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Celebrating Chicken: How Cathy’s Chick-fil-A Achieved Success

Article Overview: When Cathy was 38 years old, he was diagnosed with colon polyps. He thought his life as he knew it was over. It was not, but the experience did force Cathy to reexamine his principles. “I think I’d like to be remembered as one who kept my priorities in the right order,” says Cathy. “We live in a changing world, but we need to be reminded that the important things will not change if we keep our priorities in proper order.” What were the important things that led to his success?

Celebrating Chicken: How Cathy’s Chick-fil-A Achieved Success

When Cathy was 38 years old, he was diagnosed with colon polyps. He thought his life as he knew it was over. It was not, but the experience did force Cathy to reexamine his principles. "I think I'd like to be remembered as one who kept my priorities in the right order," says Cathy. "We live in a changing world, but we need to be reminded that the important things will not change if we keep our priorities in proper order." What were the important things that led to his success? Loyalty: "People want to work with a person, not for a company," says Cathy. "Most (Operators) feel that this is more than just a job. They feel either a divine call or the satisfaction of a desire to make a difference in the world." That was one of the key tenets by which Cathy operated his business. By following a model of joint ventures with individual operators, and giving them more responsibility than with most franchises, Cathy ensured his operators were loyal, committed and would stay with him in the long run.

Creativity: When they were first starting up, Cathy and his brother could not even afford the nails and lumber they would need to build their first restaurant. But they found a solution, as they did with the other obstacles that would present themselves. That creativity is a key characteristic they would look for in new partners and employees, as they knew it could help fill the gaps in capital and talent.

Commitment: "I believe no amount of business school training or work experience can teach what is ultimately a matter of personal character," says Cathy. "Businesses are not dishonest or greedy, people are. Thus, a business, successful or not, is merely a reflection of the character of its leadership." How many CEOs would mortgage all of their property and refuse to take a personal salary when their company was hitting hard times? Cathy did. When costs went up, he did not want his operators to suffer. Instead, he took the hit, demonstrating his commitment not only to his company but to the partnerships he had developed.

Religion: "I do not condemn a person for opening on Sunday; it is just a principle I stand very firmly on for my business," says Cathy. Since the 1950s, Cathy has been teaching Sunday School for teenage boys every week. But he was not one to keep his religious values to his private life. Instead, by closing all of his restaurants on Sundays, and encouraging community service and education, Cathy chose to infuse Christianity into his business.

Flexibility: When his business was heading down the wrong path, Cathy was not too rigid to recognize it. From switching expansion models to developing new marketing and advertising strategies, Cathy maintained a flexible management style, responding to changing demands as they arose. His company's success is a testament to its ability to adapt to new times.

Cathy took a small Atlanta diner and turned it into the second largest quick-service chicken restaurant chain in the U.S., with over 1,500 locations and $3.2 billion in sales in 2009. "We must motivate ourselves to do our very best, and by our example lead others to do their best as well," he says.

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Article Tags: cathy, colon polyps, important things, priorities



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