Leadership Spotlight is a way to see how other godly men and women are striving to put Christ at the center of their business, what scripture Christ has etched into their heart, and how they stay focused on what really matters.
- Name & Title: Alex McLaughlin | Owner/Operator
- Business: Chick-fil-A Franchise Owner
- Industry: Restaurant
- Website: http://www.chick-fil-a.com
Question: What advice would you give a new Christian entrepreneur?
At risk of oversimplification, my advice would be to keep Jesus’ call in Matthew 22:37-39, which commands us to love the Lord with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. In order to explain how a Christian entrepreneur can apply this principle to themselves, allow me to expound more below:
Loving the Lord
Putting God first on your schedule. Yes, there will be crises that need attending to, but every issue is not a crisis. Keeping your strong, steady Heavenly Father first in your schedule will keep you grounded in God’s values, God’s wisdom, and your leadership will flow from this foundation. There is no better example of an enabler of great leadership than our Lord. Staying in constant daily devotionals in the word and prayer and contributing to fellowship in a strong church body will take intentionality and scheduling as your business grows. Build this habit early and trust that the Lord will lead you into His will. Loving the Lord also means thanking him in all circumstances, even when I may not feel good. I thank God as an act of trust that he is moving for my good.
Loving your neighbor
With our society seeming to be more divided by the day, I believe understanding the consciences and how to love those whose consciences differ is an important area to take time to learn. Learn what God says about conscience and people who differ from us in their views. Growing in this area has helped me immensely in being able to effectively lead people with different backgrounds, beliefs, and try my best to love them. Pray for humility and wisdom and seek out people and resources that can add to your knowledge on the conscience. One particularly helpful book that comes to mind is “Conscience” by Andrew David Naselli. One that my wife would recommend is “Bold Love” by Dr Dan Allender and Dr. Tremper Longman.
Question: What verse has influenced your business or leadership the most?
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
As the leader of a fast growing business, I am constantly faced with issues I simply do not have the wisdom to resolve. Whether I don’t have the wisdom because I have never been in this situation or am uncertain of what the future will be like, I need more wisdom! In addition, I am responsible for charting a future path that I am not always 100% certain is the best. In these moments, I have found great comfort and God has given great grace when I let go and give him the reins and seek His will. Many times, I will even pray for wisdom as I go into difficult or important conversations —sometimes I do not have fully formulated thoughts or ideas, but I trust Him to lead my conscience, words, and responses. He has always been faithful to make my paths straight in uncertainty or challenges in the business. These verses keep me grounded in these truths. I will add that these truths are not an excuse to be overly passive as a leader. As leaders we should be wisely moving forward, collecting information, listening to what the body of Christ is saying to us and making decisions in a timely manner. The parable of the three talents reminds me that we should steward what is given us by taking initiative and moving forward but Proverbs 3:5-6 helps me stay grounded in uncertain times.
Question: How do you keep God at the forefront of your business in the middle of so many distractions?
In my business, we believe how we treat each other as teammates and how we treat our customer is one of the best ways we can show God’s love. When you love someone for who they are and you desire to serve each other, this is a strong testimony to who God calls us to be. Systematically, I am intentional about sharing with all team members that this is a privately-owned business and we will respect everyone’s views and beliefs. I let them know that I will from time to time share my beliefs in company messaging. I also share that we are operating our business on the biblical values to love our neighbor as yourself and work with great stewardship of what has been given to us. However, no one’s beliefs (including my own) will not be pressured on anyone. We also begin each weekly Director meeting in prayer and anytime we have a large team gathering we open or conclude in prayer, praising God for all he has done for our business. We have also had optional worship times in the past before large team gatherings. Lastly, we have a prayer group chat that anyone can post a prayer request so we can pray for and support one another.
To conclude, none of what I have shared will be revolutionary to any Christian leaders who have walked with Christ for a time, but Proverbs 4:23 is a verse that can summarize God’s truth and wisdom that I am trying to share and live out by his power. When we guard our hearts and keep them focused on him, we will be led into his good Will and there is simply nothing greater or better for us than this. My prayer is to be an encouragement to a fellow brother or sister in Christ who may need it as I often need it from my fellow saints and from our Heavenly Father.
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