Leader Farming: Growing Leaders to Grow Your Business

Do you struggle to lead Millennials and Centennials while maintaining a healthy balance of results and relationships? Zach Thomas began his leadership journey as a chicken farmer, attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, served as an Army Ranger instructor, and a college pastor, but none of this adequately prepared him for the challenge of leading a team of 100 young adults when he became a Chick-fil-A franchisee in 2008. Instead, this Gen Xer found himself in over his head and unable to find the right leadership style to balance results and relationships. After he and his wife both survived near-death experiences, Zach began to develop a new leadership strategy that connected with his team. This strategy grew sales at Zach’s restaurant by 100%, maintained a turnover rate 38.7% lower than the Chick-fil-A chain-wide average (which is already one of the lowest in the industry), and enabled Zach to develop three franchisees who now lead their own restaurants. In this book, Zach joins forces with author and researcher Jared Stump-who just so happens to be a Millennial-to address the challenges of employee engagement, turnover, recruiting, and leadership development that many leaders face. Leader Farming is a proven approach that will give employers the edge they need to win the war for talent in a Millennial and Centennial-dominated workforce as they learn how to balance freedom and discipline, develop leaders, and build a sustainable business without burning themselves out.