Monday, November 29, 2010

The One with Publix


Publix_WSIAP_Short

The other day as I was walking into Publix I noticed there was a nicely dressed man collecting shopping carts in the parking lot. I thought it was very interesting that this man wearing a nice dress shirt and a tie would be doing that as opposed to other stores that have specific employees designated to do this job. These employees usually make minimum wage and are viewed as being the bottom of the totem pole.

I didn’t think too much of this, but then when I had to talk to the customer service I looked glanced up at the pictures on the wall and saw the face of the individual I saw in the parking lot retrieving the carts. He was the store manager…not assistant manager….not department manager….THE store manager. The big kahuna, the head honcho, the main squeeze….okay you get the point.

Anyway, I love the Publix corporation because their leaders exemplify a servant leadership philosophy that is similar to how Jesus led the disciples. Jesus knelt before His disciples and washed their feet. This was commonly the job of someone that would be, like the cart pusher, at the bottom of the totem pole. It was a radical and mind-shattering act for Jesus to humble Himself before the disciples and wash their filthy and stinky feet.

We’re called to model this same behavior no matter what our position. “It’s not my job” is not to be a part of our vocabulary. No matter how high up on the corporate ladder we are or how many people we have under us…we’re to remember Christ calls us to serve them in our leadership.

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