miller
Chess Not Checkers by Mark Miller
Carey’s racial reconciliation conversation with Sam Collier on Instagram Live
3 INSIGHTS FROM MARK
1. Chick-fil-A’s Secret Sauce
Besides the invention of the chicken sandwich, Chick-fil-A is known for their hospitality. This is often what sets them apart from other fast food chains. To attain this, they employ high caliber leaders in every restaurant. So, what makes for a high caliber leader? They use the acronym SERVE:
They See the future.
They Engage and develop others.
They Reinvent continuously.
They Value results in relationships.
They Embody the values.
Mark says, “Great leaders are always serving leaders as opposed to self-serving. They are compelled by the unshakable desire to serve others.” And this is what they consider their “secret sauce.”
2. How to Create a Leadership Culture
Not only do they employ high caliber leaders, Chick-fil-A also accelerates leadership development. Before they learned to do this, they realized they needed to define the term leadership. Was it about skills or about character? Mark says they learned that it’s about both.
Peter F. Drucker said, “The quality of character won’t make a leader, but the absence flaws the entire process.” Mark says they made a strategic decision that they would select for leadership character, and train, educate, and develop on skills. He said, “Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t want candidates with skills, but if you’ve got to teach someone, it’s preferable to teach them skills as opposed to transform and reclaim character.”
Once they defined leadership, Mark said they had to teach leadership, and then allow their teams to practice it. He said, “The research on this has been clear for decades that most leaders know most of what they know about leading through the experience of leading.”
3. 4 Ways to Attract Top Talent
When Chick-fil-A looks for talent, they search for character, competence and chemistry “with a healthy dose of entrepreneurial spirit in the mix.” And that’s been their formula for 40+ years.
Mark says they also conducted research on what attracts top talent, and they discovered three things that talent want:
- They want a better boss.
- They want a brighter future.
- They want to be part of a bigger vision.
Now notice that this point is titled FOUR ways to attract top talent. Mark says that finally, in order to be a part of the bigger vision, they learned that you actually have to tell that story. This can be done through having your employees serve as ambassadors, or by sharing your story on social media and your website. But when you tell your story, make sure talent can figure out that you’re going to provide a better boss, a brighter future and a bigger vision.
Quotes from Episode 346
Your capacity to grow determines your capacity to lead. @leadersserve Click To Tweet More than leadership; every organization needs a leadership culture. @leadersserve Click To Tweet The quality of character won't make a leader, but the absence flaws the entire process. - Peter F. Drucker Click To Tweet Is it about skills or is it about character? We say leadership is about both. @leadersserve Click To Tweet Leadership always begins with a picture of the future. @leadersserve Click To Tweet It's far more important to do something than to do nothing because silence is deafening in a time like this. @cnieuwhof Click To Tweet The moral arc of the universe bends toward justice. @SamCollier Click To TweetRead or Download the Transcript for Episode 346
Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?
Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.
Watch Back Episodes of The Podcast on YouTube
Select episodes of this podcast are now on YouTube. Our new YouTube Channel gives you a chance to watch some episodes, not just listen. We’ll add select episodes to YouTube as time goes on.
Subscribed Yet?
Subscribe for free and never miss out on wisdom from world-class leaders like Brian Houston, Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Nancy Duarte, Henry Cloud, Patrick Lencioni, Francis Chan, Ann Voskamp, Erwin McManus and many others.
Subscribe using your favorite podcast app via
Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review
Hopefully, this episode has helped you lead like never before. That’s my goal. If you appreciated it, could you share the love?
The best way to do that is to rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts and leave us a brief review! You can do the same on Stitcher and on TuneIn as well.
Your ratings and reviews help us place the podcast in front of new leaders and listeners. Your feedback also lets me know how I can better serve you.
Thank you for being so awesome.
Next Episode: Nir Eyal
When bestselling author, Nir Eyal, wrote Hooked a few years ago, it took Silicon Valley by storm. In it, Nir explains the principles that companies and leaders can use to ‘hook’ people on forming (good) habits. His most recent book, Indistractable, looks at how to get away from the things that distract us (like our phones, people and things that we don’t want to focus on) so we can focus on what matters most. In the future, becoming indistractable will become a super power.
Subscribe for free now so you won’t miss Episode 347.
