A few weeks ago, I was in El Paso, Texas, for one of our Chick-fil-A Leader Academy kick-off events. Our company, ADDO, works with Chick-fil-A to put on Chick-fil-A Leader Academy, a high school program dedicated to building up leaders that impact their local communities. This year, the program exists in more than 700 high schools in 35 states across the country.

At each school’s kick-off event, students participate in a program to pack meals for hungry people in their community. We provide each student with the tools to pack a lentil casserole and work with Feeding Children Everywhere to distribute the meals in the same community as the school, giving students a taste of local impact.

This particular kick-off event at Eastwood High School was unique because the school invited a representative from their local food bank to come and share his story. The leadership at the school thought this would be an interesting extra touch to engage students. Before the event started, I was shaking hands, meeting people, and trying to make conversation with students, teachers, and leaders of the program. I made a point to meet the representative from the food bank, but he didn’t seem very interested in talking to me. In fact, he was kind of cold and really kept to himself before the event began.

I walked away from this brief interaction and made two judgments about this man:

1. He’s not very nice.
2. He’s not going to be an engaging speaker.

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I couldn’t have been more wrong. In the few minutes that he spoke that day, he impacted the students’ lives and radically changed my own perspective of the work we were doing. He started by pointing out the way the students were sitting at tables in groups of four. He explained that one out of four children in their community goes to bed hungry every night. He detailed the extent of the hunger need in their city and put things in perspective for the students, sharing that the meals they packed that day might end up in the homes of some of their classmates. He asked, “Can you imagine trying to stay focused in school on an empty stomach?” His message was personal and powerful.

At the end of his talk, he started to walk off stage but stopped for a moment. It was clear that what he was about to say wasn’t planned. He asked, “How many of you in this room are 15 years old?”

He watched a group of hands go up throughout the crowd and nodded. Holding back tears, he said, “I grew up in this community, and when I was 15 years old, I was homeless. It’s because of people like you that I’m standing here today, and it’s why I work to give back through this organization.”

My perspective of this man completely changed. I realized that he was more reserved because what he was about to say to these students was important. To him, this wasn’t just a service project. This is work that changed his own life, and he knew it was an opportunity to change someone else’s.

Every single person you meet has a story. Like this food bank representative, we all have a past that has shaped us and made us who we are today. So before we rush to judge people by their appearance or demeanor, let’s stop and think. Maybe the cashier at the grocery store seems impatient because she needs to wrap up her shift to make it to her second job.

Maybe your coworker seems anti-social because he doesn’t want to talk about his issues at home.

Maybe the woman at church forgot your name again because she has a newborn and is functioning on little sleep.

Maybe your boss is short with you today because he is frustrated with a big mistake he made in an important presentation earlier.

Maybe the student failing your class is having trouble focusing because she is hungry.

Let’s open our eyes, be more slow to judge, and more eager to learn the stories of the people around us. You’ll find that it's nearly impossible to not love someone once you know their story.

It's nearly impossible to not love someone once you know their story.

This week, work to learn the stories of the people around you. This intentionality will make you more eager to care than to judge, and as a result, you’ll spend less time focusing on yourself and more time looking out for the needs of others.

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been one year since we launched this blog! Every week, more people are signing up. In fact, this list has grown almost tenfold over the last year! I hope these posts are valuable resources to you, both personally and professionally.

Today, I want to look back at this past year and highlight five of my favorite posts. Those of you who have been here from the beginning will recognize these, but others of you might be seeing them for the first time. Either way, I hope they are helpful to you this week.

1. People: Looking through the lens of a police officer, we receive a great reminder of how to see people positively.

2. Growth: A simple scripture reframed the way I view the challenges that accompany growth.

3. Expectations: Almost all of our frustrations are due to unmet expectations.

4. Instincts: A client of mine challenged our business to trust our gut.

5. Excellence: An interview with a baseball player reminded us about excellence in the everyday activities of life.

Whether you are a business owner, an employee working your first job, a pastor in ministry, a parent, or a student, I hope that this blog has helped you on your journey. I am very excited for what’s to come and hope that you will continue reading.

If this blog has been helpful to you, tell your friends! Forward this email along, or share on social media.

If this blog has been helpful to you, tell your friends! Pass this link along, or share on social media.

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Next week, I'll be tackling a topic every single leader needs to understand: The Proximity Principle.

Thank you for reading. I’m excited to kick off a new year of blog posts!

Guest Post by Justin Miller

Justin Miller is a great friend of mine. Justin is the Co-Founder and CEO of CARE for AIDS, a faith-based nonprofit that works to empower people living with HIV/AIDS in East Africa.

‍At CARE for AIDS, we have identified six behaviors that we want to define our culture: be healthy, help others win, grow continuously, make it better, take it personally, and stay focused. Today, I want to dig into one of the six—help others win.

‍Some call this servant leadership, others call it adding value, and others see it as a strategy for better business, but we see it as a way of life. In marriage, ministry, or in the marketplace, you will be the most fulfilled and fruitful when your whole focus is on helping others win. There are so many ways this practice manifests itself both inside and outside an organization, but I want to propose one practice today that has revolutionized our culture.

"The best way to help your organization is to help other organizations." -@jmiller09 @CAREforAIDS

I’m not suggesting you compromise sensitive or proprietary information. Even Chick-fil-A doesn’t publish their chicken sandwich recipe, but they do take everything they know about leadership and give it away. Because they believe, as Bill Hybels says, “Everybody wins when leaders get better.”

One way we have tried to live this out at CARE for AIDS is by encouraging our team to serve with other nonprofits. We’ve hosted strategy sessions, served on boards, participated in short-term service trips, and helped with community clean-ups. It has always been my conviction that other organizations are our partners in this work to alleviate human suffering, not our competitors, and that the more we can engage in the work others are doing, the better we will be in our own work.

There are five specific ways I think engaging in good work outside of CARE for AIDS has helped my team over the years:

1. Maintain a Kingdom perspective.

We cannot forget that we are not the only organization doing work to bring healing and restoration to this broken world. If we become too consumed with the specific work of CARE for AIDS, we can begin to see other organizations as competitors instead of cooperators in our common pursuit. If people and communities get better, it doesn’t matter who gets credit.

2. Expand our world.

‍From learning to scuba dive to running our first marathon to climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, my dad was relentless in making sure we were having new experiences that were expanding our world. By doing so, he believed we would continue to increase our capacity for creativity and original thought—I couldn’t agree more. He equates it to a painter who only has one color on his palette versus a painter who has twenty. By adding more colors to your leadership palette, you can create the masterpiece that your vision demands. These experiences my team has outside of CARE for AIDS make them better equipped to solve the problems we face.

3. Learn what we can do better.

We are not a perfect organization by any means, and we are eager to learn from others about how we can work better, smarter, and faster. Some of the biggest ideas for your organization may be created in organizations other than your own, even those who are smaller or who you deem less effective. As Bill Hybels says, “Armed with enough humility, leaders can learn from anybody.”

4. Teach other organizations.

‍One of the best ways to learn something is to teach it. When you have to teach something, you work really hard to dissect the idea, understand why it is important, and how to best communicate it. This helps the teacher embrace and execute the principle better. I believe we get better when we are forcing ourselves to teach others the best practices we are learning.

5. Avoid burnout.

Although the work of CARE for AIDS is incredibly fulfilling, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t exhausting. Getting out of the normal routine can refocus and reenergize us. It also reminds us of the things we love and appreciate about our organization and our work.

Whether you are in a nonprofit or for-profit organization, finding a way to serve other organizations is a win-win-win situation. It will benefit you as you get recharged, it will benefit your organization as you are exposed to new ideas, and it will benefit the organization that receives your time and services.

‍To learn more about CARE for AIDS, visit www.careforaids.org. To read more from Justin Miller, visit www.justintmiller.com.

When I was a senior in high school, I worked with a group of representatives from our class to build a float for the homecoming parade. We spent hours building our float at my friend Will’s house. We framed the float on a flatbed trailer with chicken wire and filled the structure with colorful tissue paper. The float looked great, but there was a problem. Whenever we moved the trailer, some pieces of tissue paper became loose and fell out. The guys in the group weren’t bothered by this. We just thought it was part of the texture and aesthetic of the float.

However, the girls hated it. In fact, they insisted we cover the float with Saran Wrap, so the pieces of tissue would hold in place. We all went along with it and covered the float in Saran Wrap, and the problem was solved, no more loose tissue paper. But to me, there was now a bigger problem—the float was hideous. In the moment, I didn’t have the strength to stand up, to use my diplomacy skills, and lead the group to a different decision. So, instead of suggesting a reasonable fix for our ugly float, I hatched a plan. Through my scheming, I got some of the guys together and suggested we sabotage our own float on the morning of the parade.

We’d spray paint it to say things like, “Seniors Suck!” This plan would accomplish two goals: 1)  It would make it seem like the juniors were behind it the move, abdicating us of any responsibility, and 2) It would force our group to take the Saran Wrap off the float without enough time before the parade to replace it. The float would look just like we wanted, and the juniors would take the blame.

The plan worked perfectly—so perfectly, in fact, that the juniors were kicked out of and disqualified from the homecoming parade. I was thrilled! Our float looked amazing, and our greatest competition for the float building contest was no longer a threat! But my friend Will felt guilty. He, being a better man than I, went to our school’s administration and confessed that we sabotaged our own float and asked them to not kick the juniors out of the parade. I ended up in Mr. Richardson’s office. Mr. Richardson was a teacher and advisor known for shooting it straight and telling the truth in the most relatable way. In the midst of reprimanding me for organizing and executing such a stupid plan, he said something that changed the way I think about myself. He said, “Kevin, you are obviously a leader, but you have to decide if you are going to use this gift for good or bad in life.”

Honestly, I just thought I was being a troublemaker, but in the midst of discipline, Mr. Richardson spoke life into me. He exposed a personal gift and challenged me to use my ability to lead for good. In that moment, Mr. Richardson helped me see my potential, and I’ve been working to leverage my leadership ability in positive ways ever since. When was the first time you realized that you had potential? Was it the English teacher that affirmed your writing ability?

Was it the coach that made you a team captain?

Was it the boss that gave you your first promotion?

Was it the parent who praised your communication skills? Was it the pastor who pointed out your gift of encouragement?

If someone has helped you see your potential, have you taken the time to thank them personally? A small word of thanks goes a long way to encourage the people that have invested in your life. Because of the leaders that have impacted me, I’ve been inspired to encourage leaders at all levels. That’s why I write this blog, and why I helped create ADDO.

Do you encourage the people around you and help point out the potential in others? Let the people who have impacted your life inspire you to speak life into others.

Let the people who have impacted your life inspire you to speak life into others.

Never miss an opportunity to thank the people that have encouraged you to become who you are today, and vocalize the potential you see in others. Your words may have a greater impact on another person’s life than you realize.

Truett Cathy, the late founder of Chick-fil-A, is known for building one of the most successful fast food chains in the nation, but he is also equally admired for the way he cared for people through his generous spirit.

Had it not been for one major decision, we may have never witnessed the full scope of Truett Cathy’s generosity through an organization that has changed thousands of lives—the WinShape Foundation.

I love this story.

Truett Cathy was invited to speak to classes at Berry College in north Georgia, and during his visit, he and his wife Jeanette were shown a beautiful piece of property—lush green hills, a magnificent chapel, stone dormitories, a library, a gymnasium, and a classroom building. Unfortunately, it all sat empty and unused. With a cost of $2 million a year to maintain that area of campus, Berry College desperately needed to sell it. This piece of land was the original site of Martha Berry’s vision—a boarding school for children who had no other access to education. Jeanette Cathy said that “she felt like she was on holy ground,” and both she and Truett felt God calling them to purchase the land and use it to help others.

The next day, Truett was so excited to pitch his idea to the Chick-fil-A Executive Committee, but they had the opposite reaction he had hoped. When he could see they weren’t catching his vision, he personally took them to Rome, Georgia, to see the property. After seeing it firsthand, the committee seemed more encouraged by Berry’s decision to sell the land than the Cathy’s desire to buy it, and they discouraged him from purchasing the property.

Truett expressed his gratitude for their honest opinion and insight, but he decided to buy the property anyway. In doing so, Truett and Jeannette created the WinShape Foundation, with a mission to “create experiences that transform,” and that’s exactly what they have accomplished since its inception. From summer camps to marriage retreats, WinShape works to teach truth and equip people from all walks of life. The goal of Winshape is simple: to shape winners. Had Truett Cathy followed the advice of Chick-fil-A’s Executive Committee, WinShape might not exist today. Truett understood that your calling is not left to a consensus vote.

Think about this: How many dreams have died on the altar of consensus-driven decisions? Please understand me—I’m all for consensus, when possible. When we can align people and gain agreement, it’s always best. However, consensus decisions are often the lowest common denominator of decision-making. We water down things enough that no one is mad, but we fail to accomplish what’s most important. If you have a vision, you can’t allow the goal of consensus to keep you from your calling. As a leader, a parent, a pastor, or a business owner, you will sometimes see things differently than others around you. You have a unique position and vantage point, so you might see things others simply do not.

If you have a vision, you can’t allow the goal of consensus to keep you from your calling.

Consensus-driven decision-making might increase your popularity but may decrease your potential. As you compromise to please specific people in the larger group, your vision becomes less focused and less effective. It becomes more about collective agreement than lasting impact. Consensus is a good thing, but your vision as a leader might not make sense to everyone else in your business, church, or family.

The Chick-fil-A Executive Committee was full of people whose hearts were in the right place. They loved Chick-fil-A and the Cathy family. However, God entrusted Truett with a special vision. I’m so glad he did what was best, not what was popular.

If you sacrifice your vision on the altar of consensus, the world will miss out. Answer your calling, take the next step, and trust that your God-given passion has a purpose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utAOfNfI_vE

The Bucket List is one of my favorite movies. It tells the story of two men, played by Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, who come from very different backgrounds. The two are brought together through sickness and end up spending time in the same hospital room. They develop an unlikely friendship and decide to do some amazing things together before they die. Some of these experiences are heartwarming, others are heartbreaking, but the most compelling aspect of the movie is the way they both grapple with questions of life and death.

In the clip above, they consider two difficult questions that the ancient Egyptians believed they would be asked after death. They thought that if you gave the right answers, you would enter into heaven.

1. Have you found joy in your life?

2. Has your life brought joy to others?

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While this is not my personal view of what it takes to get into heaven, these questions are thought-provoking and worth asking every day. They have helped me pose the questions below and think more intentionally about my personal and professional life.

Read the following questions, reflect on your answers, and be open to making changes in your own life.

Do you find joy in your work?

Do you add value, even in the mundane aspects of your job?

Do you know why your work is important to your clients, colleagues, or employees?

Do you take time each day to have personal and meaningful interactions with your colleagues?

Do you know what drives your employees or coworkers?

Do you see your work as an opportunity to encourage and connect with people?

At the end of each day, are you satisfied with the work you’ve done? Do you make a daily effort to support and encourage your family and friends?

Do you find opportunities to connect with people who are different from you?

Have you found ways to consistently serve others?

Think about these questions. Are there others you would add to this list? Whether you are a landscaper, a salesperson, a manager, or you stay at home with your children, you can find meaning in what you do each day.

The most important aspect of your life is not your job description—it’s how you choose to care for the people around you.

Have you ever noticed how good we are at solving other people’s problems? If only it were up to me, I could make it better.

It’s so easy to see a situation from a distance and think we know the best solution, but in reality, we can’t possibly see the full picture of a problem until we take a step closer and interact with the people involved. This takes time, intentionality, and vulnerability, so our natural inclination is to keep a “healthy” distance. However, this distance doesn’t solve problems—it actually creates them.

Our resistance to get proximate to problems results in us creating solutions that seem good on the surface. However, we often fail to ultimately solve the needs or desires of the people we’re trying to help. Effective problem-solving requires us to know the people we serve.

The closer we are to a need, the higher our level of empathy, and the greater our ability to solve it effectively.

This proximity principle applies to every environment.

Take business, for example. Our proximity to the customer helps us understand and meet their needs. As a leader, connecting with our employees helps us know their goals. In a nonprofit organization, the closer we get to the beneficiary, the better we are able to solve their challenges. In church, our presence in our community helps us meet specific needs and love people well.

It’s actually one reason that government often fails to solve challenges. Bureaucracy creates layers, layers create distance, and distance inhibits our ability to understand and provide effective solutions.

We’re never going to serve people well if we don’t know them.

We won’t solve the race relations challenge from a distance.

We can’t improve the customer experience from the corner office.

We’re not going to fully understand our employees needs from answers on an annual survey.

We will never reach our community if we stay inside the church building.

Get outside. Connect with your community. Get close to the people you want to serve. Proximity to people means things might get messy, but the results will always be worth it.

What does profit mean to you?

Your immediate inclination is probably positive. Profit is good. It’s something we want. It’s hard to succeed if we’re not profitable, right? So it’s essential to growing a business.

However, I’m not asking whether profit is good or bad. (I think we all agree that profit is good.) But how do you define it?

Today, I want to explain how each of us can have a proper perspective of profit. In order to do this, we need to define each of these terms.

‍Proper: If something is proper, it is suitable, appropriate, or right. It is the correct way of doing something, or in this case, it is the correct way of viewing something.

‍Perspective: Our perspective is the lens through which we view things. It’s our attitude or disposition toward something, and it’s our point of view. Our perspective is important, because the way we view things changes how we do things. Therefore, our perspective is essential to understanding and applying this definition of profit.

‍Profit: Profit is a term that has evolved over time. If you look at some dictionaries from the early 1900s, profit is defined as payment for value added. Historically, it was about the money earned for creating value. Only in the last 100 years has the definition evolved to simply be the difference between revenue and expenses. Too often we oversimplify and undervalue profit by only asking, “Did you make more money than you spent?” In doing so, we fail to recognize the vital importance of adding value.

A couple of years ago, Volkswagen was caught cutting corners in vehicle production to save money. Some of their diesel-engine models contained software that allowed them to cheat emissions tests in the US. Volkswagen confessed to cheating, and in this effort to save money, lost billions of dollars. Because Volkswagen was more concerned with earning money than adding value, they lost dollars and their reputation in the process.

The best organizations, companies, and leaders have a proper perspective of profit. Sure, they understand that we need money, income, and margin to survive and thrive. But, when we view profit through the lens of adding value, the result is better products for our customers, enhanced experiences for our clients, and positive environments for our employees.

If you’re adding value, dollars will follow.

Do you have a proper perspective of profit?Seek ways to add value to your work this week. Your profit will have a greater impact than a simple dollar amount ever could.

Catch the foxes for us,

the little foxes that spoil the vineyards,

for our vineyards are in blossom.

- Song of Solomon 2:15, ESV

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‍Recently, I heard Johnny Foster, a pastor and friend of mine, preach a message from this passage, and it surprised me. I had never heard a sermon on this particular verse before. Come to think of it, I rarely hear messages on this book of the Bible, at all.

However, Johnny’s message resonated with me. If you and I apply the life lesson from this verse, it might just save us from making a major mistake. A little bit of context would be helpful: Song of Solomon is a love story. The takeaway from this text can help us with our love lives, but I believe it can help us avoid other potential pitfalls, as well. This simple verse serves as a warning to heed the little things that can spoil our personal and professional endeavors.

In the Song of Solomon, this little warning interrupts a love story in its early days. Things seem blissful and exciting for the happy couple, but then we get this image of little foxes spoiling a vineyard. Foxes forage gardens for food, and often, this happens before the plants reach full bloom. If a farmer is not careful to catch them or keep them away, these little animals could destroy an entire crop and have a huge impact on the farmer’s livelihood.

There is a reason that the verse uses the word “little” to describe the foxes here. Let me ask you a few questions to help put this in perspective.

1. Have you or anyone you know ever been bitten by a lion?
2. Have you or anyone you know ever been bitten by a dog?
3. Have you or anyone you know ever been bitten by a mosquito?

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Most likely, you haven’t been bitten by a lion. (If you have, and you lived to tell about it, that’s a story I’d like to hear!) You may or may not have been bitten by a dog at some point in your life. But I’m willing to bet that you, and everyone else you know, has been bitten by a mosquito.

Think about it—A lion is so large and apparently dangerous, that you’ll take extra precautions to avoid being attacked by one. On the other end of the spectrum, the mosquito is much smaller. However, the smaller mosquito, one that doesn’t pose as severe of a threat, is one that we sometimes struggle to protect ourselves from. Just like the little foxes in the vineyard and the pesky mosquitos at your backyard barbecue.

It’s often the little things that pose the greatest threat to our personal and professional endeavors.

In everything we pursue, we need to be resolute in protecting the things most important to us. To do this effectively, we must keep out the little things that threaten to destroy us.

In the office, it’s keeping the little disagreements from causing deep divisions among your team.

In our work day, it’s preventing seemingly small distractions from taking you away from the important project at hand.

In church, it’s stopping yourself from talking only to those you feel most familiar with and unintentionally creating a culture that’s unwelcoming to new people.

In marriage, it's preventing a few busy weeks without time together from turning into busy months and years of feeling disconnected.

It’s easy to put up safeguards against the big, obvious threats to our endeavors and relationships, but most often, it's the little things we overlook that sneak in and destroy us.

Can you identify some small threats that could potentially hinder your personal and professional endeavors?

Work to catch them before they cause major damage to you and those around you.