Yesterday I posted my list of The Top 10 Christian Leadership Blogs You Should Be Reading. Of the 10 blogs I mentioned, the one which received the most clicks (over 10% of all readers) was the site of Chick-fil-A President and COO Dan Cathy.
The Cathy family are the finest Christian business leaders there are. Recently, Dan was involved in a Q&A session with Coke President and CEO Muhtar Kent at the Chick-fil-A Leadercast. The following are his leadership quotes and principles given during that session.
- Capitalism should be driving positive social change.
- When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
- Don’t dismiss the importance of making fun a priority.
- The four fastest runners don’t win the relay race but rather the team that gets the baton around the track the fastest.
- Watch the subtleties of the mentor.
- I love doing things other chains would never dare to do…this continues our area of distinctiveness.
These additional comments were from an article Cathy wrote for the Leadercast workbook:
- One of the most meaningful truisms I have learned about leadership is that it’s all about action.
- At the heart of every great leader is strength and courage.
- Being a leader means being able to help others discover and then live out their potential by inspiring them to seek it every day.
- I have learned almost everything I know about leadership by following people who inspire me.
- Anyone can possess knowledge, but leaders are those who have been inspired to use what they know to do great things.
- I like to follow the “give more, get more” philosophy of leadership.
- Repetition is the mother of all learning.
- Repetition yields constants. Constants create cultures.
- Successful leaders view the journey more like the captain of a sailboat, relying on their skill and know-how, but knowing all along that the wind (help from other sources) is the force that will get them to their destination.
One of the nation’s largest family owned businesses, Chick-fil-A is more than a restaurant. It is truly a leadership culture. What leadership principles have you learned from this incredible franchise?
The following are additional resources from the Leadercast: