Around the end of the 2nd year of being a Chick-fil-A team member I walked in to work and my
shift leader asked “do you know how to run boards?”
Back then, 1 person breaded and 1 person did all the rest. Sandwiches, nuggets, fries…. that’s
Boards.
I had never done it. I’d been asked before but until that day I’d never done anything but run a
register.
I guess we didn’t have a good boards person scheduled or maybe the shift leader just didn’t
want to run boards or maybe he wanted options down the road. So that night I learned to run
boards.
That night the shift leader opened a door for me that ultimately led to owning a Chick-fil-A. For the next 2 years I mostly worked the boards area, and really enjoyed it. A nice break from the front counter.
Now, with a full understanding of the restaurant some of my peers started suggesting I be a team leader (we had 2 levels of leaders. Team leader and manager). I was reluctant but eventually said OK. What I learned as a team leader was that I like when problems are mine. I like responsibility. The more responsibility the better is what I found out.
How can we open doors for more people more often? Who are you developing today? It may just be learning DT or fries. It’s a door. And who knows what opportunities that door can open up to. I’m sure glad that shift leader decided that was the night I was gonna learn boards.
That night the shift leader opened a door for me that ultimately led to owning a Chick-fil-A. For the next 2 years I mostly worked the boards area, and really enjoyed it. A nice break from the front counter.
Now, with a full understanding of the restaurant some of my peers started suggesting I be a team leader (we had 2 levels of leaders. Team leader and manager). I was reluctant but eventually said OK. What I learned as a team leader was that I like when problems are mine. I like responsibility. The more responsibility the better is what I found out.
How can we open doors for more people more often? Who are you developing today? It may just be learning DT or fries. It’s a door. And who knows what opportunities that door can open up to. I’m sure glad that shift leader decided that was the night I was gonna learn boards.
