As each year comes to a close, I wake early in the morning to perform the same sacred ritual.

I slowly enter my local coffee cathedral where a pour-over is delicately prepared by my barista, and I sip each and every blueberry, citrus, and stone fruit note.

As the steam rises beside me, I take a deep breath in and bow slightly before my consecrated tools, gently placing my headphones onto my head, a silent signal to everyone around me.

Do not disturb. Vision is happening here.

The ritual begins. It’s then time for me to craft and create my future.

But here’s the fatal flaw with my ritual: it’s done without humility or ever opening my hands and asking “where is the Lord leading me?”

I proceed with the grim determination of a man who believes that sufficient planning will eliminate any surprises in his future. That enough personal planning and yearly reviews can give me the ultimate sovereignty I so desperately desire.

I draft the year as if it were finished. I plan as if my summer won’t arrive with its own ideas. My big, “hairy,” audacious goals exist as if the people I’m planning for are characters in my story rather than protagonists in their own.

The plan grows dense and detailed. Thirty carefully curated pages. Metrics for things that haven’t happened yet (but I’m certain will!). Milestones that assume nothing breaks, no one gets sick, and no grief arrives unannounced to wreck everything I thought mattered.

This is my recurring restless rhythm that preaches to me that my worth is measured by my output and my value is proven by what I produce.

To peer into my mind as I sit inside that coffee shop is to see a frantic pace that never stops because stopping feels like I’m just falling behind.

The Messy Middle

What I’ve learned is that the messy middle always arrives for the driven striver.

In the spring of 2018, it showed up on what should have been the greatest day of my professional life.

I’d spent years preparing to open my first restaurant. Years. Every system designed, every detail planned, every contingency mapped. The vision was glorious and I was confident I would achieve and be recognized as the greatest Rookie Operator of all time.

Grand opening morning arrived. The parking lot was full. The team was ready. Everything I’d worked toward was finally happening. The lines were out the door.

And then my phone rang.

My youngest daughter had been rushed to the hospital. Gravely ill. The doctors weren’t sure what was wrong yet, but it was serious enough that I needed to come immediately.

I remember standing in that parking lot, customers streaming past me into the restaurant, my team looking to me for leadership, and my wife’s voice on the phone saying “You need to be here.”

I was torn in half. My daughter needed me at the hospital. My business—the thing I’d prepared my whole life for—needed me there.

I decided to choose both, which meant I wasn’t actually fully present for either.

I spent the next several weeks traveling between dark hospital rooms and bustling restaurant crises. Hiring decisions I should have made carefully, I made frantically and furiously. Systems I should have supervised closely, I tossed and delegated to people who weren’t even remotely ready. The foundation I thought I’d built so carefully started cracking under the weight of my divided attention.

My daughter recovered. But the business damage was done. I’d lost control of the hiring process. I’d made decisions out of desperation rather than wisdom. The carefully constructed plan had met reality, and reality had won.

And here’s what I did in response: I gripped tighter and worked harder.

I didn’t pause and say, “Oh, Jesus is speaking to me in this moment. I should listen.”

I said, “Something is wrong. Therefore, I need to execute harder.”

I took more work onto my own plate. I fired up some YouTube videos of David Goggins screaming at me and asking “Who will carry the boats?!”

I will carry the boats! I screamed back. I’ll carry them through sheer force of will! Through relentless intensity!

It’s almost laughable now, but it was more true than I’d like to admit. I spent the next few years trying to fix what had broken in those opening weeks. Working longer hours. Making up for early mistakes. Never slowing down and always speeding up. I became a man I hardly recognized, a man angry and frustrated, unable to get out from under the mess he’d created.

The business survived. Eventually, it even thrived. But in those early years I was exhausted, my health was in disarray, and the whole thing had the energy of a forced march rather than a clear calling.

Baptized Anxiety

I’ve been thinking about that year a lot lately, because I’m starting to see it clearly: my unrelenting work wasn’t faithfulness. It was anxiety wrapped with religious language.

“Stewardship” became my justification for never resting. “Faithfulness” became my excuse for never asking if God was actually asking this of me. “Diligence” became the word I used when what I really meant was “terrified of failure.”

I’d baptized my anxiety and called it obedience.

It’s the most dangerous kind of drivenness because it sounds righteous. I wasn’t chasing money or status, I was “serving the mission.” I wasn’t being selfish, I was “maximizing impact.” I wasn’t controlling my team, I was “being responsible.”

But underneath all that spiritual language was a simple, terrifying lie I was believing: if I don’t hold this all together, it will fall apart. If I don’t execute perfectly, I’ll be exposed as insufficient. If I stop moving, I’ll discover I’m not actually enough.

My friend Andrew Clark describes this reality as living life as “driven” rather than “called.”

Driven means the plan is lord. Called means the Lord gets to decide what actually matters.

And for the longest time I was choosing the driven life. Because driven felt like faithfulness and stewardship, when really it was just fear with a crisp and clean productivity system.

The Friction

I wish I could tell you I had some profound spiritual breakthrough that changed everything overnight.

I didn’t.

What happened was slower and more frustrating: I kept breaking. Different versions of that fateful first year kept arriving. Different plans kept colliding with reality. Different people kept not fitting the roles I’d assigned them in my head.

And somewhere in the repetition, I started to notice a pattern: every time reality destroyed my plan, I experienced it as failure. Every time someone said “I can’t,” I heard “You’re not enough.” Every time circumstances shifted, I felt like I was losing control of my life.

The problem wasn’t necessarily the plans.

The problem was that my identity was wrapped up in the desperate need for the plans to work. My identity and my desires were completely warped.

I remember sitting in my car after another “the plan isn’t working” conversation, and instead of immediately jumping to solutions, I just sat there. Exhausted. And I asked out loud: “What am I so afraid of?”

The answer was so clear: I’m afraid that if I’m not in control, everything will fall apart. I’m afraid that if I surrender, I’ll discover I don’t actually matter. I’m afraid that if I stop striving, I won’t be fully loved or fully known anymore.

It wasn’t a lightning bolt moment. It was more like finally admitting something I’d known for years but kept avoiding.

I have learned this frustrating yet beautiful truth: instead of gripping tighter and exerting maximum effort, I need to surrender.

Simple to say. Agonizingly difficult to do.

The early Christian monks who fled to the Egyptian desert in the 3rd and 4th centuries had a word for what I’m actually after: apatheia. It’s “freedom from reactive passions. Acting from clarity rather than compulsion, love rather than fear, trust rather than control.”1

It’s not apathy like checking out or not caring, but freedom from being enslaved by the outcomes. It’s the capacity to still plan with full intensity while holding the plan loosely enough that reality can correct you. To execute relentlessly without your identity being held hostage by whether the plan actually works.

Not indifferent to results, just no longer terrified of them.

This is what I’m after.

But I’m not fully there yet. I’m still learning to let go. I still grip too tight when things feel uncertain. I still default to “work harder” when what I actually need to do is “listen better.”

Sacred Pace

Terry Looper calls us to a “sacred pace,” a rhythm of seeking the Lord where you still work hard but your identity isn’t found through relentless control—it actually comes from a posture of surrender.2

It’s the place where you stand as a faithful steward, but you’re not terrified of what happens if things don’t go according to plan, knowing your true identity is secure — and you’d rather follow Jesus and his plans regardless of the outcome. It’s a clear-eyed presence that can hold intensity without needing to control everything, because you know the One who is in control.

I want that freedom, but it requires the one thing I’ve spent years avoiding: surrender.

If Terry were speaking to me, I’m certain he would encourage me to ask the Lord for suffering that will drive me to surrender—a surrender that will align my will with the Lord’s will.

Because the plans I grip tightest are always the ones born from fear. If I’m honest with myself, my end-of-year ritual is my attempt to speak an incantation against the terror of not knowing and controlling my future.

But the Lord calls me to let go of my outcomes. Not because outcomes don’t matter, but because when I’m enslaved to them, I can’t actually discern what He desires of me. I’m too busy protecting my plan to notice where He is calling me to go.

Without stillness and surrender, planning becomes just another form of religious busyness. It’s my way to stay occupied enough that I don’t have to sit with the uncomfortable truth that I’m not actually sovereign over my universe.

What This Year Requires of Me

This December, I’m still planning.

I’ll be sitting in the same coffee shop. Same pour-over. Same leather notebook. But this year, I’m starting differently.

Before I open last year’s goals, before I pull out my spreadsheets, I’ll spend thirty minutes with a simple Examen prayer, a new practice I’ve started this year.

I asked: “Lord, what were you doing this year that I almost missed because I was too busy executing my plan?”

And slowly, things will surface.

I’m planning differently this year. I’m writing down three goals instead of thirty. And I’m holding even those with loose enough hands that God can redirect me without it feeling like failure.

I’m blocking margin into my calendar to “get neutral,” as Terry Looper calls it.

Time to sit still and listen. To notice where I’ve been running with anxiety and calling it obedience.

I’m asking different questions this year.

Not just “Did we hit the number?” but “Is this still what the Lord is asking of us?”

Not just “What did I accomplish?” but “Who am I becoming?”

And I’m giving myself permission to be corrected and to change. To discover in May that what made sense in December doesn’t anymore.

David Benner has written extensively about ordered versus disordered desires.3

Disordered desires are frantic, grasping, self-protective. They’re the ones that say “I must achieve this or I’m not enough.” Ordered desires flow from abundance, not scarcity. They’re grounded in who God says I am, not what I think I need to prove.

Benner reminds us:

“Only when we are willing to desire nothing more than God can we experience the freedom of truly enjoying all things. Christian spirituality does not involve the destruction of desire. Rather it involves realignment of our desires by turning our hearts toward the Source of all Desire. God’s desires become our desires.”

So I’m asking: What do I actually desire for 2026? Not what do I fear will happen if I don’t perform, but what do I long for, from my true identity of being loved and enough already?

A Different Ritual

Before I answer that question, I’ll pull up a photo on my phone.

It’s from that hospital room in 2018. My daughter is asleep in the bed with my wife nearby—and I’m not in the picture. I was at the restaurant, trying to save the business, trying to prove I could “carry the boats.”

I can’t get that time back. I can’t redo those opening weeks. I can’t un-choose what I chose that year and the years following.

But I can choose differently now.

So this year, I’m writing those three goals. I’m blocking that margin. I’m asking “Who do you want me to be?” before I ask “What do I need to accomplish?”

And when my phone rings—and it will ring—I’m practicing the prayer of open hands before I reach for the planning tools.

I don’t know if I can actually do it.

I don’t know if I can sit still when everything within me wants to move. I don’t know if I can hold my plans loosely when my identity has been wrapped up in them working. I don’t know if I can trust that I’m loved and enough when I’m not producing and achieving.

But I’ll be sitting here in this coffee shop, looking at that photo, with my hands open and trembling.

Asking God to teach me what I’ve spent a lifetime avoiding:

That I’m His beloved son. Even empty-handed. Even when nothing goes according to my plan. Even when I miss the moment because I’m too busy trying to save it.

I’ll close the photo and set down my phone. The coffee will have gone cold, but I don’t reach for a refill yet. I’ll just sit.

This is surrender—not the grand gesture, but the small moment when you choose to remain present instead of running back to your plan.

Eventually, I pick up my pen.

My hands are still shaking.

But now they’re open.

P.S.

Thomas Merton’s prayer in Thoughts in Solitude, seems a perfect ending:

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I cannot see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

The man entered the dining room quietly, almost reverently. Sitting down, he breathed in and exhaled.

His eyes scanned the room until he saw her — the woman moving table to table while people smiled, chewed, laughed, and delayed leaving, not wanting the experience to end.

He gently raised his hand and locked eyes with her. She paused her work and stepped beside his table.

“You don’t recognize me, do you?”

She shook her head slowly, quiet and unsure what might come next.

“A year ago, you handed me a card with a short handwritten note,” he said, eyes welling with memory. “You probably don’t remember what it said. But I do.”

He reached into his front pocket and pulled out the note—creased, worn, the ink still legible.

“I’ve carried this with me every single day since. My mother had just passed unexpectedly. I was broken. That note gave me strength I didn’t think I had.”

She stood stunned.

When he produced that note, the moment fractured time in a peculiar way.

Suddenly, she was an archaeologist of her own forgotten kindness, excavating a memory she’d buried beneath a thousand other interactions.

This is what I've come to understand as The Hospitality Paradox: The moments that matter most are often the ones we're often least conscious of creating.

We are all walking around as unaware architects of other’s experiences, leaving breadcrumbs of presence that might just become someone's entire lifeline.

Part 2: Deconstructing the Mythology of Service

Most of us operate under a fundamental category error when we think about hospitality.

We've been conditioned to see it through the lens of a simple transaction, experience optimization, and increased customer satisfaction scores. We see hospitality simply as the machinery of modern service culture.

But what if we're asking the wrong question entirely?

Instead of "How do we deliver better service?" what if we asked: "How do we create conditions for human flourishing in the small spaces where human lives intersect?"

Let me show you the architecture of this distinction:

The ancient Greek word philoxenia, or “love of the stranger,” isn't about hospitality industry best practices. It's anthropological. It's about how we recognize and respond to the Imago Dei in the person across from us, especially when that person is unfamiliar, difficult, or inconvenient.

This isn't simple sentiment. It's a subversive philosophy disguised as customer service.

Service asks: “Did we deliver?”

Hospitality asks: “Did they feel seen?”

Part 3: The Phenomenology of Failure (Or: How I Became a Case Study in Anti-Hospitality)

I need to tell you about the most instructive moment of my professional life. This was the moment I discovered my capacity for profound human failure.

It was the “Cold Fry” Incident. Sounds minor, right? But embedded in that moment was every mental trap that derails authentic presence.

Here's what happened: faithful customers Glen and Cindy complained about cold fries. Instead of seeing this as vital information about their experience, I processed it as criticism of my competence and personal worth. My ego, that beautiful defense mechanism, immediately activated its most sophisticated weapon: intellectual superiority.

I fired off an email telling them never to eat at our restaurant again.

The response here is deeply human. When we feel our competence questioned and threatened, we often choose being right over being present. We optimize for self-protection rather than connection.

But here's the meta-insight: That email was a perfect inversion of hospitality. Instead of creating space for the other and drawing people to myself, I eliminated the space and pushed people away. Instead of dignifying their words and experience, I closed my ears and quickly dismissed it. Instead of humbly listening to the deeper parts of their words, I asserted my superiority and shut them out.

Months later, Cindy cornered me in the dining room with surgical precision—"You told my husband and me never to eat here again!”

I experienced what I can only describe as the brutal gift of painful clarity.

That afternoon, staring at a fresh basket of fries (steam rising, golden edges, perfect in every way), I understood: They hadn't wanted a dissertation on the complexities of restaurant operations. They'd wanted hot food served with care. They'd wanted to be seen.

The path back required the hardest technology to use in my toolkit: confession.

Not the corporate non-apology ("We're sorry you feel that way"), but the kind of vulnerability that creates space for restoration. "I was wrong. Can you help me understand?"

Today, Glen and Cindy are regulars. Their thank-you note sits on my desk as a daily seminar in humility and the psychology of memory and attention.

Part 4: The Hidden Curriculum of Excellence

What captivates me about the hospitality leaders who've cracked this code is how they've intuited their way into ancient wisdom without always recognizing it as such.

Take Danny Meyer's counterintuitive hierarchy:

1. Employees

2. Guests

3. Community

4. Suppliers

5. Investors

This isn't just good business strategy—it's actually praxis.

Meyer has discovered that the health of the inside determines the authenticity of the outside. As much as you might try, you cannot manufacture presence. You can only create the conditions where it emerges naturally.

Or consider Will Guidara's hot dog revelation. When guests mentioned wanting to try a New York hot dog, Guidara didn't see this as outside his restaurant's scope. Instead, he saw it as an invitation to transcend the ordinary limitations in service of human delight.

That moment of sprinting outside, purchasing street cart hot dogs, and serving them on Michelin-starred plates wasn't about showmanship. It was about the courage to prioritize human connection over institutional boundaries.

But here's what's essential about this story: The gesture only works if it emerges from genuine care. The moment it becomes performance, it transforms into manipulation. The difference between hospitality and theater is the presence (or absence) of authentic intention.

Part 5: The Liturgy of Small Things

Here's where I want to zoom way out and then come back to the tactical.

What we're really talking about when we talk about hospitality is the spirituality of attention. Every interaction is a choice: Will I see the person in front of me, or will I experience them as a transaction, a number, or my next dollar to be gained?

At Ritz-Carlton hotels, cofounder Horst Schulze created a famous empowerment rule: every employee was trusted to spend up to $2,000 per guest, per incident, without needing a manager’s approval, to solve problems or create memorable moments.

He wasn't just creating operational efficiency—he was institutionalizing permission to be human and treat people as human.

When you give a housekeeper authority to spend significant resources to solve a guest's problem, you're actually making a theological statement: Every human being in this system carries the dignity and responsibility to create conditions for human flourishing.

Most organizations operate at Level 1 or 2. The breakthrough happens when you systematize Level 4—when exceptional humanity becomes ordinary practice.

In that spirit, I’m reminded of Wendell Berry, who often wrote that to be truly present is to live as if every small kindness is a seed planted in a riverbank.

We may not see how far downstream that seed will travel, but it will become part of the landscape of someone else’s life. As Berry put it:

the soil under the grass
is dreaming of a young forest,

and under the pavement the soil
is dreaming of grass.

Berry’s vision reminds us that hospitality isn’t just a transaction. It’s about tending to the hidden currents of human connection, knowing that the smallest gestures of attention can ripple out into a future we may never see.

Part 6: The Psychology of Memory and Attention

What fascinates me about that man with the note in our dining room earlier this year is how he became a walking laboratory for the delayed-release impact of presence.

For an entire year, the forgotten gesture had been doing quiet psychological work in his life. Each time he touched that paper, memory and attention likely re-evoked the feeling of being cared for, reinforcing hope, connection, possibility.

My team member had unknowingly become part of his neural architecture of survival.

As Wendell Berry’s Jayber Crow reflects, “Often I have not known where I was going until I was already there. Only when I look back do I see the pattern.”

This is what I mean when I say hospitality is often invisible until revealed in retrospect.

We're all engaged in the mysterious work of shaping each other's internal landscapes, mostly without conscious awareness.

The man with the note represents thousands of similar interactions happening every day, most of which we'll never trace back to their origins. We're all walking around as unwitting co-architects of each other's stories.

Part 7: The Practical Mysticism of Daily Practice

So how do you operationalize the mystery of hospitality? How do you systemize the seemingly unsystematizable?

Through what I’ll call incarnate presence. The powerful spiritual elements of hospitality made flesh in everyday moments.

• Pre-Presence: Before anyone arrives, spend time considering who might walk through your doors today. What invisible burdens might they carry? How can you create space for whatever they need?

• The Double-Check Doctrine: Excellence in the small things isn't perfectionism. But it does mean we should aim for excellence. Hot food served hot. Clean spaces maintained clean. Details attended to not just to entertain or serve ourselves, but because people matter.

• Permission Architecture: Build systems that empower everyone to make things right immediately. Don't make people wait for hierarchical approval to be human.

• Sabbath Integration: Understand that presence requires reserves. Burned-out people cannot give what they don't have. Rest is a prerequisite for authentic hospitality. There’s a reason Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays.

• The Generosity Budget: Set aside resources specifically for unreasonable kindness. Budget for beautiful moments. Yes, you can plan for spontaneous love. Be ready for the opportunities.

• Graceful Boundaries: Learn to say "not here, not now" with dignity intact. Love includes protection, both for guests and staff.

Part 8: The Measurement Problem

Here's where most organizations get trapped: They only measure what's quantifiable rather than what's meaningful.

Standard metrics capture efficiency but miss transformation. Speed of service but not depth of connection. Customer satisfaction but not human flourishing.

Both matter. But if you only measure the left column, you'll optimize for transaction rather than transformation.

The stories that matter most—the notes carried in pockets, the reconciliations that heal wounds, the moments when strangers become neighbors—these resist quantification. But they're the reason hospitality exists.

Part 9: The Long View of Love

Here's what I want you to see when you zoom all the way out:

That crumpled note in that man's pocket isn't just about one interaction between two people. It's connected to a 2,000-year tradition of radical presence. Every time someone chooses to see the person in front of them rather than process them as a function, they're participating in this ancient practice.

Jesus washing feet. St. Benedict receiving guests as Christ. Modern servers writing notes to grieving strangers.

This is the thread that connects them all: the choice to dignify the other through presence.

In our age of algorithmic optimization, artificial efficiency, and transactional everything, choosing hospitality—real, costly, and even inefficient hospitality—becomes a form of resistance against a broken and empty culture.

You're not just serving food or solving problems. You're not just building a business or creating customer loyalty.

You're bearing witness to the possibility that humans can see each other, create space for each other, serve each other—not because it's profitable or efficient or measurable, but because each man and woman has been made in the very image of God.

The man who lost his mother still carries that note. Glen and Cindy still laugh with me during lunch. My dining room hostess still writes small cards to customers, most of which disappear into the great forgetting of ordinary days.

Some disappear forever. Others become lifelines. Some become proof that presence, however small, however forgotten, however unmeasurable, changes everything.

And in a world increasingly designed to make us strangers to each other, that's not just good hospitality.

That's revolutionary love disguised as customer service.

As N.T. Wright reminds us: “Love is never wasted, for its value will always outlast time itself.”

Which might be exactly what the world needs right now.

I’d love if you’d share this if you find it helpful!

Just about a year ago, on a trip to New York City, Tim Sweetman and his wife made a pitstop for some “work research.” Having read Danny Meyer’s famed 2006 bestseller “Setting the Table,” Sweetman, a Chick-fil-A owner-operator out of Millsboro, Delaware, felt he had to visit one of the Union Square Hospitality luminary’s spots. He picked the nine-time James Beard Award-winning Flatiron District landmark Gramercy Tavern.

Sweetman, who grew up working in Chick-fil-A malls and opened his restaurant in April 2018, had never been to a Michelin-Starred eatery. But it wasn’t only a leisure trip; Sweetman planned to take mental notes.

In the back of his mind was a presentation from former Chick-fil-A CEO and current chairman Dan Cathy—the second top executive in the brand’s history, following his father, Truett, and before Dan’s son, Andrew, took over in 2021.

Dan that day shared thoughts with operators on how to elevate the dining room. He had an anecdote of making sure, whenever somebody asked for a refill, you put a napkin down underneath their drink. It might seem subtle and hard to gauge if customers noticed, yet it’s precisely the kind of granular detail, Dan explained, separating Chick-fil-A from the parameters of “typical fast food.” Sweetman, to this day, trains team members to do so.

Sweetman was taken by what he observed at Gramercy Tavern. “The thing that struck me the most is, you go through this whole process of eating some of the most incredible food you’ve ever eaten, drinking incredible drinks, and having this incredible service, and get to the end and go, ‘there’s no way this could be any better,’” he says.

But then, a server came over and dropped off a small “sweet bite” of chocolate and brought a loaf of breakfast bread they could take and eat the next morning.

Read Full Article

“Build and run systems that create sustainable excellence. That’s the job.” — Dave Kline

That line hit me like a brick.

Dave Kline is not your average leadership “guru.” His resume spans Moody’s, Bridgewater, and now co-leading The Management Playbook, a platform teaching modern leadership rooted in experience, clarity, and systems thinking.

I sat down with Dave for a candid conversation on what great leadership looks like in 2025—and what many of us are still getting wrong. This conversation made me rethink not just how I manage my Chick-fil-A team, but how I define leadership entirely.

The False Divide: Why “Leader vs. Manager” is Holding Us Back

“People talk about the difference between management and leadership like it's real. It’s mostly bad managers rationalizing not being good leaders.”

In Dave’s view, there’s no longer space to separate the two.

Managers must build and operate systems that deliver excellence.
Leaders must set direction, build trust, and rally people toward a shared future.

Most organizations get into trouble because they have one without the other:

• Systems but no direction = bureaucracy

• Direction but no systems = burnout

👉 Takeaway: Modern leaders must be charismatic AND systematic. If you’re only one, you’re holding your team back.

The AI Tipping Point: You Now Manage Machines Too

“The manager of the future is an organizational engineer. You don’t just manage people—you manage people, AIs, systems, and how they all work together.”

Dave and I both agreed: AI is no longer optional or niche—it’s now table stakes.

I told Dave how I’ve started giving AIs to my leaders instead of hiring new admins. His reaction?

“That’s not fringe. That’s the new standard. You need to prove AI can’t do something before hiring a human to do it.”

But AI doesn’t make humans obsolete—it elevates the value of human interaction. With less admin, leaders must spend more time face-to-face. And that’s where trust, expectations, and emotional intelligence matter more than ever.

👉 Takeaway: Stop thinking about AI as a tool. Start thinking of it as a team member—and reallocate your energy toward connection, clarity, and coaching.

Feedback Is Broken Without Expectations

Accountability issues? Chances are, it’s not a “people problem.”

“Most accountability issues come down to misaligned expectations. If we’ve both written and agreed to what success looks like, then feedback becomes objective. It’s just two people staring at the scoreboard.”

The goal is to make feedback less emotional and more directional. That only happens if expectations are clear, co-authored, and consistently revisited.

Dave calls this expectation architecture—and it’s the keystone habit behind every strong team.

👉 Action Step:

• Co-author role expectations with your team members once a quarter

• Review them bi-weekly

• Make performance conversations about alignment, not judgment

Dave’s One-Page Leadership Dashboard

This part of the conversation alone is worth its own workshop.

Dave built a repeatable, scalable structure for every manager to track the health of their team using one simple dashboard.

Here's what it includes:

1. Goals – Are we aligned on what you’re here to accomplish?

2. Measurement – How will we know you’re winning? (KPIs + qualitative wins/losses)

3. Problems – Where are you stuck?

4. Solutions – Are they being developed and driven to completion?

5. Development – Are you growing as a leader?

6. People – If you manage others, what’s the state of your team?

“Most high performers want to grow. And if they’re not growing, they’re already mentally preparing their exit.”

Founders Mode vs. Traditional 1-on-1s: It Depends

There’s a growing trend among tech CEOs (like Jensen Huang of Nvidia or Brian Armstrong at Coinbase) to eliminate 1-on-1s. Instead, they use:

• Group syncs

• Stand-ups

• Daily async video updates or massive volumes of email

“These leaders still connect—just in different ways. What they don’t do is skip structure.”

Dave’s advice? Don’t copy headlines. Copy the underlying principle: clarity, consistency, cadence.

If you’re running a business with 15 team members, your 1-on-1s probably still matter. If you’re overseeing hundreds? You better be creating scalable touchpoints.

👉 Takeaway: Use the structure that serves your stage. But never go without some cadence of accountability and support.

The Hiring Playbook: Filter Hard, Interview Deep

This part of the interview got real.

I asked: How do you actually find great people and avoid bad fits—especially when candidates know how to game the system?

Dave gave 3 pillars:

1. Scare away the wrong people early.
   “Your culture should repel as much as it attracts.”

2. Simulate real work if you can.
   “A 3-day project tells you more than 3 interviews.”

3. Go deep, not wide.
   “Pick 3 traits that matter and probe relentlessly.”

We both shared how we do the “anti-pitch” in hiring. I actively talk people out of working at Chick-fil-A Millsboro in the final interview. Why? Because I want only those who say yes after hearing the hard parts.

“Culture is not a vibe. It’s a system. Define it. Design it. Protect it.”

👉 Action Step:

• Define your top 2–3 non-negotiable behaviors

• Build interview questions that go 4–5 levels deep

• Say no quickly when someone doesn’t fit

Resources Dave Recommends

For new managers:

• 📘 The Making of a Manager – Julie Zhuo

• 📘 What Got You Here Won’t Get You There – Marshall Goldsmith

For ongoing learning:

• 🛠 The Management Playbook Newsletter

• 🧵 Dave’s daily insights on Twitter/X

That question opened one of the most powerful conversations I’ve ever had—a deep dive into identity, leadership, pain, and calling with my friend , founder of Hightower.

But this isn’t just theory.

Trevor flipped the script and walked me through the actual identity discovery process he uses with founders, fund managers, and investors.

If you’re a founder, leader, or creative trying to align your life and work with who you actually are (not who you're trying to impress), this is for you.

Step 1: Identify the Words That Marked You

"When someone speaks the truth about who you are, it doesn’t hit your head. It hits your heart." —Trevor Hightower

We all have words of identity spoken over us at different points. Some healed us. Some wounded us.

Here’s your tactical challenge:

List 3-5 encouragements that felt true when you heard them.

Think back to moments where someone said:

• "You’re a leader."

• "You bring people together."

• "You see what others miss."

Now ask:

• Who said it?

• When did they say it?

• Why did it matter?

For me, a turning point was when someone called me a diplomatic leader. I’d never heard that before. But it helped me reframe years of tension and challenge into something essential and God-given.

🌟 Step 2: Use 3 Tools to Frame Your Gifting

You can’t lead others until you know yourself. Trevor walked me through how elite leaders use personality frameworks to triangulate their identity.

Use these three tools (and compare notes):

1. Five Voices

   • My Voice Order: Connector → Pioneer → Creative

   • What’s yours? Identify your top voice and blindspot.

2. The Enneagram Type 3

   • Known as "The Achiever"

   • Key struggle: Mistaking performance for identity

3. Graham Duncan's Compulsion Exercise

   • Prompt: "What are you most compulsive about that gives you energy?"

“What if your compulsions are the center of your calling?”

Once you’ve gone through all three, distill your identity into 3 identity words.

Mine?

• Intentional Leader

• Authentic Connector

• Creative Builder

🚀 Step 3: Build Your Life Around Clean Fuel

There’s a massive difference between dirty fuel (fear, comparison, performance) and clean fuel (clarity, calling, identity).

Ask yourself daily:

“Am I operating out of my true self or my false self right now?”

Trevor’s simple prayer for alignment:

• “God, how can I encourage and connect today from who I really am?”

Design your business, your calendar, even your relationships to align with those identity words.

Do more of what feels like play for you:

• For me: whiteboards, vision sessions, facilitating offsites, one-on-one coffee meetings.

Make your compulsions the flywheel of your organization.

Resources Mentioned

• Becoming a King by Morgan Snyder (YouTube Series)

• Five Voices by GiANT

• The Enneagram Type 3

• Trevor Hightower's Newsletter (This is Good)

• Masters of Moments Interview

• Main Street Summit Presentation

If this helped, forward it to someone who’s wrestling with identity, burnout, or disillusionment in leadership.

And hit reply: What 3 words describe your true identity?

Until next time,

Tim

From microfinance in post-Soviet countries to prayer rooms inside Fortune 100 companies, this one’s loaded.

If you're a founder, builder, pastor, operator, or just someone who doesn’t want to wake up 20 years from now wondering how the heck you drifted so far from who you were meant to be—this is required listening.

💥 THE BIG IDEAS

1. Hope International’s Origin Story
Built in the rubble of the Soviet collapse. A pastor in Ukraine said, “Your help isn’t helping.” So they stopped giving handouts—and started empowering local entrepreneurs.

• Today: 3.2 million entrepreneurs funded

• $1.8B lent

• 98% repayment rate

• Operates in 27 countries
  This is microfinance with eternal ROI.

2. The Ugly Side of Doing Good
Greer’s seen ministries bulldozed (literally), friends steal while he’s on honeymoon, and dreams vanish overnight.
When Zimbabwe’s “Operation Cleanup Trash” hit, it wiped out years of work with a single bulldozer.

3. Ministry vs. Your Soul
Peter was traveling 120 nights a year. Ministry was thriving. His family? Not so much.

The wake-up call? He wrote a resignation letter to his wife. Told her: if this ever feels off again, he’s done.
Now:

• Travel cap = 75 nights

• Home at 5pm

• One-on-one “dadventures” with each kid

• Practices “wasting time” with prayer cards

• Reads his own eulogy every January

4. Mission Drift: The Silent Killer
Harvard. YMCA. Princeton. Drifted from their Christ-centered roots.
Greer says drift is a creep, not a leap. It’s death by a thousand “good” decisions.

Drift-proof hacks:

• Read the founder’s intent annually

• Vet board members like your legacy depends on it (it does)

• Bake succession into your DNA

• Ask your team, spouse, and kids: “How am I doing?”

5. Leadership Hacks That Actually Stick
✅ Cap your travel.
✅ Write your resignation letter (and mean it).
✅ Write your eulogy—and live backwards from it.
✅ Make prayer the operating system, not an add-on.
✅ Don’t just scale—slow.

🛠️ RESOURCES TO STEAL

• Hope International

• LEAD with Prayer Cards

• Mission Drift – Peter Greer & Chris Horst

• Lead with Prayer – Peter Greer, Ryan Skoog

• The Spiritual Danger of Doing Good – Peter Greer

• Sacred Pace – Terry Looper

Quotes

“No one drifts toward greater missional fidelity. It’s courage and conviction—or bust.”

“I was building a thriving ministry while my family wasn’t thriving.”

“Small steps, compounded by time, lead to massive outcomes—good or bad.”

WHO THIS EPISODE IS FOR

• Nonprofit leaders trying to scale without selling out

• Faith-driven founders torn between mission and momentum

• Operators who know success can cost your soul

• Anyone who wants to stay mission true in a world full of drift

TIM’S TAKE

Peter Greer isn’t just smart—he’s battle-tested. He’ll make you cry, rethink your priorities, and then hand you tools that actually work.

Write your eulogy. Ask your spouse how you’re doing. Cap your travel.

You’ll feel the difference.

In the soft light of another January morning, I found myself pausing – hand halfway to my phone – caught in an unexpected moment of clarity.

The gesture was so familiar it had become invisible, like breathing or the steady rhythm of my heart. I was doing it again.

But in that sudden pause in the waking hours of the morning, a question emerged that would fundamentally shift how I think about presence and purpose in our digital age:

What could I accomplish if I treated my attention as my most valuable asset?

The Currency of Consciousness

There's something profound about the quality of our attention that we rarely discuss.

We talk and read endlessly about time management, productivity systems, and social media strategies. Yet in all our optimization efforts, we've somehow overlooked the foundation that makes any meaningful work possible: our capacity for deep, sustained focus.1

Beyond the Optimization Trap

Like most, I have become incredibly sophisticated at optimizing my digital presence while sometimes losing touch with what’s going on inside of me. It’s incredibly easy to measure reach, engagement, or influence — but when was the last time I measured the depth of my thinking or the quality of my presence?

This isn't about demonizing technology. Social media and artificial intelligence, like any tool, has its place in our lives and work.

But as I stand here at the threshold of a new year, I'm struck by a deep truth: our attention might be the last truly scarce resource in an age of technological abundance.

The Sacred Space of Focus

Think back to the last time you were completely absorbed in meaningful work.

Remember that state where time seemed to lose its rigid boundaries? Where ideas flowed not in fragments but in waves? That space – that quality of presence – is becoming increasingly rare, and because of the rarity, increasingly valuable.

Every notification that pulls us away from this incredible state of presence isn't just consuming time; it's interrupting the incredible “alchemy” that transforms thoughts into insights, insights into innovations, and innovations into impact.

A Different Kind of Resolution

Our greatest opportunity is not in further optimization but in radical presence.

What if, instead of asking how to do more, we asked:

• What becomes possible when I create space for my deepest work to emerge?

• How might my contributions deepen if I protected my attention as fiercely as I protect my time?

• What conversations, innovations, and connections await in the space beyond distraction?

The Path Forward

This year, I'm approaching my relationship with attention differently. Not through rigid rules or digital detoxes, but through a fundamental shift in how I value my own time.

Some changes have been subtle — I’m trying to move my phone to another room during deep work. I have a designated space and time for uninterrupted thinking, and I’m seriously treating my early morning hours as sacred ground for creativity and presence.

Other shifts have been more profound. I'm still learning to recognize the difference between being busy and being engaged, between being connected and being present, between optimizing my output and deepening my impact.

An Invitation

As we step into a new year, I’d love to invite you to join me in this exploration. Not as another item on your optimization checklist, but as a fundamental reimagining of how we approach our work, our relationships, and our creative potential.

The question before us isn't whether technology is useful or harmful.

The question is:

What magnificent things might we create when we treat our attention as the masterpiece it truly is?

I believe the answers — and the opportunities they reveal — will surprise us all.

I stood between beginnings and endings, the weight of life held in my hands.

The mundane simplicity of the container struck me hard—my grandfather's life reduced to ashes in a plastic bag, nestled in a small cardboard box.

How could this be all that was left?

Up through the whispering hollers of West Virginia, our caravan had wound its way on a long and slow pilgrimage. Smooth pavement surrendered to gravel, then to dirt, until we finally came to rest in the heart of the mountains that had shaped him.

Though I hadn't known him well, I knew these mountains had been in his blood, just as they now ran in my mother's veins and my own.

My uncle stepped forward, taking the plastic bag in his hands.

His murmured words dissolved into the sound of the brook as my grandfather's remains sifted through his fingers, gray ash falling into moving water. The mountain received him, particle by particle, each bit of ash joining earth and air.

That day by the stream, I found myself staring at an ancient weave binding the living and the dead, a pattern as old as the mountains around us.

As reminds us:

"We would stand barely a chance in the world if we did not rely from cradle to grave on what has been handed down from those who have lived and worked before us. We are all in the gift of older stories that we are only now joining."

It was a pattern I would come to understand more deeply through the stories of those who came before me—from both sides of my family tree—stories that would become crucial anchors whenever my own world threatened to unravel.

Praise The Lord, Anyhow

For years, I had carried the weight of a broken image, my true self tangled and knotted. I had long believed the great American myth: that I stood alone, self-made, and separated from all that had come before me. But the truth was more powerful than the lie: I am part of a great tapestry, one where threads from deep in the past still run through me today.

For the unfamiliar, a quick weaving lesson: The warp threads stand straight and true, creating the foundation of the fabric. Through them moves the weft—weaving in and out, creating patterns and texture. You need both. Without the warp, you have no structure. Without the weft, you have no story.

From my father's side, my great-great-grandfather Demmin's story forms one of the strongest warp threads in my fabric. Born in 1882 in Paterson, New Jersey, he grew up with the constant clatter of silk mills as his lullaby. At ten years old, he was already working those mills, earning a dollar a week, his young life shaped by work, discipline, and unwavering faith.

His father, Tunis Sweetman, had brought that faith with him from Holland, drenched in the strict practices of the Dutch Reformed Church. Sundays were sacred ground; young Demmin couldn't even shine his shoes before church. Yet even within that rigid framework, something in Demmin reached beyond. Despite having only a fourth-grade education, he had an insatiable curiosity. He devoured books, studied theology through correspondence courses at Moody Bible Institute, and eventually became a preacher.

Together with his wife Mary, they built something beautiful: a family where faith and learning were so intertwined you couldn't separate them. Every morning before breakfast, their five children would gather around an old couch near the kitchen, drop to their knees, and begin to pray.

It wasn't just routine; it was the rhythm that held their days together through hard times and good. "Praise the Lord, anyhow," Demmin would say, and you could feel the depth beneath the words.

One of those five children was Richard, my father's grandfather, who would later meet his future bride Victoria in Chicago, Illinois at Moody Bible Institute.

Victoria's story brought a different kind of strength to our family fabric. At 15, her world had splintered when her older brother Joseph killed their father in a moment of ruthless rage. She left her small town in Illinois for Chicago, carrying dreams of missionary work—and carrying too, though she didn't know it yet, the thread that would connect her to our family's story.

When Victoria and Richard met at Moody, they believed they were called to serve in Africa. But God had other plans. A car accident shattered those dreams, and they instead built a new life in Mississippi, tending to a small pastorate. Life in the “ministry” wasn’t easy, but full of challenge and loss—including one one fateful Sunday where they came home from church to find their house in flames.

Yet they rebuilt, piece by piece, their faith surely feeling shaken, but never broken.

In Victoria's story, I see a different inheritance: how faith can be tested by fire and emerge stronger.

These threads of history—both my mother's mountain heritage and my father's legacy of tested faith—took on new meaning the day my mother called.

"It's cancer," I heard her say on the other end of the line, her voice steady and matter-of-fact.

I stared down at my coffee, steam rising like my prayers above the darkened surface.

Though the doctors were optimistic and the outlook positive, for anyone those words still held power to shake the ground beneath your feet. It’s a call that forces you to understand how precious and precarious our lives are.

In that moment, I saw my mother's strength with new clarity—not just in how she delivered the news, but in how she faced it: with a deep, powerful and mysterious faith in something and more than that: Someone greater. I realized how blessed I was to have both legacies: the steady strength of my mother's mountain ancestors, and the tested, resilient faith that came through my great-grandmother Victoria and my great-great Grandfather, Demmin.

We never truly see our families clearly until moments like these force us to look closer.

Standing there outside that café, I felt the threads of my heritage pull tight around me, not constraining but supporting. In my mother's calm, I stared at the tapestry: I could see the warp, and the weft. Whether it was the pragmatic wisdom of mountain roots or the grace that echoed from Demmin's unwavering faith — I was in that moment a recipient of the “gift of older stories.”

Creation’s Loom

As my grandfather's ashes disappeared into the stream that day in the mountains, I felt something fundamental shift within me.

The water carried away not just the remains of his life but also my illusion of separateness. Standing there, watching the ash merge with water, water with earth, I finally understood: we are all a part of the warp and weft of creation.

Our threads continue in the spaces between breaths, in the silent strength passed from mother to child, in the faith that survives fire, in the quiet wisdom of mountains that have seen a thousand storms.

The stream flows on.

Through flood and drought, through seasons of plenty and want, it flows. Just as love flows through generations, finding new channels, carving new paths, but always, always flowing forward.

We are each of us a meeting place of countless streams and countless stories. My grandfather's mountain wisdom, Demmin's fierce faith, Victoria's hard-won grace—all of these threads merge in me, and will continue through me into futures I'll never see.

My mother's diagnosis reminds me that life is always in flux, always changing, but it also shows me the power of facing uncertainty with deep faith.

In her calm strength, I feel the steadiness of mountains in my bones and hear Demmin's voice echoing through time: "Praise the Lord, anyhow."

These words catch in my throat now, heavy with the weight of generations who spoke them before me.

They knew, as I am learning, that praise isn't just for the easy moments. It's for the hard ones too—the ones that break us open and show us what we're made of.

It's for the moments when ash meets water, when endings become beginnings, when we finally understand that love is the thread that binds all things together, stronger than death, more lasting than grief.

Like them, we too will return to creation's loom—each life a thread, briefly shimmering in an eternal weave. One day, we'll all return to this pattern, our lives brief threads in an eternal story.

And so I stand here, between mountain and stream, between what was and what will be. I am the descendant of miners and missionaries, of mountain folk and mill workers, of those who survived and those who dared to dream.

Their stories flow through me like this river, and I add my own voice to their chorus:

Praise the Lord, anyhow.

1. The hardest part of leadership isn’t casting vision—it’s holding people accountable with love and clarity.

2. Being a business owner is less about what you do and more about aligning people to a common mission.

3. Guests might remember the food, but they’ll never forget how your team made them feel.

4. Running a business is easy compared to the challenge of staying aligned with your purpose.

5. True generosity isn’t about money—it’s about time, energy, and being fully present.

6. Your team’s culture is a mirror of your habits, your focus, and your integrity.

7. The best systems are invisible. They let people thrive without realizing they’re being guided.

8. If you’re frustrated with your team’s performance, start by looking in the mirror.

9. The ultimate measure of success isn’t profit—it’s how your people grow because they worked for you.

10. Consistency beats inspiration. Showing up every day, even when it’s hard, is the real secret.

11. Care isn’t a feeling; it’s a process. Building a system to care for your people transforms a workplace.

12. Everyone wants to feel seen. Saying someone’s name, remembering their story, or asking the right question changes everything.

13. Running a Chick-fil-A (or business) can make you wealthy, but if you’re not careful, it can cost you your health, family, or soul.

14. Saying “no” to the wrong opportunities is harder—and more valuable—than saying “yes” to the right ones.

15. The best team members don’t leave for money; they leave because they feel unnoticed, unchallenged, or unimportant.

16. Every business decision has a human cost. The best leaders count that cost before taking action.

17. Your influence is greatest when you stop trying to prove you’re the smartest person in the room.

18. If your team doesn’t trust you, nothing else matters.

19. Profit margins don’t improve with tactics—they improve when the whole team believes in the mission.

20. Excellence is contagious. One high-performing leader can transform an entire team.

21. Every person has a story. When you take time to learn it, it changes how you lead them.

22. Growth is messy. Systems break, people struggle, and frustration mounts—but that’s where the magic happens.

23. Your highest calling isn’t as a manager or a boss—it’s as a mentor. Helping people align and flourish is your greatest work.

24. No one ever regrets taking the time to sit with their family for dinner or watching their kids play in the yard.

25. Leaving a legacy isn’t about building something massive—it’s about changing one life at a time.

• His personal faith journey

• Insights on thriving in the paradoxes of business and ministry

• Practical strategies for integrating spiritual convictions with entrepreneurial excellence

If you’re passionate about faith-driven entrepreneurship, discovering innovative leadership models, or embracing complexity without sacrificing core values, this episode will resonate. Subscribe for more interviews that blend faith, innovation, and real-world business impact.

About Andrew

Andrew Clark is the Managing Partner at The Jeremiah Fund, bringing a fresh approach to venture capital by combining strategic funding with hands-on discipleship. Prior to The Jeremiah Fund, Andrew produced The Lion’s Den in Birmingham—a Shark Tank–inspired event spotlighting entrepreneurs driven by both profit and purpose.

A graduate of Samford University (Classics & Philosophy) with a background in real estate, Andrew focuses on encouraging faithfulness in founders, building healthy teams and cultures that create enduring enterprises. His mission is simple: help leaders navigate the valleys of entrepreneurship, celebrate the peaks, and deliver lasting impact.

Key Links & Resources

• To Know and Live Substack: candrewclark.substack.com

• Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life: Amazon

• Mercenaries & Missionaries (John Doerr): Watch on YouTube

• Things Hidden: The Life and Legacy of René Girard (Documentary): YouTube

• The Lion’s Den DFW: thelionsdendfw.org

• Pareto Principle: fs.blog/power-laws

• Ho Nam: altos.vc

• Ho Nam Venture Lotto: altos.typepad.com

• You Are Not a Lottery Ticket (Peter Thiel): YouTube

• Bryce Roberts – The Indie Era of Startups: Medium

• Mercenaries vs. Missionaries (Article): Knowledge@Wharton

• Nick Saban – Trust the Process: YouTube

• The Score Takes Care of Itself (Bill Walsh): Amazon

• Sources of the Self (Charles Taylor): Amazon

• The Lion’s Den Birmingham: thelionsden.us

• Thrive Farmers Coffee: thrivefarmers.com

• Invest Like the Best: joincolossus.com/series/invest-like-the-best/

• John Doerr: YouTube

• Founders Podcast: founderspodcast.com

• Francis Schaeffer – No Little People: Amazon

• George MacDonald – Ordering Your Private Life: Amazon

• Level 5 Leadership (Jim Collins): jimcollins.com

• Faith Driven Entrepreneur: faithdrivenentrepreneur.org

• Mimetic Theory: Wikipedia

• René Girard: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

• Barnhart Crane and Rigging: barnhartcrane.com

• Stewardship vs. Ownership: YouTube

• Pete Ochs: GospelPatrons.org

• Called to Create: YouTube

• Trae Stephens – Faith Collides: faithcollides.com/traestephens_bonus

• Trae Stephens Event (Silicon Valley): A Letter a Day Substack

• Faith Driven Entrepreneur Podcast: faithdrivenentrepreneur.org/podcast

• Paul Graham – How to Do Great Work: paulgraham.com

Conversation Timestamps

• 0:00:00 – Intro: Christians in Business and the Struggle with Excellence

• 0:01:00 – Welcome to the Tension Podcast and Its Mission

• 0:02:00 – Guest Introduction: Andrew Clark and the Jeremiah Fund

• 0:03:00 – What Does 'Venture Differently' Mean?

• 0:07:00 – The Importance of Partnerships in Entrepreneurship

• 0:09:00 – Why the Name 'Jeremiah Fund'?

• 0:11:00 – Contrasting Traditional Venture Capital with 'Venturing Differently'

• 0:17:00 – Balancing Investor Mandates with Founder Support

• 0:20:00 – Andrew’s Life Story and Perspective on Faith and Work

• 0:25:00 – Lion's Den: A Faith-Driven Business Movement

• 0:29:00 – Redefining Excellence in Christian Business

• 0:31:00 – Faith and Work: Integration or Separation?

• 0:34:00 – Ambition, Life’s Work, and Calling

• 0:38:00 – Lessons from Historical Figures on Calling and Ambition

• 0:43:00 – Driven vs. Called Leadership Models

• 0:48:00 – Critiques and Challenges in the Faith-Driven Movement

• 0:53:00 – Real-World Examples of Faith-Driven Businesses

• 0:57:00 – Key Traits of Successful Founders

• 1:02:00 – Best Advice and Life Lessons from Andrew Clark

• 1:03:00 – Where to Find Andrew & The Jeremiah Fund

Connect & Follow

• Twitter: @timsweetman

• Instagram: @tim.sweetman

• YouTube: Tim Sweetman

• TimSweetman.com

Additional Resources

• Dream Studio Course: dreamstudiocourse.com

• Ozlo SleepBuds: ozlosleep.com/timsweetman

• Eight Sleep: refer.eight.sl/ayrngsh5

Thank you for reading! If this conversation helped you rethink how faith intersects with entrepreneurship, feel free to share, comment, or subscribe for more content like this.

Subscribe now

Enjoy this conversation with Andrew Clark, and stay tuned for more content that challenges how we think about faith, ambition, and building meaningful enterprises in a complex world. If you found value, feel free to share this post or leave a comment below. Your feedback helps shape future discussions!

Picture this: You're about to hire someone who will either A) help your organization thrive or B) slowly poison it from the inside like a corporate version of that fungus that takes over ants' brains.

No pressure.

This is where most hiring managers reach for their trusty toolbox of interviews, resumes, and the ceremonial "reference check" – you know, that thing where you call someone who pretends to remember the candidate and mumbles something about them being "a good team player."

But what if I told you we've been doing reference checks completely wrong? Like, "trying to make toast in a washing machine" wrong?

The Reference Check Paradox

Here's a wild thought from investor Graham Duncan that broke my brain:

"People think of references as a thing you do after the fact. To me, it's the whole thing."

Wait, what?

Let's back up for just one minute.

Most of us treat reference checks like that homework assignment I finished five minutes before my college English class — a box to check, a formality, a "yeah yeah yeah" moment before we make the hire we already decided on.

But Graham Duncan suggests this is like trying to understand what's in a box by only looking at the shipping label. The real treasure – the stuff that actually matters – is inside the box. And by "inside the box," I mean "in the stories people tell about this person when you actually shut up and listen."

The Invisible Resume™

(Yes, I just trademarked that because it sounds cool)

Every person has two resumes:

1. The visible resume: The carefully curated LinkedIn profile where everyone is a "results-driven professional with a passion for synergy" (whatever that means).

2. The invisible resume: The real stuff — how they handle pressure, treat people when no one's watching, and whether they're the type to steal your lunch from the office fridge.

Guess which one actually matters?

The Art of Not Asking Dumb Questions

Here's where most reference checks go wrong. We all ask stupid questions like:

• "Was Bob a good employee?"

• "Would you hire Sarah again?"

• "Is Tom punctual?"

These questions are about as useful as asking a fish about its favorite bicycle.

Instead, here are some questions that actually work (courtesy of Graham Duncan and some smart folks at Chick-fil-A):

1. "If [candidate's] number comes up on your caller ID, what does your brain anticipate they're calling about?"

   1. (This is secretly a genius question because it reveals the candidate's pattern of behavior and impact on others)

2. "If you were coaching them, how would you help them take their game up?"

   1. (Notice how this sneakily gets at weaknesses without triggering the reference's defensive instincts)

3. "Rate them from 1-10... No, 7s aren't allowed."

   1. (This is like the verbal equivalent of pushing someone off the fence they're sitting on)

The Secret Sauce: Learning to Listen Like a Detective

Here's the thing most people miss: Reference checks aren't just about the words being said — they're about HOW they're being said.

Did they:

• Hesitate before praising the candidate's "leadership skills"?

• Light up when talking about their problem-solving abilities?

• Use specific examples or vague corporate buzzwords?

• Sound like they were reading from a script or speaking from the heart?

This is where you need to channel your inner Sherlock Holmes. The truth isn't just in what people say — it's in the pauses, the tone, the energy, and sometimes even in what they don't say.

The Alignment Matrix: Where Magic Happens

At Chick-fil-A (where this stuff really matters because one bad hire can turn "my pleasure" into "ruined-my-life-forever"), we have figured out something crucial: It's not just about finding competent people – it's about finding the right people who will thrive in our specific culture of service and hospitality.

Think of it like this:

• Great culture fit + High competence = 🚀

• Great culture fit + Low competence = 📚

• Poor culture fit + High competence = 💣

• Poor culture fit + Low competence = 🤦

At Chick-fil-A, we are constantly asked how we find such great people. The reality is those great people are all over the place — we are putting great people into a situation that creates a positive feedback loop where they flourish and are given affirmation for doing the right thing and receive desired status as contributors to the mission and purpose of the organization.

The Bottom Line: Why This Actually Matters

Here's the thing: Every hire is like adding an ingredient to a recipe. One wrong ingredient won't just taste bad — it could ruin the whole dish. In organization terms, one misaligned hire can shift the entire culture.

This is why letting references truly speak – and actually listening to what they're saying – isn't just some nice-to-have HR practice. It's the difference between building a team that works together like a well-oiled machine and one that functions like a bunch of cats trying to organize a dog show.

So What Now?

Next time you're doing a reference check, remember:

1. Start with skepticism, end with understanding

2. Listen for patterns, not just praise

3. Pay attention to the invisible resume

4. Ask questions that invite stories, not soundbites

5. Trust your spidey sense when something feels off

Because at the end of the day, finding the right people isn't just about filling seats – it's about building something that lasts. And that starts with actually giving a damn about those reference checks everyone else treats like a formality.

Remember: The best time to catch a bad hire is before they become your problem.

And the best way to do that is to shut up and let the references speak.

*Note: No corporate cultures were harmed in the writing of this article, though several bad hiring practices were rightfully called out for their crimes against organizational harmony.*

"We have tried to escape the sweat and sorrow promised in Genesis — only to find that, in order to do so, we must forswear love and excellence, health and joy."

— Wendell Berry

Creak. Whoosh. Creak. Whoosh.

The cool breeze whispers through the pines as I sit on the creaking swing, my almost 2-year-old son nestled in my arms. The scent of pine needles fills the air, mingling with the earthy aroma of the forest floor. Sunlight filters through the branches, casting dappled shadows that dance with our movement.

In this moment, everything feels whole—connected, harmonious, just as it should be. The world narrows to the rhythm of the swing and the warmth of my son against my chest. This is what presence feels like. This is what wholeness means.

But most days, I'm far from here.

Most days, I'm confined within climate-controlled spaces, eyes glued to screens, participating in what Wendell Berry calls the "disease of the modern character." This disease has a name: specialization. But beneath specialization lies an even deeper malady—our human delusion of sovereignty, our conviction that we stand apart from and above the natural world.

Creak. Whoosh. Creak. Whoosh.

The Cult of the Future

In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis reveals this delusion through the words of his fictional demons who seek to destroy their human "patients" with temptations:

"The Future is, of all things, the thing least like eternity... We want a man hag-ridden by the Future—haunted by visions of an imminent heaven or hell upon earth—ready to break the Enemy's commands in the present if by so doing we make him think he can attain the one or avert the other."

This obsession with the future—this belief that tomorrow's technology will solve today's destruction—has become our new religion. Our faith in technology has become boundless, creating a limitless technology dependent on a limitless morality—which Wendell Berry reminds us is no morality at all. We sacrifice our wholeness, our health, our very world on the altar of this imagined future.

"Our obsession with security is a measure of the power we have granted the future to hold over us," Berry reminds us.

Creak. Whoosh. Creak. Whoosh.

The Fragmentation of Everything

Like most of you, I’m not a farmer.

I'm a professional, a knowledge worker meticulously trained to excel at one thing.

So you too may feel as I did reading Wendell Berry's The Unsettling of America — it was like a sudden gaze into a mirror, reflecting a grotesque version of myself.

He describes the modern man:

"The beneficiary of this regime of specialists ought to be the happiest of mortals—or so we are expected to believe. All of his vital concerns are in the hands of certified experts. He is a certified expert himself and as such he earns more money in a year than all his great-grandparents put together... Yet, this is probably the most unhappy average citizen in the history of the world."

He also demonstrates the fragmentation and fracturing of the specialists world:

“The specialist… knows one thing thoroughly and fails to consider its relation to other things. He may know everything there is to know about a certain chemical, and yet have no idea what effects it might have on soil, water, air, or human health when used in farming. The specialist mindset fractures knowledge and responsibility, removing the sense of moral consequence from work.”

Surrounded by conveniences and expertise, we touch nothing we have produced ourselves.

Our air, water, and food contain toxins — but we feel no moral obligation to fix these things. His haunting portrayal shows modern humanity as anxious and helpless — and we should be.

It turns out that Wendell Berry's warning about specialization has proven prophetic.

Dr. Casey Means, in her recent bestselling Good Energy, observes that the average American consults over 20 different types of doctors before they die, with more than 100 medical specialties available.

This surge in specialization has coincided with worsening health outcomes.

Something Is Deeply Wrong

The evidence of our fragmentation surrounds us:

• An industrial food system that produces unbelievable abundance but leaves 93% of Americans metabolically unhealthy1

• A healthcare system offering endless specialists but failing to prevent or reverse disease

• An economy that grows while our smallest communities wither

• A society more digitally connected yet more isolated than ever before

At the root of this disaster lies our belief that we are sovereign in the universe. "We have come to see ourselves as her [Earth's] lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will," said Pope Francis. "The violence present in our hearts... is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life."2

We fragment ourselves into ever-smaller pieces, trusting that specialization holds the answers to our problems.

But as Dr. Means emphasizes: "The siloed view of diseases, symptoms, and specialists harms us because it fails to recognize the connected nature of the body, as well as the body's connection to everything around it—from sunlight to food to soil to air."

Creak. Whoosh. Creak. Whoosh.

The Reverse Movement

We cannot heal ourselves while remaining disconnected from the sources of health. What we need is a movement back toward human-scale work, back toward the dignity of physical labor, back toward knowing our neighbors and feeding our communities.

We need a movement that works towards human flourishing instead of our direction towards human destruction.

It’s what Wendell Berry has coined “The Reverse Movement.”

We need a reverse from:

• passive consumers to active producers,

• operator to husbandman

• exploiters to nurturers

• industrial scale to human scale

• ignorant consumption to skilled production

• career-obsessed to community-centered

• occult future-worship to godly present engagement

• endless growth to regenerative renewal,

• artificial abundance to natural limits,

• technical expertise to practical wisdom,

• efficiency to artistry,

• virtual connection to physical communion,

• fragmentation to wholeness.

Most fundamentally, we need a reverse movement from our delusion of sovereignty in the universe to a humble acceptance of our role as creation's stewards who seek out what is best for human flourishing.

This isn't about rejecting all progress, but about progressing toward something tangible and true: the small, the local, the physical, the present. It’s identifying and reversing the destructive movements that have torn us apart in our country.

Berry reminds us, this path isn't simple:

"We are all to some extent guilty of the sins we condemn... We are all involved in what we seek to correct. There is no escape into personal purity... The most serious weakness of our solutions to public problems may be that we have come to expect too much of them. We have increasingly handed over to public institutions various aspects of our private lives which we no longer feel able or willing to cope with ourselves."3

This reverse movement calls us to rebuild what Berry calls "membership" - the complex web of relationships between people, their work, their land, and their communities.4

It means young people returning to small towns not to escape work but to find it. It means lawyers learning to garden, doctors raising chickens, programmers joining volunteer fire departments.

It means rejecting the myth that we can think our way out of problems that require us to work, to sweat, to participate in the physical world, when we don’t need to escape it in the first place.

The Path to Wholeness

This healing begins with rejection—rejection of our delusion of human sovereignty, rejection of our cult of the future, rejection of the myth that bigger means better. But rejection alone isn't enough. We must also embrace:

Rejecting the Cult of Progress

• Question our faith in limitless technology

• Recognize natural limits as guides, not obstacles

• Value present connection over future promises

• Acknowledge that technology won’t necessarily provide a “better future”

Rebuilding Local Relationships

• Know your farmers and food sources

• Support local economies and businesses

• Foster direct human connections

• Restore traditional knowledge and skills

• Join a CSA or start a small garden

• Engage with neighbors and rebuild community fabric

• Learn crafts that connect us to our heritage

Recovering Wholeness

• Move beyond symptom management to true health

• Understand root causes rather than just treating effects

• Recognize the connection between soil health and human health

• Embrace tension and complexity rather than false simplification

• Focus on preventive health and holistic well-being

• Support regenerative agriculture practices

• Embrace interdisciplinary approaches

"To be interested in food but not in food production is clearly absurd," says Berry.

The same could be said of health, community, and the natural world. We cannot heal while remaining disconnected from the sources of health.

Facing the Challenges

I acknowledge that shifting away from specialization and modern conveniences isn't easy. Our lives are entangled in systems that value efficiency over well-being. But every small step counts:

Start Small: Begin by growing a portion of your food or visiting a local farmers' market.

Educate Yourself: Read about sustainable practices and holistic health.

Build Community: Find like-minded individuals who share these values.

As Dr. Means observes: "Western culture has sterilized and de-sanctified the awe-inspiring mysteries of the human experience, has separated our lives from nature, and has robbed the health journey of joy and awe."

I couldn’t agree more.

Creak. Whoosh. Creak. Whoosh.

The Work Ahead

The swing's rhythm continues as my son leans into me.

This moment—this deep connection to place, to family, to the tangible world—is what we need to multiply a million-fold. Not as an escape from modern life, but as its essential foundation.

Making America Whole Again isn't about launching another movement with bumper stickers and branded solutions. It's about recovering what our hubris has cost us—our connection to land, to community, to purpose.

As Berry notes: "It cannot be fully accomplished in a generation. It will probably require several generations—enough to establish complex local cultures with strong communal memories and traditions of care."

The sun sets. The shadows stretch long. The work of healing—ourselves, our communities, our land—awaits.

This isn't a call to reject progress but to redefine it. It's a call to embrace the present moment, to acknowledge our place within creation rather than above it, to build communities that can sustain us and future generations.

Creak. Whoosh. Creak. Whoosh.

Will you join this reverse movement? Not as another single-issue campaign, but as a fundamental reorientation of how we understand our place in the world and journey together to work and ensure we see humanity flourish.

Let's Make America Whole Again.

Subscribe now

Resources

• Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health

• 8 Things You Can Do in the Next 23 Hours to Improve Your Health

• Food as Poison or Food as Medicine?

• The Great American Poisoning (and what’s causing it)

• Estimated Prevalence of Overall Obesity and Severe Obesity in Each State, from 1990 through 2030.

• How our ultra processed diets are harming our metabolic machinery - Dr. Casey Means on In The Arena with Evan Baehr

My greatest fear has been hearing confirmation that the little voice in my head is right: you're a fraud.

The moment when criticism strikes is like the full moon rising over a cursed soul. The transformation begins, as self-doubt and insecurity take hold, morphing me into a creature I barely recognize.

I still remember the moment it happened.

I was sitting at my desk, the soft glow of my laptop the only light in the room. The email notification chimed, and as I read the words, I felt the change begin. "I’m wondering if what is seen publicly is lining up with reality," it read. "There’s some people who are expressing some anonymous concerns." Each word seemed to echo in the quiet of my home office, growing louder with each passing second.

I was consumed by a darkness that felt beyond my control. What was once a confident, creative human being, devolved violently into a snarling beast, lashing out in pain and confusion.

The moon of criticism had risen and the transformation ripped through my very bones. My gifts that normally brought light and connection – my ability to communicate, to empathize, to inspire – suddenly became twisted and distorted, weaponized against myself and others.

For days, I moved through life in a daze. During meetings, I'd catch glimpses of my reflection in computer screens, half-expecting to see the beast staring back. While driving to work, my knuckles would turn white as I gripped the steering wheel, as if I could physically restrain the monster within.

I howled at the moon of hatred, feeling its searing light expose every flaw and weakness. My skin crawled with the fear of being seen, truly seen, in all my imperfect humanity. The beast within bared its fangs, ready to attack or retreat, fight or flight.

Then as I shuddered in agony, the light within me was snuffed out.

It was a Saturday morning when I found myself on the New Jersey Turnpike, with no clue where I was going. And I don't mean just on this trip – I had woken up that morning with a deep restlessness in my soul. It was this very restlessness that had led me to heed an unusual call.

I had been instructed by my life coach to wake up one day with no expectations and "just let God lead me on an adventure."

This is absolutely ridiculous, I thought when I received the homework. But a small part of me longed for something different in the aftermath of the deep and cutting criticism that had stormed into my life.

I began the day sitting silently in my car, quietly praying that I would be led exactly where I needed to go. I had pulled out in the early dawn from the driveway, sending a quick text to my wife. 

"Gone for a drive. Need to find clarity. Back soon. Love you." The guilt of abandoning my responsibilities, even for a day, gnawed at me. But the need to rediscover my purpose felt even more urgent.

After a few hours, I glanced at the broader map on my internal screen and saw a familiar destination, at least in name: Princeton, New Jersey.

"Interesting. I've never been there before," I thought to myself.

Something stirred in my soul, and I inputted the exact directions to a small taco shop downtown. Within moments, I had drifted from racing speed to a gentle stroll, pulling through suburban New Jersey neighborhoods all lush and green.

Centuries before my journey, St. Augustine found himself on his own unplanned expedition. In his Confessions he describes his own moment of intense crisis, much like my dark night of the soul.

"I was weeping in the most bitter contrition of my heart," he wrote, when he heard a distant child's voice chanting, "Take up and read."

Interpreting this as a divine command, he opened the Bible at random and read a passage that spoke directly to his inner turmoil. In that moment, he experienced a profound transformation – a conversion that would shape not only his life but the course of Western thought.

While I hadn't heard a child's voice, I was also led by some inexplicable urge to "take up and read." And like Augustine, I also was seeking a transformation away from a life of striving to one of just being.

Augustine's words echoed in my mind: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."

After parking and walking onto the campus of Princeton, I found myself standing amidst the pomp, the glory, the ivy. I slowly walked beneath the entry gate, silently staring down at me, perhaps wondering the same thing I was: Why in the world was I here?

It's the question that's been driving me, not just down interstates, but through life itself.

Why am I here? What's my purpose? What am I supposed to be doing with my life?

As I stood there on Princeton's campus, contemplating my purpose and identity, I was reminded of Dallas Willard's profound insight: "The most important thing in your life is not what you do; it's who you become. That's what you will take into eternity." 

This thought resonated deeply with my struggle to define my worth beyond my accomplishments.

I looked up and saw the University’s coat of arms, with an image signifying the Old and New Testament. A quick google search revealed the compelling motto of Princeton University: DEI SUB NUMINE VIGET, or "Under God's power she flourishes."

Something moved in my soul as I stood there as still as the statues dotted throughout the campus. I was sent on this journey with difficult questions to contemplate. 

What would it look like to be enough instead of always trying to do enough? Could I flourish if I simply rested under the protection of the One who created me?

As I pondered this, I was reminded of my inner beast - the one that howls at criticism and cowers in self-doubt. Could this broken creature also flourish under divine protection?

This restlessness I felt, this constant need to prove my worth through accomplishments, was simply a misdirected search for that ultimate rest. The answer, I realized, lay not in more striving, but in surrender – just as it had for Augustine all those centuries ago.

I've believed all my life that in order to be loved, I have to be useful. You won't find me wasting a second of my life. It is painful to rest, because to rest is to admit something: I am not in control.

I'll admit it, right here and now. I'm not in control. And that terrifies me.

As I grappled with these realizations, I found myself thinking about Trevor Hightower's insights on true identity and true self. He emphasizes the importance of "working from our true self" rather than a false identity we've constructed. This concept struck a chord with me as I sat alone in my hotel room that evening, writing out what I saw broken in myself.

I wrote: I wrongly believe that if I don't have successful outcomes and accomplishments, I am unworthy. I often succumb to a belief that I need more money and more possessions for security and peace, and I think they will bring me lasting joy. I need external affirmation and I am often fearful of what others may think of me.

As I wrote, I thought about my family back home. How often had I missed moments with them, chasing after the next accomplishment? How many times had I been physically present but mentally absent, my mind racing with deadlines and expectations? The weight of these realizations settled heavily on my shoulders.

But amidst the confessions, I also found truth and beauty. I am not my curse. 

Beneath the fur and the fury, there is still a human heart beating. A heart that yearns for something more. And just like the werewolf can learn to control its transformations, to master its inner beast, so too can we learn to tame the monsters of self-doubt and insecurity.

It means having the courage to face our own darkness, to sit with the pain and the fear and the anger, without letting it consume us.

We are more than our worst moments. More than the opinions of others. More than the snarling, snapping creature that criticism can unleash and reveal.

In this journey of self-discovery, I was struck by a description of personal growth that Trevor Hightower attributes to Brent Beshore. 

Brent describes it as coming to know we are "fully known and fully loved with nothing to fear and nothing to hide." 

This idea took on new meaning for me as I confronted my own insecurities and the false identities I had constructed.

I awoke early and left my hotel, driving once again to the University. The campus was empty of all but a few people walking dogs at 6:00 AM. I just began to walk, stopping only for a few brief moments to sit on a bench and watch the sun peek through some clouds and examine an ivy-lined dormitory.

I walked through construction, through history, and eventually found myself standing inside Princeton Stadium, alone. As the sun gently rose up over the horizon glancing off the clouds, the words of John Witherspoon, Princeton University Founder, echoed in my mind: "The pursuit of knowledge should be a lifelong endeavor, always seeking to expand our understanding of the world."

But knowledge alone isn't enough, is it? We can accumulate all the facts and figures in the world, but if we don't know ourselves, if we don't understand our purpose, what good is it all?

I'm seeking my true identity and naming the false identities in my life. It's a process of unlearning, of stripping away the layers of expectation and performance that I've built up over the years.

As I stood there looking over the gridiron, I realized that my journey to Princeton wasn't really about the destination at all. It was about the process of getting lost, of letting go of control, of facing my fears and insecurities head-on.

The pursuit of knowledge, as Witherspoon said, should be lifelong. This includes understanding who we are, why we're here, what drives us, what scares us - these are the questions that really matter.

And maybe, just maybe, the answers to these questions don't come from striving harder or doing more. Maybe they come from resting, from being still, from allowing ourselves to be loved and protected by something and Someone greater than ourselves.

As I prepared to leave Princeton and head back out onto the New Jersey Turnpike, I realized that I wasn't the same person who arrived clueless. I'm still flawed, still imperfect, still figuring things out. But I'm also more aware, more accepting of my humanity, more willing to rest in the knowledge that I am loved, not for what I do, but for who I am and whose I am.

The daily pressures are still there, the podcasts are still playing in the background, the traffic is still slowing me down. But now, I have a choice. I can jump back on and keep running, or I can step off, take a breath, and remember that my worth isn't determined by how fast I can run or how much I can accomplish.

DEI SUB NUMINE VIGET. Under God's protection, she flourishes. And so, perhaps, can I. Perhaps, can we all.

I'm not fully sure where I'm going next. But for once, that uncertainty doesn't fill me with anxiety. Instead, it feels like a possibility. Because now I know that wherever I go, whatever I do, I am enough. I am loved. I am protected.

And that, my friends, is a destination worth reaching.

As I pulled into my driveway, I saw my family through the window, going about their morning routine. I took a deep breath, feeling a mix of guilt for my abrupt departure and excitement to share my journey with them. I realized that my transformation wasn't just about me – it was about being present for them, about modeling a life of authenticity and grace.

With renewed purpose, I stepped out of the car and walked towards home, ready to begin anew. 

Ready to embrace the journey of becoming, not just doing. 

Ready to work from my true self, fully known and fully loved. 

Ready to take the next step in this heroic journey of life.

This essay above began with the trauma of difficult criticism and the feelings of betrayal that began a painful revealing of my heart.

I don’t claim to have it all figured out, but in addition to my journey to Princeton awhile back, I recently had an incredible breakthrough in a session led by Trevor Hightower. I thought I’d share a first draft of what I wrote after thinking through what living from my true identity looked like.

I hope this might resonate with some people as I begin this journey

Tim Sweetman:

I am a guide to true alignment.

I have experienced the weight of living out of sync with my true identity, rooted in a distorted sense of identity…

I have earned the strength to guide organizations and leaders seeking alignment and reconciliation in their relationships, cultures, or teams — using my gifts of diplomacy and my experience as an operational and visionary leader…

In order to create an environment where both I and those I serve can thrive and experience true alignment…

Also see the post here:

This Is Good

This is Good: The Hero's Journey

“The most important thing in your life is not what you do; it’s who you become. That’s what you will take into eternity.” ~ Dallas Willard…

Read more

3 years ago · 8 likes · 2 comments · Trevor Hightower

1. The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership: A New Paradigm for Sustainable Success

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This episode explores Howard Schultz's book Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul, detailing Starbucks' journey through the 2008 financial crisis and its subsequent transformation. The host analyzes Schultz's leadership philosophy, Starbucks' core values, and the challenges faced during this pivotal time.

Key Takeaways

• Schultz's leadership philosophy centers on balancing profit with social conscience

• Starbucks lost its way in 2007 due to rapid expansion and loss of focus on core operations

• The importance of maintaining brand authenticity and customer experience during growth

• Schultz's return as CEO in 2008 to lead the company's transformation

• The role of employee (partner) engagement in delivering exceptional customer experiences

• Implementing customer feedback systems like MyStarbucksIdea.com

• Balancing efficiency with maintaining the "romance" of the Starbucks experience

• The challenges of closing 600 stores and its impact on communities

• Applying lean methodologies to improve operations without compromising quality

Quotes

• "As a business leader, my quest has never been just about winning or making money. It has also been about building a great, enduring company, which has always meant trying to strike a balance between profit and social conscience." - Howard Schultz

• "No business can do well for its shareholders without first doing well by all the people its business touches." - Howard Schultz

• "Success is not sustainable if it's defined by how big you become." - Howard Schultz

• "Starbucks never set out to be cool. We set out to be relevant." - Howard Schultz

People Mentioned

• Howard Schultz (former CEO and Chairman of Starbucks)

• Jim Donald (former Starbucks CEO)

• Michael Dell (founder of Dell Technologies)

• Jim Senegal (co-founder and former CEO of Costco)

• Steve Jobs (mentioned briefly)

• Cliff Burrows (Starbucks leader)

• Daniel Henninger (Deputy Editor of the Wall Street Journal)

• Bono (U2 frontman, quoted on business ethics)

Books Mentioned

• Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz

Companies/Organizations Mentioned

• Starbucks

• Dell

• Costco

• McDonald's (as a competitor)

Concepts and Ideas Discussed

• Integrative thinking in leadership

• Brand authenticity and customer loyalty

• The "Third Place" concept in retail

• Balancing growth with maintaining company culture

• Crisis management in large corporations

• The importance of customer feedback in business transformation

• Lean methodologies in retail operations

• Corporate social responsibility

• The role of company culture in business success

Starbucks Initiatives Mentioned

• MyStarbucksIdea.com (customer feedback platform)

• Starbucks Rewards program

• Entertainment strategy (selling music and movies in stores)

• Pike Place Roast (as a product development example)

• Lean techniques implementation in stores

Episode Highlights

• [00:01:00] Introduction to Howard Schultz's book "Onward"

• [00:05:00] The "beverage of truth" and shutting down all stores for training

• [00:08:00] Signs of hubris and overextension into entertainment

• [00:15:00] The importance of emotional connection in Starbucks' value proposition

• [00:19:00] Implementation of MyStarbucksIdea.com

• [00:22:00] Balancing business transformation with preserving company culture

• [00:27:00] The critical role of store managers in Starbucks' success

• [00:29:00] Decision to close 600 stores and its impact

• [00:34:00] Howard Schultz's personal approach to competition and customer loyalty

• [00:36:00] Applying lean methodologies to improve store operations

On a crisp Seattle morning in 1981, Howard Schultz stepped into a small coffee shop in Pike Place Market. The rich aroma of freshly ground beans filled the air, and the rhythmic drum and grinding of espresso machines provided a comforting backdrop to the chatter of customers.

This wasn't just any coffee shop — this was Starbucks.

Little did he know, Schultz was about to embark on a journey that would transform not just his life, but the way millions of people around the world experienced coffee.

As Schultz sipped his first cup of Starbucks coffee, he experienced what he would later describe as an "epiphany."

This wasn't just about the quality of the coffee. It was about the experience.

This sip of coffee brought a sense of community through the unique connection between the baristas and their customers.

In that moment, Schultz came face to face with the soul of what Starbucks could and would become.

Today, Starbucks has grown from that single storefront to a global behemoth with over 37,000 locations in 83 countries. It's a growth story that would make any business school professor proud.

But amidst this remarkable expansion, a crucial question looms: How do you scale care?

Growth is often the only measure of success. Many companies face a critical challenge: how do you maintain the very essence that makes you special in the first place – the soul of the company.

What is Soul?

It's important to understand what the soul of a brand really is.

Howard Schultz puts it beautifully:

"The soul of a brand is an intangible, but yet you know it when you see it, and so endearing when you feel and experience it."

This is the fundamental truth about what makes certain brands resonate so deeply with people. A brand with soul isn't just selling a product or service; it's offering an experience, a feeling, a sense of belonging.

Danny Meyer has called this “restoration” in the restaurant space — food and beverages renew and restore.

It's about creating something authentic that connects with people on a deeper level.

It’s likely why so many of these businesses describe themselves as being in the people business vs. the business in which they sell goods.

Howard Schultz believes that soul "doesn't emerge from the company's strategy or tactical execution. It's born out of love, of passion, and the responsibility of its leaders to simply do the right things."

You can't fake soul. You can't create it in a boardroom or through a clever marketing campaign. No one on Wall Street can pay for it.

It has to be genuine, and it has to permeate every aspect of your business.

The Starbucks Story

Starbucks' journey from a local coffee shop to a global brand is a masterclass in building a company with soul, at least for most of its history.

From the beginning, Schultz understood that Starbucks wasn't just selling coffee — it was selling experience. The idea of the "third place" – a space between home and work where people could gather and connect – was central to his vision.

This focus on experience extended to every aspect of the business. Starbucks invested heavily in its employees (or "partners" as they're called), offering benefits like health insurance and stock options even to part-time workers. They sourced high-quality beans and focused on crafting excellent drinks. They designed their stores to be welcoming spaces that encouraged lingering.

All of these elements combined to create a brand that resonated deeply with people.

As Schultz notes:

"We are a company of five plus decades of history and storytelling. From eleven stores and a hundred employees (not yet partners) in 1987, to thirty-seven thousand stores and five hundred thousand partners today."

The company's commitment to its values and its focus on creating a unique experience allowed it to scale care in a way that few other businesses have managed.

The Challenges of Scaling Care

However, Starbucks' journey hasn't been without its challenges. As the company grew, it faced what every scaling brand experiences: increasing pressure to prioritize efficiency and profitability over experience.

The introduction of drive-thrus, for example, while great for convenience, arguably detracted from the "third place" experience that was so central to Starbucks' identity.

More recently, the company has faced criticism for its handling of unionization efforts and for losing touch with its roots. The massive success of mobile ordering, while convenient for customers, has depersonalized the Starbucks experience.

This is the deeply difficult reality of scaling care.

As companies grow, they all face pressure to standardize and optimize, which can come at the cost of the personal touch that made them special in the first place.

It's a delicate balance, and even a company as focused on its values as Starbucks has struggled at times to get it right. When standards and optimization turn into depersonalization, something is wrong.

What Happens If You Don’t Scale Care

Charles Schwab launched his company with a powerful insurgent mission. As John Kador notes in his book Charles Schwab: How One Company Beat Wall Street and Reinvented the Brokerage Industry, "Chuck started the firm out of a deep sense of personal outrage that the brokerage industry systematically exploited its customers."

Schwab's mission was to bring financial services to the independent investor for the first time, offering the lowest rates in the industry.

Initially, this mission drove the company's growth and success. However, as Schwab expanded, it began to lose touch with its roots. The company created a complex bureaucracy with numerous customer segments, each with different offers and services. This complexity not only made the business harder to manage but also diluted the clear, customer-first mission that had originally defined the company.

The culture shifted from one of innovation and customer service to one focused on avoiding downside risk. As the authors of The Founder's Mentality observe, "People became more concerned with keeping their job than with doing it right."

The ability to grow always comes back to what's happening inside the company.

The problems that inhibit a company's ability to adapt, to decide and act quickly, to embrace new ideas, to keep costs down, or to scale its ability to serve customers are most often internal.

There are common symptoms of companies that are losing their soul as they grow:

1. Losing touch with customers

2. Becoming too bureaucratic

3. Increasing complexity in all aspects of the business

4. Employee fatigue and loss of purpose

5. Slow decision-making processes

6. Loss of clear direction beyond short-term financial targets

Some might argue this is inevitable as companies grow. I don’t agree. 

I believe there is a way to actually scale care — but the effort is often Herculean. It requires a founders mindset that is repulsed by the common trends of modern-day management that is driven solely by share price.

Learning from Setbacks

Starbucks' recent challenges provide valuable lessons in the importance of staying true to your core values. The company's disappointing earnings report in early 2024 led Schultz to write an open letter emphasizing the need to refocus on the company's soul.

In this letter, Schultz argues that Starbucks is at a crossroads, facing an opportunity for "a reset, for self-renewal and re-invention." He emphasizes the need to protect and preserve "the center" — the soul of the company and brand.

This ability to recognize when you've strayed from your core and to course-correct is crucial for any company looking to maintain its soul over the long term. 

As Schultz puts it: "There are no quick fixes. But the path forward should be what has guided the company over decades of financial success: Inspire your people, exceed the expectations of your customers, and let culture and servant leadership lead the way."

Costco, Chickens and Care

While Starbucks provides an excellent case study in the challenges and opportunities of scaling care, they're not the only company to have navigated this journey successfully.

Let’s consider my beloved Chick-fil-A.

Like Starbucks, Chick-fil-A built its brand around more than just its product (although this absolutely started with a great product).

Truett Cathy founded the company and was known for his commitment to customer service, often going above and beyond in ways that created loyal customers and viral stories of exceptional experiences.

Chick-fil-A has managed to maintain this focus on service even as it has grown to over 3,000 locations. The company invests heavily in training, emphasizing not just technical skills but also soft skills like courtesy and attentiveness. All while being closed on Sundays, a practice that might cost significant revenue, but reinforces the ultimate commitment to core values.

Unlike Starbucks, which owns most of its stores, Chick-fil-A relies on Owner/Operators who embody the spirit and leadership of the founder — people who keep operating on founder mode, so to speak.

It’s through this “secret sauce” that they have managed to instill their values and approach to service across this network, demonstrating that it's possible to scale care even in a more decentralized model. Scaling care through representatives who have a founders mindset are key for the long-term health and success of the brand — company owned, franchised, or anything in-between.

A final example of a company that has successfully scaled care is Costco.

Like Starbucks, Costco has grown into a retail giant, but with a very different business model. While Starbucks sells an everyday luxury, Costco focuses on providing value through bulk purchases. Yet, despite these differences, both companies have managed to maintain a strong sense of identity and purpose as they've grown.

Costco's soul is deeply rooted in its commitment to treating employees well and providing value to customers. The company is known for paying its workers above-average wages and providing excellent benefits, much like Starbucks' approach to its partners. This investment in employees translates into low turnover rates and high customer satisfaction, demonstrating that caring for your workforce can be a key driver of business success.

What's particularly interesting about Costco is how it has resisted the temptation to boost short-term profits at the expense of its core values.

For instance, Costco has maintained its famous $1.50 hot dog and soda combo despite inflation, seeing it as a symbol of their commitment to customer value.

Costco's co-founder and former CEO, Jim Sinegal, once famously told analysts who were pressuring him to raise prices: "If you raise the [price of the] effing hot dog, I will kill you." 

That’s the founder’s mindset on full display.

Costco has managed to scale its culture across a vast network of warehouses, much like how Starbucks has tried to maintain consistency across its thousands of stores. This shows that it's possible to create a strong, values-driven culture that can withstand the pressures of rapid expansion and scale.

Like Starbucks, Costco faces ongoing challenges in maintaining its soul as it grows.

The company's expansion into e-commerce, for instance, presents similar challenges to Starbucks' mobile ordering push — how do you maintain the essence of your brand experience in a digital format?

The Ongoing Challenge of Scaling Care

It’s clear that scaling care is an ongoing challenge. It's not something you solve once and then forget about – it requires constant attention and effort. The dangers of losing your soul lurk on every corner.

This is particularly true in today's fast-paced business environment. The pressure to grow quickly, to embrace new technologies, to optimize for efficiency – all of these can pull companies away from their core if they're not careful.

The rise of mobile ordering at both Starbucks and Chick-fil-A is a perfect example of this. While it's undoubtedly convenient for customers and has driven significant growth, it's also changed the nature of the dining experience in ways that the companies are still grappling with.

The key, it seems, is to approach growth and innovation always through the lens of your company's soul.

As you consider new initiatives or expansion opportunities, we must all ask: Does this align with our core values? Does it enhance or detract from the experience we want to provide our customers? Does it support or undermine the culture we're trying to build?

This doesn't mean never changing or evolving. Both Starbucks and Chick-fil-A have embraced new technologies and expanded into new markets. But they've done so in ways that (for the most part) reinforce rather than detract from their core identity.

The temptation would be to ignore any warning signs and believe that everything is “all good.”

Every successful brand needs to retain their founder's mentality in order to continue to thrive.

The Rewards of Maintaining a Company's Soul

While maintaining a company's soul as it grows is undoubtedly challenging, the rewards for doing so are significant. Companies that manage to scale care often enjoy stronger customer loyalty, more engaged employees, and a more resilient brand.

Despite its recent challenges, Starbucks remains one of the most recognized and respected brands in the world.

Its stumbles have been noteworthy precisely because people expect more from Starbucks. They've created a brand that people care about, one that's about more than just coffee.

Chick-fil-A's commitment to its values and focus on customer service has helped it become one of the most successful quick-service chains in the U.S., despite being closed one day a week and having fewer locations than many of its competitors.

These companies demonstrate that it's possible to be both big and soulful, to scale successfully without losing what makes you special. It requires constant effort and vigilance, but it's achievable.

Strategies for Preserving Soul During Growth

Based on Starbucks' experiences, both positive and negative, we can identify several key strategies to maintain their soul as they grow:

1. Maintain the Founder's Mentality: Even as companies grow, it's crucial to maintain the passion and purpose that drove the founders. This doesn't mean the founder needs to stay in charge forever, but rather that the company needs to stay connected to its original mission and values.

2. Invest in People and Culture: As Schultz often says, "At Starbucks, culture is the currency of the company and its internal operating system." Investing in employees, treating them well, and making them feel part of something bigger than themselves is crucial to maintaining a company's soul.

3. Focus on Customer Experience: Never lose sight of what made your brand special to customers in the first place. For Starbucks, this means maintaining the "third place" experience even as they expand into new channels like mobile ordering.

4. Stay Connected to the Front Lines: As Schultz advises, "Senior leaders—including board members—need to spend more time with those who wear the green apron." Leaders need to stay connected to the day-to-day realities of their business to ensure they're not losing touch with what matters.

5. Be Willing to Evolve While Staying True to Your Core: Companies need to be able to adapt to changing markets and customer needs, but this evolution should always be guided by the company's core values and purpose.

Conclusion

As we look to the future, the ability to scale care will likely become even more important.

In a world where products and services are increasingly commoditized, the experience a company provides – the feeling customers get when they interact with your brand – will be a key differentiator. Hospitality is going to be gold in this new landscape.

Companies that can maintain their soul as they grow will be better positioned to create these meaningful experiences. They'll be able to forge deeper connections with their customers, inspire greater loyalty from their employees, and ultimately build more sustainable, successful businesses.

The journey of Starbucks shows us both the possibilities and the pitfalls of this approach. It demonstrates that it's possible to build a global brand without losing your soul, but also that maintaining that soul requires constant effort and attention.

As Howard Schultz puts it:

"It's the integrity and standards of excellence of a company's values and culture that must stand the test of time, while recognizing its innate responsibility to all those (none more important than its people) who are relying on its well-being."

This, perhaps, is the ultimate lesson from Starbucks' journey: Building a company with soul isn't just about creating a nice place to work or a brand that people like. It's about recognizing the responsibility you have to your employees, your customers, and your communities.

It's about creating something that matters, something that makes a difference in people's lives.

As leaders and entrepreneurs, we would do well to keep this lesson in mind. 

Growth is important, but not at the cost of your company's soul. By focusing on scaling care alongside scaling operations, we can build businesses that not only succeed financially but also make a positive impact on the world. 

And in doing so, we might just create something truly enduring – a brand with soul that stands the test of time.

References:

• Acquired Podcast Interview with Howard Shultz, 2024

• Schultz, Howard. "Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time." Hyperion, 1997.

• Meyer, Danny. "Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business." HarperCollins, 2006.

• Schultz, Howard. Open letter to Starbucks leadership, February 2024.

• Kador, John. "Charles Schwab: How One Company Beat Wall Street and Reinvented the Brokerage Industry." Wiley, 2002.

• Zook, Chris and Allen, James. "The Founder's Mentality: How to Overcome the Predictable Crises of Growth." Harvard Business Review Press, 2016.

• Starbucks Corporation. Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2023.

• Cathy, S. Truett. "Eat Mor Chikin: Inspire More People." Looking Glass Books, 2002.

• Sinegal, Jim. Quote from 2018 Mental Floss article, "Why Costco's $1.50 Hot Dog Combo Has Cost $1.50 for Decades."

• Starbucks Corporation. Press Release on Mobile Order & Pay feature, September 2015.

• Schultz, Howard. "From the Ground Up: A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America." Random House, 2019.

Thank you to for his feedback on this piece. Go follow him!

Key Takeaways:

1. The Importance of Tension for Personal Growth and Meaning: Frankl argues that a certain degree of tension is essential for mental health and personal development. He suggests that what humans truly need is not a tensionless state, but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal or a freely chosen task. This tension between what one has already achieved and what one still ought to accomplish is the driving force behind self-actualization and the discovery of meaning in life.

2. The Paradox of Happiness: One of the central ideas in Frankl's work is the paradox of happiness. He maintains that directly pursuing happiness can lead to frustration and disappointment. Instead, he suggests that happiness is a byproduct of accepting uncertainty and tension in life, and focusing on finding meaning and purpose. By dedicating oneself to a cause greater than oneself or loving another person, one can experience a profound sense of fulfillment and happiness.

3. Three Ways to Find Meaning in Life: Frankl identifies three primary ways in which individuals can discover meaning in their lives:

   1. Creating a work or doing a deed: Engaging in creative pursuits or accomplishing tasks that contribute to the world around us.

   2. Experiencing something or encountering someone: Finding meaning through the appreciation of beauty, art, nature, or forming deep connections with others through love and relationships.

   3. The attitude taken towards unavoidable suffering: When faced with unavoidable suffering, individuals have the opportunity to find meaning by choosing their response and maintaining a courageous and dignified attitude in the face of adversity.

4. The Power of Choice and Human Dignity: A central theme in Frankl's work is the importance of recognizing and exercising our freedom to choose, even in the most dire circumstances. He argues that the ability to choose one's attitude and response to any given situation is what sets humans apart and allows us to maintain our dignity and find meaning, even in the darkest of times. Frankl emphasizes that while we may not always have control over our circumstances, we always have the freedom to choose how we respond to them.

5. Tragic Optimism: Finding Hope in the Face of Pain, Guilt, and Death Frankl introduces the concept of tragic optimism, which is the ability to remain hopeful and find meaning despite the presence of what he calls the "tragic triad": pain, guilt, and death. He suggests that by embracing tragic optimism, individuals can transcend their suffering and find purpose and significance in their lives, even when confronted with the most challenging and painful experiences.

Notable Quotes:

• "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." (p. 66)

• "Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'." (p. 76)

• "The salvation of man is through love and in love." (p. 37)

• "Suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning." (p. 113)

• "The meaning of life is to be discovered in the world rather than within man or his own psyche." (p. 115)

• "Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become the next moment. By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant." (p. 131)

• "Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose." (p. 104)

• "In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice." (p. 113)

• "The point is not what we expect from life, but rather what life expects from us." (p. 77)

• "Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality." (p. 111)

Logotherapy and Paradoxical Intention: Frankl's experiences in the concentration camps led him to develop logotherapy, a form of existential analysis that focuses on the search for meaning as the primary motivational force in human life. Logotherapy emphasizes the importance of helping individuals identify and pursue their unique purpose, even in the face of suffering and adversity.

One of the key techniques used in logotherapy is paradoxical intention, which involves encouraging individuals to embrace and even exaggerate their fears or anxieties. By doing so, patients can break free from the cycle of anticipatory anxiety and self-fulfilling prophecies. Frankl provides examples of how paradoxical intention can be used to treat conditions such as insomnia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias.

Frankl's Legacy and Influence: "Man's Search for Meaning" has had a profound impact on the fields of psychology, psychotherapy, and personal development. Frankl's insights into the human condition, the importance of meaning, and the resilience of the human spirit have inspired countless individuals to find purpose and hope in the face of adversity.

Frankl's work has been widely recognized and celebrated, with "Man's Search for Meaning" having sold over 16 million copies worldwide and being translated into more than 50 languages. The Viktor Frankl Institute, founded in Vienna, Austria, continues to promote and advance Frankl's ideas and the practice of logotherapy.

Applying Frankl's Insights to Modern Life: While Frankl's experiences in the concentration camps may seem far removed from the challenges of modern life, his insights and wisdom remain highly relevant and applicable. In an age of increasing automation, technology, and potential for existential vacuum, Frankl's emphasis on the importance of finding meaning and purpose is more important than ever.

Individuals can apply Frankl's ideas to their own lives by:

1. Identifying and pursuing personal values and goals that align with their unique sense of purpose.

2. Embracing challenges and viewing them as opportunities for growth and meaning.

3. Cultivating a sense of responsibility and commitment to something greater than oneself.

4. Practicing self-awareness and exercising the freedom to choose one's attitude and response to life's circumstances.

5. Seeking out experiences that promote personal growth, connection, and the discovery of meaning, such as engaging in creative pursuits, fostering meaningful relationships, and contributing to the well-being of others.

Conclusion

Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning offers a timeless and profound exploration of the human condition, the importance of finding purpose, and the resilience of the human spirit. Through his own experiences and the development of logotherapy, Frankl provides valuable insights and tools for individuals seeking to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, even in the face of adversity and suffering.

By embracing the key takeaways from Frankl's work, such as the importance of tension for personal growth, the paradox of happiness, the three ways to find meaning in life, the power of choice and human dignity, and the concept of tragic optimism, individuals can cultivate a deeper sense of purpose and navigate life's challenges with greater resilience and hope.

Resources Mentioned:

• Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl (Amazon link)

• The Will to Meaning: Foundations and Applications of Logotherapy by Viktor E. Frankl (Amazon link)

• Recollections: An Autobiography by Viktor E. Frankl (Amazon link)

• The Viktor Frankl Institute Vienna (Website)

• Viktor Frankl: A Life Worth Living by Anna S. Redsand (Amazon link)

• The Unheard Cry for Meaning: Psychotherapy and Humanism by Viktor E. Frankl (Amazon link)

Additional Resources:

1. Yes to Life: In Spite of Everything by Viktor E. Frankl (Amazon link)

2. The Doctor and the Soul: From Psychotherapy to Logotherapy by Viktor E. Frankl (Amazon link)

3. Prisoners of Our Thoughts: Viktor Frankl's Principles for Discovering Meaning in Life and Work by Alex Pattakos and Elaine Dundon (Amazon link)

4. Viktor Frankl's Search for Meaning: An Emblematic 20th-Century Life by Timothy Pytell (Amazon link)

5. Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Finally, Really Grow Up by James Hollis (Amazon link)

6. The Power of Meaning: Crafting a Life That Matters by Emily Esfahani Smith (Amazon link)

7. The Pursuit of Meaning: Viktor Frankl, Logotherapy, and Life by Joseph B. Fabry (Amazon link)

What is a Mental Model?

Perhaps best described on Farnam Street, a mental model is “a compression of how something works. Any idea, belief, or concept can be distilled down. Like a map, mental models reveal key information while ignoring irrelevant details. Models concentrate the world into understandable and useable chunks.”

Nine Tension Mental Models

In today's complex world, we're bombarded with challenges that demand innovative solutions. It's easy to get caught up in quick fixes, but what if there was a better way?

Enter mental models: below is a toolkit to approach problems more effectively, whether you're a business leader or just looking to make better personal decisions.

In this guide, we'll explore nine powerful mental models that resonate deeply and help us navigate complexity, embrace multiple perspectives, generate creative solutions, and create value.

Integrative Thinking

Developed by Roger Martin, Integrative Thinking is a problem-solving approach that seeks to find a "third way" by synthesizing the best elements of opposing ideas.

As Martin explains, "Integrative thinking is the ability to constructively face the tensions of opposing models, and instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generating a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new model that contains elements of the individual models, but is superior to each."

To apply this model, try the following steps:

• Identify the opposing ideas or models at play in your problem.

• Examine the strengths and weaknesses of each model.

• Look for ways to combine the best elements of each model into a new, superior solution.

Both/And Thinking

Championed by Wendy Smith, Both/And Thinking involves embracing the coexistence of opposing ideas, rather than framing decisions as either/or choices.

As Smith states, "Both/and thinking is a way of approaching paradox that shifts our mindset from seeing tensions as dilemmas that demand trade-offs to seeing tensions as opportunities for creativity and innovation."

To apply Both/And Thinking:

• Identify the seemingly contradictory elements in your situation.

• Consider how these elements might be interconnected or interdependent.

• Look for ways to leverage the tension between these elements to generate creative solutions.

Negative Capability

Coined by the poet John Keats, Negative Capability refers to the ability to embrace uncertainty, mystery, and doubt without the need for immediate resolution.

In a letter to his brothers, Keats wrote, "I mean Negative Capability, that is, when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason."

To cultivate Negative Capability:

• Practice sitting with uncertainty and ambiguity, resisting the urge to rush to conclusions.

• Embrace the complexity of your situation, and be open to exploring multiple possibilities.

• Trust in your ability to navigate through the unknown and generate creative solutions.

Dialectical Thinking

Rooted in the philosophy of Hegel and Marx, Dialectical Thinking involves examining opposing ideas or arguments and finding a resolution or synthesis that incorporates elements of both.

As Hegel wrote, "The true is the whole. But the whole is nothing other than the essence consummating itself through its development."

To apply this model:

• Identify the thesis (the initial idea or argument) and the antithesis (the opposing idea or argument).

• Engage in a dialogue between these two perspectives, looking for areas of common ground or synthesis.

• Generate a new idea or solution that incorporates elements of both the thesis and antithesis.

Paradoxical Thinking

Paradoxical Thinking involves accepting and even embracing seemingly contradictory ideas or situations.

As Charles Handy, a proponent of this model, states, "The way to cope with paradox is not to try to resolve it, but to manage it, to live with it, to make it work for you."

To apply Paradoxical Thinking:

• Identify the paradoxes or contradictions in your situation.

• Accept that these paradoxes may not have a simple resolution.

• Look for ways to work with and even leverage these paradoxes to generate innovative solutions.

Design Thinking

Design Thinking is a human-centered approach to problem-solving that emphasizes empathy, experimentation, and iteration.

As Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, explains, "Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer's toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success."

To apply Design Thinking:

• Empathize with the people affected by your problem, seeking to understand their needs and perspectives.

• Define the problem clearly, based on the insights gained through empathy.

• Ideate potential solutions, generating a wide range of ideas without judgment.

• Prototype and test your ideas, iterating based on feedback and learnings.

Systems Thinking

Systems Thinking is a holistic approach that involves understanding the interconnections and relationships between elements within a complex system.

As Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline, states, "Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static snapshots."

To apply Systems Thinking:

• Map out the elements and relationships within your system, looking for patterns and interconnections.

• Identify feedback loops that may be reinforcing or balancing the system's behavior.

• Look for leverage points where small changes can have significant impacts on the system as a whole.

Divergent Thinking

Divergent Thinking is a creative problem-solving approach that involves generating multiple ideas or solutions to a given problem, often by exploring unconventional or seemingly unrelated paths.

As J.P. Guilford, a pioneer in the study of creativity, notes, "In divergent thinking, the individual generates ideas beyond the usual responses, searching for new, original, unusual possibilities."

To apply Divergent Thinking:

• Clearly define the problem you're trying to solve.

• Generate a wide range of ideas, without judging or filtering them.

• Explore unconventional or seemingly unrelated paths, looking for insights or inspiration.

• Evaluate and select the most promising ideas to develop further.

Growth Mindset

Developed by Carol Dweck, the Growth Mindset model emphasizes the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work.

As Dweck explains, "In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment."

To cultivate a Growth Mindset:

• Embrace challenges as opportunities for learning and growth.

• Persist in the face of setbacks, seeing failures as opportunities to learn and improve.

• Seek out and learn from constructive criticism and feedback.

• Find inspiration in the success of others, and believe in your own potential for growth.

By incorporating these nine mental models into your problem-solving toolkit, you'll be better equipped to navigate the complexities of modern life and work.

But let's be real — these models aren't some magic formula for success. They're tools, and like any tool, they're only as effective as the person wielding them.

That's where you come in. It's not about just memorizing these models and applying them blindly. It's about making them your own, adapting and refining them to suit your unique context and challenges.

And here's the thing - the most creative and effective solutions often come from combining and integrating multiple approaches. It's not about finding the one "right" answer, but about exploring the possibilities that emerge when we embrace complexity and ambiguity.

So, as you explore and apply these models, remember that the power lies not in the models themselves, but in your ability to use them to expand your thinking, challenge your assumptions, and open up new possibilities for creative problem-solving.

It's not going to be easy. It's going to require hard work, experimentation, and a willingness to step outside your comfort zone. But that's where the magic happens.

So go forth, experiment with these models, and see what creative solutions you can generate.

Embrace the complexity, the ambiguity, and the multiple perspectives. And most importantly, remember that the ultimate goal is not just to solve problems, but to create new opportunities for growth and transformation.

Are you ready to take on that challenge? Let's do this.

At Leadership Consultancy, Jodie coaches Operators, senior leaders and their teams on setting and achieving goals, building trust, managing conflict, owning roles in the restaurant, and developing and leveraging emotional intelligence. She conducts Operator consultations, helping them identify areas of focus and creating individual and team focused development plans. She is also a contributing writer for The Operator Pathway, Leadership Consultancy’s guidebook for Operators developing deliverables for their business framework, talent cycle, and systems and processes in the restaurant. Using one of her main strengths of developer, she cultivates growth in individuals and teams as they become the best they can be.

Jodie holds a bachelor’s degree in counseling from Moody Bible Institute. She spent four years as a senior leader at Chick-fil-A™ Citrus Plaza in Redlands, CA. As an executive leader specialist, she supervised all aspects of the talent cycle, including recruiting, hiring, labor allocations and scheduling, disciplinary conversations, and leadership development. 

She also managed receipts, accounts receivable, accounts payable, and incremental profit opportunity in a restaurant grossing 10 million in sales and experiencing consistent 18%+ growth year-over-year. Jodie's clients use CliftonStrengths®, the Enneagram, The Leadership Challenge®, EQi® 2.0 and other models to discover deeper insights and opportunities for growth.

Connect with Jodie Hylkema: 

LinkedIn | Leadership Consultancy 

Selected Links From The Episode

• Mitch Rales: Are You Investing Podcast

• Steve Harvey: You Gotta Jump To Be Successful

Recommended Books:

• Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great by Jim Collins

• The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner 

• Chasing Failure: How Falling Short Sets You Up for Success by Ryan Leak

• The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick) by Seth Godin

• Leveling Up: 12 Questions to Elevate Your Personal and Professional Development by Ryan Leak

• Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry

• No One Understands You and What to Do About It by Heidi Grant Halvorson

• Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown

• David Gibson Book Collection

Quotes From The Interview

• “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable because truly that is where the beauty of growth takes place. That is where we start to grow when we’re willing to say you know what this is a really really hard for me to say this person is probably not going to be happy with me when I hold them accountable but I think what a disservice we do to someone else to not address it and not give them the opportunity for their own growth.” - Jodie Hylkema

• “The best leaders chase failures meaning they chase opportunities to learn.” - Jodie Hylkema

People Mentioned

• Jim Collins

• Mitch Rales

• Kobe Bryant

Show Notes

• [00:00:00] Introduction to Jodie Hylkema

• [00:03:50] Going from Chick-fil-A to coaching

• [00:07:55] What sets Chick-fil-A apart from other brands and makes them successful

• [00:10:12] Why aren’t other brands adopting Chick-fil-A’s vision

• [00:13:14] Lessons leaders could apply and emphasis on core values

• [00:19:27] Hardest part of leadership is clarity

• [00:22:39] Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable

• [00:27:00] Craving tension and leaning into the difficulty

• [00:34:07] Embracing the “and” as leaders

• [00:40:30] Examples of tension and ambition

• [00:45:00] The challenge of making small changes and the output leads to success

• [00:46:44] How the best leaders react to failure

• [00:52:00] Failing and failing forward

• [00:54:45] Finding balance between comfort and tension

• [00:58:00] Helpful resources