Chick-fil-A: Home of the Original Chicken Sandwich

Introducing Zach Thomas Today's guest first joining us on the Join Up Dots show is Zach Thomas, he is an entrepreneur, published author, coach and speaker. He was Eagle Scout of the Nation in 1995, graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served his country as an Airborne Ranger Infantry Officer. He has started multiple companies and been featured in Newsweek Magazine and on Good Morning America. He married his high school sweetheart and they home school their seven children on their family farm where he grew up. His varied interests include studying leadership and entrepreneurship, farming, riding his Harley, working on old cars with his sons and dad, camping and spending time with his family. Today, he is the owner/operator of a Chick-fil-A franchise in Rockmart, Georgia. His Leader Farming strategy - Growing Leaders to Grow your Business - has resulted in top 20% performance metrics and the development of multiple Chick-fil-A franchisees from his restaurant. As a Lean 6 Ninja, he has cultivated a culture of continuous improvement in his organization. How The Dots Joined For Zach His pioneering efforts have led him to serve on the Lean Operator panel for Chick-fil-A, Inc. and co-create the Lean365 program that helps other franchisees build a culture of empowerment, engagement, and excellence. He's been featured in Newsweek and on Good Morning America, and is here today to share what he's learned along his journey. As he says "As a lifelong student of leadership and entrepreneurship, I consider my Chick-fil-A franchise with over 90 team members a laboratory for innovation and cultivating next generation leaders. My company, Locum Restitution LLC, Latin for "a place of restoration" is a leadership development company that just happens to sell chicken!" So is this a business model that leads to a healthy work life balance, or tips it all into the work zone? And where would he go if he was to take his learnings and implement them into a new business? Well lets find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Zach Thomas Show Highlights During the show we discussed such weight subjects with Zach Thomas such as: Zach shares how he loves to bring an entrepreneurship schooling for his children, to create a mindset that they wouldn't get a school. We talk about the movie "The Founder" and how Ray Kroc went about redefining what his business is all about. Zach discusses how he found his leadership style by hearing his team pondering "What Zach are we going to get today?" and not liking that discussion. And lastly................. Zach reveals the time when a good day for him was making a person cry out for his mother. Very different from today.