Go beyond the obvious!

Today was a tough day at Chick-fil-A. With the masses coming back from summer vacations and settling in for the school year, our business has picked up. Volume increase + training up new hires (even though they are insanely amazing) = stressful moments for all involved.

One guest ordered a slew of spicy deluxe sandwiches. That alone used our batch of spicy fillets. As we scrambled to bread more, nuggets ran out, then grilled fillets…. you don’t even have to have ANY restaurant experience to get the picture. Those that have experienced these days, let’s all have a moment of silence together… I think it’s called a nap!

When it’s finally time to clock out after a day like today, you are tempted to feel discouraged, point fingers, take up a career in floral design, or just plain cry… but I’m 33… and a dude… so I will save the tears for the next Nicholas Sparks film.

So the obvious take-away is that we need to step back, assess what happened, continue training competency and speed, etc, so we don’t have more “bad days”… or was it a bad day?

It’s so easy to brand your day with the obvious. Label it as “HARD” or “BAD” or “AWFUL. Let’s just go home and hope and pray the next round is better. That’s what we naturally do, right?!

But let’s go beyond the obvious!

Today, I got to know my new team members on a deeper level. Today, a veteran team member opened up about some tough things in life they are dealing with and I told them I would be praying for them. Today, I saw my team give 110% in less-than-desirable circumstances. Today, I noticed my kids flat-out SERVING guests… with a genuine smile on their faces. Today, I watched as the Wesley Chapel team members hugged each other, high-five’d, said “I love you”, and went out the door with a bond tighter than when they walked in this morning. Why? Because through adversity comes strength. We are more than sellers of amazing chicken… we are family.

Next time you are tempted to look at the obvious and write off your day as a bad day, take a second to reflect on the moments in the middle… the relationships that will last longer than the highest wait times.

Today…. today was a good day. 🙂