Fides Quaerens Intellectum

This morning a colleague and I took two IMPACT 360 students (www.impact360.net) to the corporate headquarters of Chick-fil-A, Inc. (http://www.chickfila.com/home.asp) in Atlanta in order to put some final touches on a leadership curriculum that the Chick-fil-A (CFA) leadership experts will be implementing for our students this spring.  The IMPACT 360 students will have the rare opportunity of being trained by some of the best corporate leadership professionals in the country, and each student will receive a bona fide CFA leadership certificate upon completion of the 10-week training program.  Wow.  Sure wish I could’ve had that opportunity as an 18 year old.  Back then, I hadn’t a clue as to what leadership was.  Anything I learned about leadership during my college years was more caught than taught.  Thanks to this CFA leadership program–and special thanks to Mark Conklin and the CFA leadership training team for putting it all together–these young folks will be way, way ahead of the game when they step onto their respective college campuses next fall.  We’ll be using CFA’s leadership model SERVE, which will include five two-week modules: 

S:  See and Envision the Future

E:  Engage and Develop Others

R:  Re-invent Continuously

V:  Value Results and Relationships

E:  Embody the Values

I must say, ever since I’ve come on board with IMPACT 360 and its parent foundation, Lifeshape, Inc.,  I’ve been more and more impressed with this business.  The Lifeshape foundation founders, John and Trudy Cathy White (son-in-law and daughter of Truett Cathy, CFA founder) and the entire CFA culture embody a biblical model of servant leadership, and it shows up in every facet of the business. You won’t find self-serving corporate climbers here.  Motivated?  Absolutely.  Excellence-driven?  No question.  You can’t build a 2-billion dollar a year business without those qualities.  What’s most obvious, however, is that this company has team players who are people of character and integrity.  Character and integrity are the sine qua non of revolutionary leadership.  This is just part of the DNA of the company.  And what distinguishes this DNA from other for-profit companies?  The fact that it recognizes a transcendent God upon whom we must rely for our success in this world, indeed our very existence.  For it is only through Him that ”we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).  The corporate mission statement, which is positioned at the entrance to the building for all to see, says, “to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”