On the outskirts of Atlanta, we drove past the waterfall, walked through the front doors, and stepped into a world of positivity and smiles. Each delivered through a well-rehearsed cocktail of sincere stories that provided a peek into why this “chicken business” is a homebase of hope and life-change for so many.
One small business is a powerful, accessible opportunity for so many teenagers and adults to engage in their community, develop relationships, solve problems, earn income, and develop powerful and usable skills.
A collection of aligned small businesses, if well led and obsessively focused on vision, mission, and values, has the opportunity to scale the hope and life-change beyond one or two locations.
This is the opportunity for Chick-Fil-A.
Indeed, their chicken sandwich is remarkable, use of “my pleasure” noticeable, and waffle fries laced with a special serum of deliciousness - and their support of local small business is a Master’s class of intentional scale.
It is not lost on the Support Center staff that their primary purpose is the support of the almost 500,000 team members among the chicken-diaspora across North America (and soon to be other International markets).
You cannot walk a meaningful distance in their appropriately named Support Center without confronting a well-broadcast corporate purpose, mission, unique set of values, and foundational principles.
Purpose is as pervasive as a number one combo meal on a Saturday after the little league game or dance competition. Purpose is intentionally over-communicated with three distinctives that were tangible and delivered in a kind, sometimes goofy package of care as defined by competence and warmth.
Truett Cathy took one restaurant and built the systems and the team to scale that one restaurant to nearly three thousand. That is good news for business owners with one location or three…with two employees or thirty.
What scales up, can also scale down.
There are three simple elements on display at Chick-Fil-A central for the exponential spread of culture that require the grit of an entrepreneur and the roll-your-eye goofiness most entrepreneurs struggle to hurdle.
The first of these three simple elements is consistency.
One task completed with consistency over a long period of time makes a mark.
One task completed without consistency is a fad with little impact.
Inherent within consistency is the concept of a fanatical and firm footing, a concrete base with very little movement that can be trafficked relentlessly. Faith is placed in solid things because reliability, albeit goofy, beats the in-the-moment hipster vibe of trendy unsteadiness.
How can Chick-Fil-A ensure the now famed “my pleasure” is repeated millions of times daily?
Relentless consistency…even when it is goofy.
The second element that leads to the exponential spread of culture is amplification.
Pandemics spread through amplification; genetic copies spread from carrier to carrier at high speeds with consistency.
Your local municipal water system might be distributed through amplification. A series of pump stations systematically placed throughout the distribution channels of the pipes that run throughout your city or town. Each pump offers a boost to the system so that the home furthest from the source has the same pressure as the home closest to the source.
Messages too spread through amplification. A small group of message carriers spread their consistent message to other carriers over and over again.
That message requires the third element that leads to the exponential spread of culture…repetition.
“Repetition is the mother of all learning”; a refrain my first manager would share with me…repetitively.
I’ve heard it said, “if you are not annoying someone with your message, then you know your message is not landing.”
We tend to look down on repetition as non-innovative. Truthfully, our real struggle is with repetition void of meaning, warmth, sincerity, care, empathy, and intentionality.
Business owners look around and wonder why the big companies are “lucky” to have great culture. At the Chick-Fil-A Support Center, consistent, amplified, and repetitive messaging is…well, consistent, amplified, and repetitive.
Not requiring a degree, or the “right conditions”, business owners big and small have an opportunity to rinse and repeat.
Business On Purpose Founder Scott Beebe and Director of Coaching Thomas Joyner talked about the importance of Vision.
Know the answers to the following questions:
➡️ What is vision?
➡️ How does it differ from your mission and values?
➡️ Why is knowing where you're headed important and what does that do for your team?
➡️ Lack of vision from business owners, why does it matter?
➡️ Why do you think it's become cliche or stale and really lack the punch it needs to have?
➡️ Why does having accountability from a source outside of your business important?
➡️How does it get you where you need to go?
WATCH THE VIDEO to learn more!
Are you working IN your business or ON your business? Do you have all of the foundational elements that will liberate you from the business chaos? Take the assessment to find out which areas you can grow and improve on.
Take our Healthy Owner Business Assessment HERE ➡️ https://www.boproadmap.com/healthy
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For blogs and updates, visit our site HERE ➡️ https://www.mybusinessonpurpose.com/blog/
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An influential teacher was slowly traveling towards his intended destination and along the way would make time to connect in a variety of towns.
As is the case for most teachers, politicians, musicians, and artists of influence, this teacher had supporters… followers.
There was one controversial stop along the campaign route where the local population was more hostile to the teachers message.
Argumentative conflict ensued.
The supporters immediately asked the teacher's permission to antagonize and put the locals in their place.
The teacher said “no”. In effect, he censured his supporters.
His supporters desperately wanted to control the narrative…to make the locals either like the teacher and the message that they themselves liked, or else they wanted to burn the place down.
Instead, the teacher provided a model of having self-control and realizing that it is impossible to mandate conversion to any sort of message.
Labor to control others and you will either get blind subjects or chaotic revolt.
Live under control guided by a defined vision, mission, and values of your leadership, and you will create well-equipped and well-intentioned supporters who have self-elected into your sphere of influence, or you will get people who self-elect out of your sphere.
Leading by controlling mandates that the leader be in a constant, exhaustive grind of devising new tactics of adherence.
Manipulative strategy.
The mission of a controlling leader morphs into a focus to find and retain a growing list of followers.
The mission of an under-control leader is to equip the right willing supporter to go out and perpetuate the message.
The leader who is controlling mandates and micro-manages the mandate and the method asking the right questions at the wrong times, or asking the wrong questions at the right times.
The leader who is under control sets a clear and repetitive vision (what the future destination looks like), constantly reminds the supporters of the ultimate mission (why they are doing what they are doing), and guides each supporter to think independently within the agreed upon values (the guardrails) to ensure alignment on mission…even though the method may vary.
In full disclosure, I tend to lean towards controlling.
Controlling the narrative, the method, and the outcome.
I am having to learn to set an overly clear picture of the destination (the vision), provide examples of how to get there, the guidelines for what the field of play looks like, and then extend trust to provide the freedom and latitude to allow each team member to run the plays they best think will get us to the endzone within the sidelines of the field we are playing on.
There is not one play that has been run that I (the controlling leader) don’t think can be run differently.
A leader who is under control realizes the mechanics of the play are not important, but that the play is in bounds and moves us closer to the endzone.
The controlling leader will never experience the freedom and joy of watching a team perform based on autonomy and proper equipment, but will be in a constant state of frustration because it will never be completed in the replicated method of the leader.
Just because it worked “back then” doesn’t mean it still works the same today.
The leader who controls will be stuck in the small town trying to handle the uprising they have created through force and manipulation, and be deprived of the joy of their final destination.
The leader who is under control will share their offering, identify the supporters, and keep moving towards their ultimate destination.
We recently hosted an online Masterclass on how to build your entire business on one sheet of paper.
Near the end of the Masterclass, a business owner lobbed this question into the chat window, “How do you ensure, your processes aren't stolen and replicated by employees who leave?”
The short answer is, “you don’t.”
Owning a business is risky, leading people is risky, serving customers and clients is risky, and bringing your product and service into an open market is risky.
What are some things you can do to ensure that others don’t “steal” your proprietary process?
First, legally it is always good to have each employee sign an employee agreement that has been drafted by a legal professional.
Within that agreement, there can be language and clause that reflects the desire to maintain “trade secrets" and proprietary process.
Some would say that the agreement is as valuable as the paper it’s written on. Maybe, however, you would rather have that signed in the rare case it would need to be referenced.
Second, this is all the more reason to work diligently to create a culture where each contractor and employee has bought into the mission and has a desire to add value instead of extracting value to take elsewhere.
Owners cannot take for granted that a job and a paycheck are good enough reasons to be engaged, and remain engaged.
The fruit of culture is a direct result of the ingredients that you put into the culture. While the vision that culture is leading towards is largely at the determination of the owner, the methods towards that vision can be a powerful way to engage the team and to build longevity with each person.
We all have a desire to leave our fingerprints of value-add to anything we do.
The best way to ensure that no one takes your process is to create a place they never wish to leave.
Finally, although the fear is real that someone could steal your process, the likelihood of their implementation is typically low.
YouTube hosts completely free content on how to do just about anything in the world. Want to build a sprinter van? It’s there. Want to start a bookkeeping company? The answers are there.
Truth is, our processes are actually not very proprietary. Remember, “there is nothing new under the sun.” Instead, there is implementation. As Joe Calloway says, “vision without implementation is hallucination.”
Someone may take your process, and yet it will be hard to implement.
There is no competition to a well-run business in a needy and growing marketplace.
Build an unleavable culture, and you will be even more incentivized to share your process.
“Nobody wants to work anymore”...the problem is that has been said for well over 100 years now!
I saw a headline all the way back to 1894 declaring that “nobody wants to work anymore”. This is not a new problem.
If we’re not careful, our negativity will breed a culture where work is seen as…
Cursed
A means to an end
As a lifeless 9 to 5, tryin’ to make a livin’
Hallucinating that it’s 5 o’clock somewhere
Something to “take and shove it”
Just another Manic Monday
Work is deeper than that, more powerful than that
Work is an opportunity…
Proverbs 12:11 - “A hard worker has plenty of food, but a person who chases fantasies has no sense.”
We say, “nobody wants to work anymore!”...when in reality they just don’t want to work for you because you are grumpy!
Instead, we need to build A CULTURE WHERE PEOPLE DO WISH TO DO HARD THINGS!
There will always be a mountain to climb in building a culture of intentionality within your business.
Business is hard…running a business is even harder.
Let’s stop pretending that our circumstance is unique…because business is hard, business can also be good.
So what is the mountain of our time?
Dr. Tim Elmore would argue that one primary element is the unprecedented generational diversity, we are experiencing because it is the number one topic that he is asked to speak on as a researcher of youth culture.
How do you mix the soil of culture so that it is rich enough to handle the diversity of generational seeds being planted? How do we mix that culture so that it makes the next generation…ALL generations, excited to work?
FIRST, WHAT IS CULTURE?
Culture is not a business term…it is a biology term
Culture is a Petri Dish: what goes in the dish is what grows out of the dish
Good in…good out (give examples)
Bad in…bad out (give examples)
The culture of your business is a DIRECT RESULT of the ingredients that you allow to enter the mash bill.
Here are 4 ingredients to mix in the cocktail of a healthy business culture that the next generation will be excited to work in…
FAM Time: Team Meeting
Must have a means of communication (Imagine if the underwater cables were cut between the US and Europe?)
STORY: Story written by Capt. George O. Squier in an article for The National Geographic Magazine in Jan, 1901 said, “the submarine (cable) is a powerful instrument of war, more powerful, indeed, than battleships and cruisers, since by its wonderful and instantaneous, communications of thought, it brings distant countries (team members) and colonies (teams) together in sympathy, which is the only true and permanent tie.”
A culture that is missing the nutrient of human connection
When communication is choppy, infrequent, unpredictable, or limited …you have missed opportunities and Low Morale
Thought, ideas, implementation, updating process, engagement
Clarity, input, teamwork
The opportunity for sympathy and empathy…which is the “only true and permanent tie”
When communication is repetitious, predictable, and meaningful…you have →
The second thing that the next generation needs in order to work and lead?
GET “LIT”: Line-Item Training
Every sports team, every military command has one thing in common…if they aren’t playing a game or fighting battle…they are practicing and preparing for one
Your vacation policy?
How to properly perform an electrical walk?
How to post a bid schedule?
How to job cost?
How to identify an ideal client?
How to properly dress?
When was the last time you trained your team on…
Admit the “L”
The hallmark leadership trait of the older generation is defined by…
Stuffy
Know it all
A “Chotch” - someone who is unpleasant to be around
Find the Spotify playlist of someone younger than you and commit to listen
Eminem - lose yourself in the moment, you own it you never ever let it go
Post Malone - I was patient, aye, oh, Now I can scream that we made it, Now everyone, everywhere I go, they say 'gratulations…I pick up the rock and I ball baby, I’m looking for someone to call baby, but right now I’ve got a situation…
Start learning new things
Self-deprecation goes a LOOOOOONG way among a younger culture
ACTION → ask someone younger than you for their playlist, listen, and share what you heard
STAN the culture calendar
“Stan” - be obsessed but not in a creepy way
The culture calendar is a business playsheet with scripted plays.
It is simple to build and will require you to think through a few different categories.
First, layout the months and dates by weeks at the top of your culture calendar.
Then, on the vertical column on the left hand side you will break this down into different categories. We recommend starting with weekly, monthly, quarterly, twice-annually, and annually.
In other words, what are the “business ingredients” you wish to make part of your culture each week, month, quarter, etc.
You don’t need to waste time and energy grumbling about how “nobody wants to work anymore”. They just don’t want to work for grumps…they want to give all they’ve got to a great culture by…
FAM Time: Team Meeting
GET “LIT”: Line-Item Training
Admit the “L”
STAN the culture calendar
It was five days since I had called to check in on a contractor owner with no response.
Finally, hoping everything was ok, I texted another check in, to his simple reply, “Honestly, when I said I work all the time I wasn't embellishing the truth. I just wrapped up another long day and headed home now.”
That was on a Sunday night for a business that shouldn’t have much to do on the weekend.
For too many business owners, the harsh reality is that the business is owning them and it may be time to sell.
There are three helpful filters to flush a decision through when timing a potential sale of your business.
First, do you have a desire?
Desire cedes ground to opportunity that has lured many business owners down the path of “profitable distractions” - where the potential of profit distracts from what the owner desires.
Ownership is hard, and owners must have a continued desire to own and lead the business in a way that others desire to follow.
Second, are you at a relational impasse?
Many owners are leading their business based on the expectation of generations before that this would “always be a family-run business”.
There is no badge awarded to the longest-running family-owned enterprise; the odds are often stacked strongly against. Each person has their own unique skill set and we should not assume that our children or kin either have the desire or the capability to run the business.
It should be their dream and not yours.
The third filter to use when thinking about selling is to ask, “would others lead the business better than you?”
Life runs in seasons.
The Byrd’s (quoting the Jewish Proverbs) remind us that there is “a time to plant and a time to pluck up.”
Just because you have owned your business for 10 years does not mean you need to own it for 40 years. What season of life are you in? What season of life is your business in?
Merge those questions with desire and relationship and you will start to focus on the value and timing of selling your business.
"Recruiting And Hiring: The 4 Systems Every Homebuilder And Remodeler Owner Needs To Build The Right People That Builds The Right Business"
Thursday, February 2, 2023
Austin Build Expo
by Thomas Joyner
Director of Coaching
Business on Purpose
People, people, people! How do we find the right people to hire? How do we find ANY people to hire?
The Boomers retired early, and the emerging generations are much more selective in the work they choose. How can you find the right people, recruit them the right way, share the right vision, and then onboard them the right way that aligns with the right mission?
This life-changing and engaging 45-minute talk pulls from our work with hundreds of contractor owners that led to our proprietary and proven roadmap.
This roadmap will equip you to beat chaos with predictability and to build the team that will build the business to make time for what matters most.
"How Homebuilding and Remodeling Owners Attract The RIGHT People Like a Division 1 College Football Powerhouse"
National Association of Home Builders- International Builders' Show 2023- Las Vegas, NV
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
by Scott Beebe
Founder | Headcoach
Business On Purpose
As a Division 1 Football player in the powerful Southeastern Conference (SEC), Scott has seen firsthand the behind-the-scenes system that is being constantly updated and refined to ensure that athletically talented 16 and 17 adolescents choose the right team.
Remodeler and home builder owners are in a season of work where they have a choice: see the next generation as a hindrance with excuses like “they won’t work” or see this new generation as an opportunity to pivot with a renewed mindset like “I’m excited to see how they own the mission!”
There is a shortage of workers for the old-school methodologies, but there is no shortage of people willing to work… toward the right mission.
However, chaos creeps in, and owners feel they spend their days constantly putting out fires and cleaning up messes left by other people and resigning themselves to exhale in frustration, “It’s just easier if I do this myself.”
This life-changing and engaging 30-minute workshop pulls from our work with hundreds of owners and gets you on the path to building a powerhouse team.
You will be equipped to beat chaos with predictability and to build a business that brings stability, life, and time for what matters most.
"The Secret To Getting the Next Generation Excited To Work And Lead"
National Association of Home Builders- International Builders' Show 2023- Las Vegas, NV
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
by Scott Beebe
Founder | Headcoach
Business On Purpose
We’ve been led to believe the myth that a good custom home-building company culture is more “luck of the draw” and less “intentional sowing and fertilizing”. This eye-opening program will help to uncover what the next generation really wants and what elements lead to business health. Get clarity on the difference within the generations, how to listen and speak to your team with a compelling language, and what elements are needed for each team member to thrive day-to-day. Leave empowered with a tool that you can implement immediately, providing a clear roadmap to multi-generational engagement in the custom home-building workplace.
What does generational diversity mean? What challenges exist when multiple generations work closely together?
Learn about the solutions that you can implement to build a culture that attracts the right multi-generational team.
"Navigating Gen Z & Building a Company That Attracts the Right People"
National Association of Home Builders- International Builders' Show
Las Vegas, NV
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Presented by:
Patrice Miles
Business Coach
Business On Purpose