Published: March 28, 2008 05:32 pm            

CEO no ‘chicken’ when it comes to Christian business practices

PLAINFIELD, Ind. — While it’s not unheard of for many CEOs to spend hours scanning CNBC or the Wall Street Journal, Chick-fil-A Inc. CEO Dan Cathy has found that his best source for business wisdom seems to be the Bible.

Cathy, whose family-owned business has enjoyed annual sales increases in each of its 62 years of operation, recently addressed members of the Plainfield Christian Church on the topic of maintaining biblical principles in the business world.

“Even when you’re selling chicken, it doesn’t matter what you do, it matters how you go about doing it,” Cathy told the congregation.

Chick-fil-A has its corporate office in Atlanta, but has become a mainstay in the fast-food industry with restaurants stretching from San Diego to Boston. Cathy joked that the chain’s growth has been so prevalent that the company has “taught the Yankees how to drink sweet tea.”

Still, Chick-fil-A’s commitment to Christian values has not wavered despite its continued growth.

“The greatest among you should be the servant of many,” Cathy said, alluding to a passage of biblical scripture. “Our calendars and our checkbooks should line up with the scriptures. And that’s very counterintuitive to what we learn today, but we need that synergy.”

Cathy noted that Chick-fil-A closes its doors on Sundays in accordance with the physical and spiritual need for a day of rest.

“What we’ve figured out that the folks at McDondald’s and Wendy’s don’t know is that when you close on Sunday, the food tastes much better on Monday,” Cathy said to a rumble of applause. “God has given me a Sunday school class of over 40,000 young people under the age of 20 across the country. I teach more Sunday school on Monday than I do on Sunday.”

Cathy’s message was agreeable to many area residents.

“I was very impressed,” Avon resident Angie Keene said. “We go to Chick-fil-A a lot and, of course, they are closed on Sunday and you don’t see that anymore. It’s nice when you drive by and see they are not open and it reminds us that it should be a day of rest.”

Cathy says his formula for success is relatively transparent and fairly straightforward.

“When you and I get on God’s side and do what he wants us to do, then our work can be our form of worship,” he said. “My prayer for all of us is that God will allow us to see all the little opportunities to encourage other people.”





Brian Kern writes for the Hendricksa County Flyer in Avon, Ind

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.