Truett Cathy Used Personal Power, You Can Do It Too!
On March 14, 1974,
???Chick-fil-A opened its 22nd restaurant …
?????????in Paramus Park Mall, Paramus, NJ.
Truett Cathy was in his usual role at openings, offering samples of Chick-fil-A to shoppers in the mall.
As he returned to the kitchen to get a fresh plate of samples, he said to me,
???“That girl is not smiling.”?
He had pointed to Martha.?She seemed to be having a bad day, and certainly was not smiling.?
I went to Martha and told her she was to smile at the customers and walked away expecting her to smile.
When Truett returned for another plate of samples, he said,
????“She is still not smiling.”
I told him, I will see that she does it this time. ?He stopped me and said,
????“I’ll take care of it.”
I was puzzled.?What did he intend to do that he thought would be better than the instruction I was giving her??
I watched.
Truett walked up to Martha and said,
???“Why is it that every time I look at you …
???????????you are smiling?”?
She did give him a little grin, but it didn’t last.
I thought … that is not going to work …
????but kept my eye on Martha and Truett.?
The next time he passed her, as he went into the kitchen, he said,
???“There you are smiling again.”?
She gave him a bigger smile … that lasted a little longer.?
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By this time, I was giving my full attention to watching Martha and Truett.?He would often turn from sampling to smile at Martha.?
????Every time he smiled at her … she would smile!
Soon Martha was wearing a beautiful big smile that lasted the rest of the day.
That day I learned a great lesson. ?The use of personal power is so much more effective than position power.?
????I learned from a master … Truett Cathy.?
Truett never told her what to do, but he clearly and simply made it attractive for her to do what he expected.?As I thought about it …
?????I realized that was how Truett led all of us.
What fascinated me about the event was that my use of position power, telling Martha what to do, did not work.?I did tell her more than once to smile and explained why she should but … writing it all makes this story too long.??
Truett used his personal power.?He never told her what to do, but she did exactly what he expected.??
Many times, I have thought through that lesson, preparing for ways that I could use my personal power.
I had learned an important Principle of Creative Followership.
Use Your Personal Power!
I think of those times when I used my position power and reached the limit of my authority, and it did not work.?What could I do then??There was no reserve.
However, when I follow Truett’s example and use my personal power …
????it is never exhausted!?
That is why long ago …
????I resolved to use my personal power.
?????????You can do it too.?
Use Your Personal Power!
--- Jimmy Collins?
Like stories? My latest book?Jimmy’s Stories?is available on Amazon.
Career advancement principles are in my book,?Creative Followership ?also available on Amazon.????
CEO Summit Organizer/ Entrepreneurs Seeker/ Global Student Presidents Union Connector/Alumni Events Lover/Speech Lover/Photography and Art or Design Lover
1 年About smiling Two years ago, when I saw the people in the office who were not smiling, I started finding tutors. I found it hard to change when the system became bigger until the people left the office, it seemed they did not exist in the office before, I did not know what was the meaning of working together. I started writing and sharing videos of how to keep Thanksgiving notes for themselves after knowing Carian[Harvard Professor, she shared a speech and we knew each other], I have created 200+ videos about little things that were happy moments of mine or amazing artists in the world. About the Mental Health in Career Carian is one of the professors I met in Harvard Business Review, she told me it is important to care about the mental health of the employee and keep awareness of that. How to Balance Happiness in Work In The Portfolio Life, Harvard professor adapts tried-and-true practices from the business which I will recommend to more people. That was what I could it best during this period and the energy of my environment. I also believe that I could better the world as people who work with us not because we gave them much money, but for the personality that could inspire their strength every day.
Transformational Executive Coach/Resilience Coach/ Hope Dealer/Inspirational Speaker Let's connect and explore how we can work together to unlock you Unshakable Confidence.
1 年Love this story Jimmy Collins Living by the Chick-fil-A Core Responsibility; Treat everyone with Honor, Dignity, and Respect. Leadership is a visual sport. You watched the interaction between Mr. Cathy and Martha. You learned from his great example of embodying the values. Now you get to tell about this lesson and we continue to learn from his example. Thank you, Sir. ??
Leaning into care, stewardship, and continuous improvement.
1 年Love it Jimmy Collins! Surprising what a mindset can do to change other’s lives. It is just that simple. Still remember my visit to Truett’s office, and what I found to be most exciting part of my trip was reading a quote on his desk stating; “A person's name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” – Dale Carnegie. Wish this was printed on every wall in America! One day everyone will know it, but if not good for all of us that do know it. We will get paid a lot for coaching this age old wisdom.
Helping Leaders Engage the Frontline to Improve the Bottom Line.? │ Author of 15 Books │ Leadership Speaker │ Cultural Transformation
1 年Good stuff Jimmy! Truett gave her a reputation to uphold, and she accepted the challenge. There’s a powerful lesson in that story. Keep ‘em coming!