"Leadership is influence" - John Maxwell
On Sunday we took all of our graduating high school seniors and upper management out for a celebratory dinner. This has become a 4 year tradition and we always look forward to it. Every year has been special in its own way-- just different! This year was our biggest group by far. We had 17 graduating seniors and surprisingly 15 of them were able to attend the dinner. So reservations for 20 were made :)
We recognize that "dinner with the boss" can seem lame and maybe even uncomfortable so we try to make this a "nice, laid back, get to know you" type dinner. We chatted among our little groups, they announced their school accomplishments, colleges they will be attending, etc. It was so neat to learn about our very accomplished employees.
Towards the end of dinner a few employees wanted to make speeches. This was a new twist to what has occurred at previous dinners. Honestly we were a little nervous about what they might say-- did they like working for us? Are they so glad to be leaving? You just never know what a 17 year old might say! By the end of the few speeches there was hardly a dry eye and if you weren't crying you wanted to! It was one of those situations where I had to sit back and really think about what was occurring. The girls who stood up and made speeches were letting it be known how much they felt like a family, how much they enjoyed their first job experience, and how much they enjoyed working with many of our managers. That's when it hit me that this is what INFLUENCE looks like! Leadership is influence.
They were not saying that Duane and Erica taught me this and Duane and Erica taught me that-- although we did do some of that. They were talking about what our managers had sowed into them. We taught our managers and our managers taught them. We influenced and "grew" our managers and gave them the platform and opportunity to help their peers. One particular manager that many of them complimented is only 20 years old. She has made a huge impact in so many young girls lives and she is still so young! Imagine how many she will influence by the time she graduates from college!
I don't mean to break my arm to patting ourselves on the back but it felt awesome to know that we have created a culture within our little restaurant where our leadership is influencing and being empowered to make others better. It felt great to know that for those employees that are leaving for college and moving on feel that being a part of our Chick-fil-A family has been a valuable experience and they will take the skills they learned and go concur the world!
It makes all the long hours, stress, and worry SO worth it!
I love our jobs!
