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.