Upside-Down Leadership

My job is challenging. The work's not hard. It's not hard to make a chicken sandwich. It's not hard to put it in a bag with fries, ketchup, Chick-fil-A sauce, napkins, and a straw. It's not hard to count change. It's not even that hard to get yelled at by an angry guest (though it's definitely a bit demoralizing). The hardest part of my job is the part that involves leadership. At our store, we don't have "managers", we have "leaders". We don't manage, we LEAD. In fact, manager is almost a taboo word in our work place. We use it with guests sometimes so they understand that we have authority, but that's about it. Managers manage tasks. They juggle things that need to get done, and make them happen. Leadership is different. Leadership is this vague, often confusing word that is almost impossible to define. Leadership has nothing to do with telling others what to do. It has nothing to do with power. Nothing to do with a title. Nothing to do with success. True leadership has to do with humility. Love. Respect for others (not the respect that others have for you). We have this concept at Chick-fil-A called upside-down leadership. The Bible describes it perfectly in Luke 14:8-11:

"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come say to you, 'Give this person your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

The first thing that jumps out to me in this passage is pride. We all have it, none of us admits it. We walk into a room of people and we place ourselves. "I'm not as important as this person over there, but surely I'm more important than this person over here." This passage is basically saying that if you start ranking yourself, you're going to embarrass yourself. Instead, assume that everyone in the room is more important than you are.

I tell aspiring leaders that upside-down leadership is basically treating everyone around you like they're your boss. Dean is my boss. I know his favorite drink. I know how many creams and sugars he likes in his coffee. I know how old his kids are and what their names are. These things are important to him, so they're important to me. In the same way, I know my coworkers. I know what they like to drink. I know what sports they play. I know what schools they go to. I know what grades they're in and what colleges they want to go to and what they want to do in life. Because it's important to them. So it's important to me.

Upside-down leadership involves what I call the "toothbrush" jobs. Tasks like scrubbing grout with a toothbrush to get it ultra clean. Nobody likes those jobs, but they have to get done. It involves taking out the trash. It involves cleaning pee in the playplace. It involves scrubbing toilets. Doing "toothbrush" jobs are important because it shows the team members that we aren't above them, but also because they show us that we aren't above them. Jesus washed feet. Feet are gross.

I want to challenge my friends to live an upside-down life. Even if you don't have a position of authority, you are still noticed by others. You have your kids or your spouse watching you. You have your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers watching you. Those people across the street that have the perfect lawn and the perfect car and the perfect kids are watching you. They notice. And when they see something different, they'll want to figure it out. Make them so crazy curious that they have to walk up to you and straight up ask you, "Ok, I can't figure it out, what's with you?" Then you know you are living an upside-down life. And that's the right-side up.

My Bad Day

My bad day started at 5:45 this morning. I woke up and I was grumpy. I prayed on the way to work this morning, "God please let me get over this so I can glorify you." It was a hard day going back to work after a hard weekend. I spent the weekend in Kentucky with family for a devastating funeral. Everything happened so fast. One morning I woke up in Monroe, the next morning I woke up in E-town Kentucky. Anyway, going to work today was hard. Everyone around me was living life as always and I just had this feeling in the pit of my stomach that wouldn't go away. Every time I started to feel normal, something would remind me and I'd start over again. So I worked a long, stressful day at work with this feeling in the pit of my stomach. I'm finally off and (30 minutes later) I make my way to the car. Aaaaaaand, I have a flat tire. I came inside and told Michael and, luckily, we were slow enough that he could come outside and help. On the way back out to the car I stepped in gum. I laughed but was a little annoyed. (I hate gum anyway.) Then, as Michael pulled out the spare tire, I felt something wet land on my sholder. Instantly I knew. Bird poop. I'll be honest - I cried. It mostly had to do with that feeling in the pit of my stomach. But also I was mad at life. Anyway, I went inside and wiped off the bird poop (and I gagged, not going to lie). When I came back out and Michael got the spare on my heart sank. The spare was flat, too. So we ended up putting the spare in Michael's trunk (which meant taking it off and putting the flat back on) and driving it across the street to a gas station. We put air in and and drove back across the street and finally we got it fixed. And I had a Bible study to go to. I was 30 minutes late. 

My favorite phrase in the Bible is "But God." It's always followed by God saving the day. I have things to be thankful for in this situation that I can't deny. Like I'm SUPER thankful that I wasn't stranded. I had a flat at work and my husband was right there to save the day. I'm thankful that there was a gas station conveniently across the street. I'm thankful we were slow enough for Michael to step away and help. I'm thankful that nothing bad about my day actually mattered. Nothing takes away God's love for me. Nothing takes away my salvation. So often we let these things get to us and we forget how insignificant they are in the long run. A flat tire doesn't matter to the kingdom of God. Being 30 minutes doesn't matter. What matters is how we react. One thing I've learned at my job as a leader is that how we react to a problem is much more important that how we solve a problem. It doesn't matter how we fixed a problem if we tore down 5 people in the process. That took me years to learn. Everyone looks to a leader when things go wrong. Leader panics, yells, or cries, the team falls apart. But if a leader can hold themselves together, they can hold the team together. Maintain what you've got before fixing what you don't have. Anyway, the whole time I knew I had to be smart about my reaction. I knew no one would blame me for being mad - especially after such a hard week. I knew a lot of people would get angry. But I knew there were teenagers inside who knew that I love God and they would be watching. And I knew Satan was hoping I would slip up. 

I'm proud to say I didn't get mad. I was sad - yes. Exhausted - yes. But I knew it didn't matter. I live for the Kingdom of God, not for my own happiness. And, one more thing: I'm really thankful that bird poop didn't land on my head!

An Overflowing Cup

Since Michael and I have began this whole house process, I have told people that it feels like God is showing off in our lives. I have told people that Michael and I do not deserve it - God is just giving it to us anyway. Today I was reading scripture and I read something that reminded me of the blessings that God has given in my life right now.

"I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful an increase your numbers, and I will keep m covenant with you. You will still be eating last year's harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. I will make my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people." Leviticus26:9-12

Context is really important here. First of all, Leviticus is a book that was written for the Levi's. The Levi's were from the tribe of Levi (that one was easy), as was Aaron. The book of Leviticus is a book written specifically for the priests after the Israelites were rescued from Egypt but before they made it to the promise land. They needed rules and structure because they had been influenced by Egyptian polytheism. What you need to know is that this chapter is towards the end of the book. These verses and the ones before are basically telling the Israelites that they will be rewarded for obeying God' commands. Verses to follow are a harsh warning of consequences for disobedience.

Bombarded with more information than you thought you wanted to know? What I'm really saying through all of this is that I am enjoying the favor of the Lord. Verse 10 jumped out to me the most. It says "You will still be eating last year's harvest when you will have to move it to make room for the new." This struck so close to home for me. Michael and I were still enjoying our first year of marriage when we were blessed with this home. We didn't deserve it. But God blessed us more than we deserved just because we love Him.

I have always been a firm believer that we shouldn't even expect our reward here on earth because it will be in heaven. Friends, after reading this scripture and experiencing this in my own life, I can confidently say that God blesses us here too. Sure, it's nothing compared to our true reward, but it's definitely not too shabby. If this is what blessings on earth feel like, heaven has to be the most beautiful thing ever created. Every desire of every heart filled completely, forever. Permanent satisfaction. Like waking up from a good night's sleep and never getting tired again. My wish is that you can have hope today. God rewards those that love Him. You're not just chasing after the wind. If you're not experiencing rewards yet, hang in there. Good times are to come. Verse 42 says that God will remember His covenant - and this is after talking about the punishments that will be given to the disobedient. If God will remember His covenant with the disobedient, how much more will He remember it with those who love and obey? Have hope. God rewards His children.