Grocery Cart = trust

Why do insurance agents put their faces everywhere?? My insurance agent is Andy Jones. We’ve become friends over the years, and neighbors. And a couple of his boys have worked for us.

One day I was in Kroger and I saw Andy. Well, I didn’t see him in person. I saw his picture on the seat of the grocery cart in an add for Andy Jones, State Farm. Is he that stuck on himself that he wants to see his face on the seat of the grocery cart when he needs to buy milk and eggs? He’s already got his head blown up 20 times on a billboard I drive by every day.

I don’t know if he actually enjoyed having his big smile plastered on every surface up and down Roxboro Rd but I did realize this. Insurance is a commodity. There isn’t much difference in policies. What it comes down to is trust. Who will take care of me best when I have a wreck or a tree falls on my house? The guy I feel like I know because I see his face everywhere or Geico? I don’t know for sure but I do know I’ve chosen State Farm in part because I know Andy. I can call Andy. I’m sure Geico is also good. I just don’t know who I’d call.

Just like when I think of State Farm I see Andy’s face, when customers think CFAROX they think of our faces. Each one of us is CFAROX to a customer. They choose CFAROX because they trust the person that comes to their mind when they think of CFAROX. They trust you.

Do You Know How To...?

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.

Leadership Gym

Back in High School I had to take Weight Lifting as a class.  I'm assuming I "had to" take it because I didn't want to take the other potential electives but I had a semester of weight lifting none the less.  And, if you've been paying attention you could probably guess that I wasn't much on exercise most of my high school life and this was no different.

Combine that with my tendency to avoid doing what teachers asked and still finding way's to get decent grades and you can imagine how little weight lifting I did that semester.  I was in the weight room alot.  I watched alot of weight lifting.  I sat on benches.  I leaned on walls.  I walked around in the weight room and occasionally I lifted a weight.

Fortunately, I was thinking ahead at the beginning of the semester when the coach had us record our max on various machines.  I sandbagged.  I lifted just enough to not look like a complete wuss.  So, at the end of the semester, when we needed to record our max (which a large % of our grade was based on) I was able to record a good enough weight gain in order to pass the class.  Everybody knew I didn't lift any during the semester.  Including our starting catcher on the baseball team.  My first swing at baseball tryouts that year was a homerun which made him so mad he yelled out "and he never touched a weight all semester!!"

What's the lesson?  Just being in the weight room isn't enough.  Sitting on the equipment isn't enough.  I may have gotten the grade but I wasn't any stronger.

In our store, we have a leadership gym.  Everyday we have so many opportunities to flex our leadership muscle, to try a new technique, maybe try something a bit heavier.  Our leadership toolbox has the various exercises listed.  ESRC, 4 Disciplines of Execution, 10/10/10, SBI, SERVE (crossfit)...  Every day we can lift these weights.  Lots of reps.  But, its also easy to just walk around.  Maybe talk to some people.  Sit on the equipment.  We can get through the day without lifting if we really want to.

Who will be stronger after a semester in the "gym"?  The guy increasing his reps and the weight every day or the guy walking around the gym doing anything but lifting?

Don't miss this opportunity.  Every day is a day in the leadership gym.  You may get lucky and hit a homerun occasionally but don't be like me back in HS.  Don't miss that opportunity to get stronger.  If you lift every day you will be a strong leader.       


PS-If the store is the Gym and the toolbox is the equipment, books and podcasts are the protein needed for strong leadership muscle.                   

Stress Free Memories

Years ago I was looking through some family pictures that included a beach trip.  As I looked at the happy pictures I found myself wishing for those good old days when I didn't have the stress I do now.  But, then I checked the date of those pictures and thought of some of the stuff going on in that year.  Phases kids were going in and out of.  Challenges at the store.  Uncertainty about some future situation.  Sitting there years later looking at those pictures I realized all those things I was stressing over ended up OK.  Maybe not perfect.  Maybe not all to my liking.  But, none of those stresses I had back in those images carried over to that day I was looking at the pictures.  So what?

I decided to start writing down all the stresses I had that day.  And then I did it again the next day.  I didn't do it every day but I did it periodically over a couple years.  Then I'd go back and read what my stress was a few months ago or last year.  Almost all my daily stress was over stuff that either worked itself out or "magically" disappeared.

This taught me something.  Now, when I am anxious about something, I create an image (photograph) of me at an event that I know is coming in the next 3-6 months and I ask myself if that future Tony will still be worried about whatever is bothering me that day.

A couple years ago, we had a situation at the store that ended up making its way onto Facebook with some misinformation being shared about myself and our team.  Customers were calling.  Friends were calling.  "Is it true?!"  It wasn't but its not easy to control the conversation on social media.  I had done what I could and CFA Inc was monitoring and advising. 



A couple days after this started we took our girls to Winshape Camp in N Georgia and Kaylyn and I were staying in a mtn cabin near the camp.  I remember settling down and thinking "I wish I could relax out here and not have this FB thing going on".  Then I remembered the lesson from above.

I looked at the calendar and found an event a few months out.  Martinsville Nascar Race.  I placed myself at that race, with Riley sitting beside my brother and dad, watching the race.  Would that Tony be worrying about this FB stuff on the drive up to Martinsville?  Probably not.  So, why should this Tony sitting in the cabin in the mountains?



Guess what?  Not only was that Tony at Martinsville not worried about it but the Tony in the cabin had pretty much forgotten about it within a week or two of then.

Got something that won't let you sleep?  Have you done what you can?  Find an event 3-6 months from now that you'll be at and ask if that YOU will be worried about this?  Then follow their lead.

Matthew 6:25-34
Matthew 10:29-31
                 

 

     

White Towel Test

D.O. David Ottman. He was one of my first bosses. I can still picture him standing in the
doorway to the front counter, leaning against the doorframe with a clipboard in hand. He was
meticulous. At least by 17 year old standards.

His expectations were very clear. From the time you arrived till the time you clocked out. The
image of a white towel is what always comes to mind when I think of D.O.

At closing time, we each had our areas just like today. At the end of the night, we had to have
D.O. inspect our area before clocking out.

I had dining room one particular night, which included bathrooms. David’s rule was that if he
could wipe a white towel over an area and see anything, you had to do the entire area all over
again. You probably can guess where this is going. I had to do both bathrooms over again that
evening. Thankfully, he didn’t make me redo the dining room as well. I have no memory of
what wasn’t right BUT I can tell you I never had to redo my area again. I learned my lesson.
One that Truett used for the title of his first book. It’s Easier to Succeed Than to Fail.
It’s easier to do it right the first time.

For leaders, this is also a good lesson on setting expectations. Do you think he wanted to stay
later that night while I cleaned the bathrooms again? I doubt it. But, he was wise. He knew
that was time well spent and an investment in future nights.

Do you have a “white towel test?” Are you investing in future excellence?

Milwaukee

In the summer of 1997, I had the “opportunity” to go run a CFA in Milwaukee. It was literally the
worst store in the nation. Northridge Mall. It hadn’t had an actual owner in years. Interim
Managers had come and gone and it had actually gone 6 weeks without an IM before I arrived.
Daily sales around $1,000. Total staff of 12. The mall closed at 7 on Saturdays because of
safety issues (high crime).

I flew in on a Sunday afternoon. The hops from the breweries in Milwaukee create a very
unique smell as you are getting off plane.

One of the 2 operators in Wisconsin (3 stores total in the state) met me and showed me where
the Chick-fil-A and my apartment were. When I got in the apartment, I discovered it was
furnished but had no linens. Had to drive around looking for a Walmart Sunday night (No GPS
back then). My ironing table was the coffee table. Not easy to get wrinkles out.
Monday morning comes and I get a phone call. No cell phones then and I didn’t even know my
phone number at the apartment... But, the manager of the CFA did! She was calling out sick.
OK, guess I get to go open up this store that I’ve not been in with a team I don’t know. I’d been
working in mall stores for 6-7 years so no problem...

We get the store open and as it’s approaching lunch time I decide to get a sandwich to eat. It
resembled a hockey puck. I had gone into this store with the intention of not changing anything
immediately and taking time to get to know the team. Well, that lasted about 3 hours. No way
we could serve food like that.

And the day got better. The health inspector showed up. I didn’t have a clue where half the
stuff was but we survived the visit... I thought. The next week, she comes back. Everywhere
else I had been they leave and then come back 3-6 months later. Up there, they keep coming
back till everything is fixed. Got to know her pretty well over the coming weeks.
The GM had hired 2-3 of her family members so 25% of the staff were her family. One of them
got mad because I sat in the food court just watching the store and she decided that meant I
didn’t trust them. She quit. I had to fire the son of the GM. I had 2-3 threats of lawsuits from
those I let go. I asked CFA if I could close the store for a week and start with a fresh team.
Nope.

The last day I was up there, the employee bathroom, which was up in a loft in the back of the
store, flooded. Water cascading down the steps into the stock area. When I got back to
Atlanta, I discovered my credit card info had been stolen and used in Milwaukee. Pretty sure it
was the GM. “Great timing” because I was right in the middle of the operator application
process and a credit check is one of the first steps. Back then, addressing a fraudulent use of a
credit card wasn’t as quick and easy as it is now. Multiple calls and letters to the various credit
agencies. Probably 6-8 weeks to get my credit reports cleaned up.

I truly loved Milwaukee. Lake Michigan is beautiful. The German food is mmmmm good. They
make the most of their summer with a lakefront festival that makes our state fair look like....
well, a state fair.

It was just the 60+ hours a week at that CFA that were brutal.

If it doesn’t kill you, it will only make you stronger.

Turns out this was a great experience for me because the next store was described to me by a
friend as “a beast”. That’s another story...

Oh, and I just remembered this little gem to round it out. Y’all know I love baseball. I had never
been to Wrigley Field in Chicago, a couple hours away. My consultant and his boss (Todd
Sweatt and David Turner) were coming up for a visit and I found out they were heading to
Wrigley after visiting me. I asked if they’d mind me tagging along and they said sure. Well, the
visit goes well but right as they are wrapping up Todd pulls me aside and says “Tony, we need
to talk some business (confidential personnel issues) while we are at the game. I don’t think it
would be good if you were with us.” So, no game and me left wondering if some of that
conversation was my future...

Ahhhh... Milwaukee. Such fond memories. Any time I think things are tough I just have to
remember Milwaukee. I made it through that. I can make it through this.

TGIM??

For years and years I thought work was an unfortunate result of the fall of man. So, a
necessary evil. I got my timing wrong.

First, God created... He WORKED for 6 days, and it was good. On the 6th day He created
Adam and Eve to manage the garden and the animals (Creation). We were created to work.
Work was good.

It was after Satan stepped on the scene that work became difficult (Yes, he STEPPED onto the
scene but he SLITHERED away). Man and woman wanted more than God had given them and
they ruined a perfect situation. Literally, a perfect situation and we “humans” messed it up.
Work is good. It’s also difficult. There is no getting around this. We can choose which part we
dwell on. Good or difficult. We can accept that it’s good and dwell on the difficult or we can
accept that it’s difficult and dwell on the good. We get to choose every day. Choosing not to
choose is a choice. Choose wisely.

So do you choose TGIF or TGIM?

Check out Genesis 1-3 for more on this.

Also, Tim Keller has a good book on this. Every Good Endeavor.

Click to read a good blog about it here