Growth Happens In Adversity with Morgan Tucker

So I mean, if anything I have learned is when you know what's right, you stick to what's right. And you have the boldness to do what is right. Everything else falls into place. And not only does it fall into place, but it flourishes. All

Dr. Cliff Fisher: right tribe. Welcome to awaken greatness with Dr. Cliff Fisher. And Morgan Tucker brought to you by Dream leader Institute where we awaken your greatness and give you the tools to find and create your greatest self, and raise the consciousness of the planet. I'm really excited today, Morgan, I know we were just prepping for this. But growth happens in adversity. I think a lot of times, we're always wanting to avoid that adversity. And you started to shoot, I was thinking it was gonna be this other topic. And then all of a sudden, you're telling me what's going on in your restaurant? And you know, how you had the courage because you had some great team members who've been with you for north of a decade, right, like 510 years. And you know, they were great at one time to help get you where you're at and, but there was just like, a shift in them or in your guys's vision. And so I'd love to hear about this. Yeah,

so we we really had just over the last month, we've had our just a huge shift in the restaurant. And we, we terminated relationships with a lot of key leaders in the business and we went down from four executives to two and we went down from eight directors to three Wow. And the eight directors to three was over a span of about eight months so but we had some key ones leave just hear in the last we had we had three leave in the in this last month as well.

Dr. Cliff Fisher: What sparked it like Why Why the sudden change? Because obviously you've been with him for a long time. You're you have the pulse on your business, you're in there every day. What sparked like why all the sudden, why did they they want to leave? Or why did you need to terminate the relationship? What happened?

So it was a two fold for is actually a both and situation. And it sparked when we started reading the book multipliers. Such a great book. And it's hearted. It started with kind of examining, are we do we add value? Or do we diminish? And I was saying and just as I was reflecting a lot of myself. And as I was evaluating of evaluating a lot of key leaders, there were a lot of diminishing qualities. And so we had some really tough conversations in the roundtable. And some responded well, and others did, it

Dr. Cliff Fisher: sounded like two and three responded well, and seven did.

And, and we, I went off to our annual Chick fil A conference and got really inspired and really focused on who and what we were as a company, and as Chick fil A Byron. And I got very clear on the vision that I had to be the Chick fil A that everybody loves. And what that really truly meant for me and for my team and what standards those were. And I in a lot of those tough conversations, I knew that they were just wasn't going to be that way we could never be that way if some of these individuals were just still on the bus. And so it was extremely scary. The two the two leaders that the two executives that did stay with me there as we're about to bug out of their head when I told them and they were just like I don't know how we're going to do this. And I said I don't care how to do it. And I said if that means more hours if that mean whatever that looks like whatever this looks like we're it's got to happen.

And they said we fully support the decision. And there were a number they each their own had this their reasons for why they supported the decisions and believe it or not, it was more collective it but once those decisions were made And the tasks were severed. It was truly a completely different restaurant. And the the mood, the culture, the environment shifted over night. Wow. And it really hit home a lot for me about how long we had been struggling to hit goals, why we had been doing it. And it's, I had to just take a lot of personal responsibility that I had allowed my business to get to that point. And I had allowed it to hinge on some key individuals that did not, whether intentionally or unintentionally, didn't have the best interests of the business or the team in mind. And overall, like it changed overnight.

Dr. Cliff Fisher: One of my favorite quotes, my one of my mentors told me, it was like we have the exact business we deserve.

Oh. Like, oh, no, that is I can't tell you how true that is. And

it really has been a space for me to take back my business and to be the leader that I know that I am. And with a clear, precise vision of being the Chick fil A that everybody loves. I know how to model and exemplify that. And how to pull that out of other people. That's just one of my gifts. Yeah. And it has been monumental. So this happened a couple like six weeks ago, okay,

Dr. Cliff Fisher: so six weeks ago, so and I'm with you like, when people don't have a clear vision of where they're headed, they don't know what to do. And then when you have people muddling through, like know that they have their agenda, like when everybody's not on the same page, that business is never going to reach its goals. And I know like inside of DLA, we have several, several several exercises that will help create that.

And the crazy thing is we had done so many of those. And yet, we're not still hitting a lot of those things. And it was like it was great for us to talk about at the roundtable. But the execution part of it never came to fruition. And it's it was maddening for me, because I'm like I'm spending this time this energy, this money, investing with zero result.

Dr. Cliff Fisher: And push back, I remember you and I having conversations some of the most with some of the people we had conversations about that were pushing back like no, this isn't the thing. This is

what we do. This isn't how we do this. It's like it is.

Dr. Cliff Fisher: Man, so so well. That's awesome. Congratulations. And so you're telling me about some of the things that happen. So they have secret shoppers that come into the flesh. I don't know if I use the right terminology. But

yes, so in this in this six week period, we've had three, we'll call them evaluations. One is a visit that our very first one is a visit where a third party company comes in and they completely break down steps, products, the nuances of building the perfect product, the perfect service model, and things like things of that nature. We had been striving for five years to get a perfect score. We've been trying so hard and we've come you know, very beginning it was you know, 80s whatever. We got so close, and we've gotten so close and we would always land between that 97 And you know, 9497 range. First time in five years after we made this shift. We got to 100

Dr. Cliff Fisher: yeah, that's awesome. I was

I was truly an amazing a matter of fact, it was so sweet. One of our customers that is just absolutely precious. Her name is Miss Jo she is amazing. She made my team a cake and put 100 on our cake. I mean she went we were all so excited. Everybody was just absolutely thrilled. And so since then it really boosted confidence. We really talked a lot about, hey, this is where we're going. This is what we're focused on. And and so we're focusing on I attended and courteousness, we're focusing on getting quality products all the way right. And we're focusing focusing particularly on temperatures, we're in assembly, all of these things are so important to the business and being having those smiles and doing the right things. And I don't know if you've ever heard of the one of the Disney principles. But if there's there's one big thing where if a character and a child cross paths, and the child comes up to the character to initiate a hug, the character is not allowed to disengage from the child until the child is readyto disengage. Oh, wow.And this was such a phenom. Like it just I was like, light bulb.

Why are we would not win, do not do that with our business. If we're truly trying to make be the world's most caring company, and being the Chick fil A that everybody loves coming to, why would we shove a bag in their face? And turn around, flip around it and go back to our screen? Like how do we make this go from from transactional to personal. And so we adopted just very quickly, you do not disengage with a guest until the DS disengages with you. Wow.

So, last week, I just got to reports that we had had these mystery shops. And we used to do these once a quarter I think, Well, this year Chick fil A up to two we're doing 30. No. So we went from doing for a year to 30. So I was like, well, it's gonna be a lot more data. And so as we were going through and it said, We got to mystery shops. And when we and I'm like, oh boy, okay, well, this is going to be a telltale, let's just see. Because we have no idea who these people are, we have no idea when they're coming like zero framework. We don't know what de parks anything. So it is a true test. And out of sight, it was over 70 points in one and seven over 75 points in another one. We missed three things. And four things out of the entire evaluation. Two of them were out of our control was one was negative weight. And we actually got two points off for the team member, a brand new team member that was in the jacket, because her name tag was not on the outside of the jacket. And she had on a nonstick fly jacket. So three things like it had nothing to do where before, like the one before carry out was it was Nobody hit smiles or engagement or anything on any of our carry outs. It was just I mean, it felt like we bang in our head on this constant thing about how are we transactional versus relational in the business. And telling you Cliff since we made this shift, and we made this the priority and what we started modeling a lot of these things. It's almost like a non issue overnight, and we've gone up 14 points. February, in our customers are telling us it has been truly one of the most remarkable experiences. And so I mean, if anything I have learned is when you know what's right. You stick to what's right. And you have the boldness to do what is right. Everything else falls into place. And not only does it fall into place, but if flourishes.

Dr. Cliff Fisher: Yeah, man, that's incredible. So I think like, as far as like our topic goes, growth happens in adversity. I think a lot of times, it's super scary to let go people have been with you 510, eight years. I know like in my chiropractic offices, we'd have the same thing. We didn't, you know, have the same number of people, but you know, we'd have one or two team members or a doctor, we're like, man, what we would do if we lost that doctor. And every time like when that doctor leaves in the office grows, it's like, they're not happy. We weren't happy. Like, we just we were on the same track. And then we went on to different directions. It's not good or bad. But the leader of the company, it's like, no, this is our vision. This is where we're going. You need to follow your path and we sort of support you in that but we need to stay on our path. And so that's an incredible story.

Yeah, and matter of fact, it comes down to to this mostly like we love our people. Yeah, and sometimes in loving them is letting them go 100% And it's my one of my favorite little quotes by Marcus Buckingham is in his book Love and work as he goes through. He talks about, hey, some of the most loving conversations you have is, Hey, come here, sit down. Hey, I love you. You're fired. I still love you. Yeah, you know, you're Yeah, I put you, you know, you're in this role I put you in this role silly me your complex? I did, I missed it. Yeah, and, or something just shifts along the way. And, and there's burnout, there's, there's no shifts in what's going on in them personally, because we're all human. And we all are dealing with their own personal things in battle. And sometimes it bleeds into work, and in a way that is monumental. Ly, either great or devastating for the business and the people around you as a whole. And sometimes it just takes a leader being bold enough to say, Hey, I love you enough to let you go, do you? Yeah.

Dr. Cliff Fisher: And I, and I was, as I was processing that I'm like, from a business standpoint, this makes a lot of sense. But I think from a personal standpoint, you know, are there people in your lives that aren't helping you become the greatest version of yourself, that you need to let go of, or not hanging out with? Amen

to that, and we ever since we kind of, you know, I've adopted this mindset A while ago, have cut the things that that don't serve you. And, or bring you joy, or bring, you know, bring happiness, and if somebody is creating that much hurt chaos and turmoil in your life, even if they're related to you, that does not mean that you have to give them space in your life. 100%. And so I think that is spot on. And, you know, show me, your friends, and I'll show you you in five years, if you are not surrounding yourself with the right people that have the same core values, the same motivation in the same growth pattern, even if they're just exponentially small changes, or demons over a span of time. It's going to be huge.

Dr. Cliff Fisher: Yep. Yeah, so true. I always tell my dogs, like, if we're trying to go to LA, and we're leaving, you know, or we're trying to Yeah, if we're trying to go to LA, and we're leaving Charlotte, and we're five degrees off, we're gonna end up somewhere south and Mexico or somewhere north and Canada.

And maybe, maybe that's the friend that is complaining about work or complaining about their spouse, or you notice that they have one more drink, you know, at the bar, or the restaurant than normal, you know, or in is just how these little patterns adjust and change and how they can have a because then naturally is the way because we're social creatures. Yeah, having an extra drink with them just to sit and she's like, we, especially if we don't have those boundaries aligned and set of who we are in our core values, it is very easy to let those influences impacts you in a very negative way. And it's it can they seem so exponentially small. But over, you know, a two three year period, you won't even sometimes recognize yourself.

Dr. Cliff Fisher: Yeah. 100%. So I think, for me, like, you know, I think, with this and like, the lesson has to be taught over and over, it seems like sometimes, at least for me, is like when you know something's not right, in your business or in your life. Just take action. God has, you know, it's not an accident. You know, then just to move forward boldly, just like you were saying, Morgan, I think that's such a critical space. Now as a leader, especially if you're leading other people that there's a responsibility with that to the 100 other people that you're 120 other people that you're managing and leading.

Yes, absolutely. Without a doubt. I mean, my my first suggestion is, hey, if you've you know, something inherently is not right. You've got to get really clear on what's wrong on how and how to make it right before you can start impacting decisions for everybody else, because I will tell you the very first week my two executives and I both worked 60 hours.

That first week. We had to Well, one of our directors was sitting at about 55 hours. And we had a couple of team members that were doing that. And I just actually went into the office and I closed the door. And I said, I know what I did was right. But my team is suffering. And my team is feeling the impact of my of the choices that I made. They didn't make that choice. I made it, and they are directly affected by it, and their families are being directly affected by this. And man, that was a hard pill to swallow. It was a huge weight. But I know, in my heart of hearts, and I just pulled them into the office, and I got very vulnerable with them. And I said, y'all, I realize the choices that I made have impacted y'all. And they both looked at me and they said, Yeah, we're with you.

Yeah. Because we know what you did was right. We're all we're on this, we're on it, and we're in it. And to have the support of people like that in your life, especially that are and I value these two directors so much, they're, they're not old, they're not old by any name, but they're, they're older than I am. And they come from a lot of different experiences and backgrounds and the the weight of of what they mean for them to say those things to me. I mean, they just skyrocketed. I knew what we what we did was right. Even though we were feeling it, not only in our feet in our head. It they said, Yeah, but we're with you. Because we see it. And we got real clear. And man, that was that is the biggest advise make sure before you pull any triggers or making emotional decisions. You better know where you're going. Yeah.

Dr. Cliff Fisher: I think what, like when you were saying that I was thinking the hard easy versus easy hard, like the hard easy was like making those choices. And not that it's easy yet but it's getting there. It's getting there. Versus the easy hard right where it's just like man just just dragging these people along, dragging these people along. Like it's easy. You can you're not making that decision, but it's harder later.

Yes. And Darren Hardy talks a whole bunch and about his in his it's not as calm part of it, but in his Hero's Journey section about how important it is to when you have a bad apple. It needs to be you need to get rid of it immediately. Yep, if not your entire your entire organization's livelihood is dependent on it. And I really took that to heart because in my nature is more of a mom nature I'm like it's okay we can do in the night ends like No, no, no, we can't. Like the most bold thing that we can do is to let is unloving thing to do is to let someone go and it really is in that in that net verse spot where the growth even the team members have been everybody's happy. It's a brand new culture. Everybody's happy come into work. There's not one person that we're all like this person is going to be working on the ship today. It is none of that. I mean, we have team members that are literally skipping through the dough tell two team members just stop skipping the door I'm like stop skipping immediately. But I love it in the on the other side. Because it's there stare like this worker was just so we're so happy. We're so happy to be here and it's just like

Dr. Cliff Fisher: my heart. Yeah, great job, Morgan. All right, you guys. So whatever those tough decisions are you guys know it one or two probably popped up in your head and make that tough decision. Your life would be totally different. Do the hard, easy. Don't keep suffering and create a different culture for your life or your team's life. So, Morgan, any final closing thoughts? Be the person that you want to to follow?

Alright there you go. Have a great week. Try. We will see you guys next week. Thank you so much, Morgan. I really appreciate your thoughts and insights and congratulations on doing the hard easy.

Absolutely. Thank you Cliff