I shared with Garry that back when I was a college professor, I was always in trouble because I gave the final exam out the first day of class. I got to know Garry after he enrolled in our Master of Science in Executive Leadership program at University of San Diego. Fortunately, I’ve had the chance to write books with both of them. When it comes to demonstrating the GROW approach, two people come to mind: Garry Ridge, President/CEO of WD-40 Company, and Colleen Barrett, President Emeritus of Southwest Airlines. Who are some public leaders that you admire who you think demonstrate the GROW approach in action? What do you think the rest of us can learn from them? The important thing is to take action - not just to think about it. If that’s the case, find someone you admire and respect and ask that person to give you feedback about your leadership. Perhaps you recognize that you’re strong on giving advice but not so great at taking it. For example, if you believe that you’re a lousy teacher, find an opportunity to give some instruction, either formally in a class or by informally sharing your knowledge with others. To break through these self-limiting beliefs, try a few of the suggestions in the book that you find challenging. We all have a tendency to limit ourselves by our own assumed constraints.
What’s your best advice for a leader who’s having a hard time getting started with one of the more challenging aspects of the GROW model? A great leader stretches outside his or her comfort zone to develop in areas that don’t come naturally. The point is that all of these practices are vital - not just one or two of them. Those with a reflective bent find that Walking toward Wisdom comes easily. For adventuresome leaders, Opening their World is built into their DNA. Extroverted leaders find that Reaching Out to Others is an easy thing to do. For some leaders, it’s natural to Gain Knowledge, because they love to read and study. In your experience, which of these steps comes naturally for most leaders and which are typically more challenging? In your book, you state that great leaders grow by Gaining Knowledge, Reaching Out to Others, Opening their World and Walking toward Wisdom. I recently interviewed them about their new book, “Great Leaders Grow: Becoming a Leader for Life.” One of the most influential leadership gurus in the world, he is the author or co-author of dozens of books, including the international bestseller “The One Minute Manager.” Mark Miller is vice president of training and development for Chick-fil-A. Ken Blanchard is the co-founder and chief spiritual officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies, an international management training and consulting firm. But when you purchase something there, your money goes to the corporation, which then uses that money to invest in bigoted, anti-gay, anti-family organizations.Ken Blanchard and Chick-fil-A’s Mark Miller, on What It Takes to Grow as a Leader Posted Of course not every person who works there or owns a franchise is anti-gay. Plain and simple, this is where your money is going when you buy something at Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A supports the work of the Family Research Council. The Family Research Council is supportive of a new law proposed in Uganda which would also add a death penalty for those suspected of being gay. And the death penalty is among the possible punishments in at least 7 of those countries.
It’s a tough thing to think about, but the truth is that homosexuality is still criminalized in 77 countries. The biggest leap of course was to people thinking they were supporting the murder of gay people. People who refused to equate “Christian” organizations with anything anti-gay. Not that I should be, but I was honestly surprised by the anti-gay response on Facebook.
In the same interview, Cathy said: “We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles.” Then last week, Chick-fil-A CEO, Dan Cathy responded to a question about the company’s anti-gay stances: “We’re guilty as charged.” In the time since, I’ve seen several posts on Facebook urging people to boycott the company as it continued to grow. This all came out in November of last year. National Christian Foundation: $240,000.Fellowship Of Christian Athletes: $480,000.Marriage & Family Legacy Fund: $994,199.In 2009 alone, WinShape donated $1,733,699 to multiple anti-gay groups: (Winshape 2009 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 10/28/11) WinShape has received a substantial amount of funding from Chick-fil-A: in 2009 alone, WinShape received $7,814,788 from Chick-fil-A Inc.