Everyone's Potential

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to learn a great lesson in leadership at Gold'n Plump Chicken. Ron (the head Elder at Westwood) is a manager at Gold'n Plump. He took me on a tour of the plant and I was amazed at what he does for a living.

Ron is in charge of raising all the chickens that produce the fryers that we purchase at our local grocery stores. Ron's chickens are raised to lay the eggs that will eventually be used for us to consume. To put it bluntly, Ron's chickens live productive, active, and long lives.

To start out the tour, we walked through the thousands of eggs that were waiting to be put into their incubation chambers. He described the different coloring of the eggs (browner is healthier), how long the eggs are in the incubator (18 days), and the process that happens once the chicks are born.

After looking at the eggs, we drove out to a farm and walked through THOUSANDS of baby chicks. He told me that each of these little chicks will produce 150 fryers (remember, they are being raised to produce the food that we eat). Ron told me that each fryer is worth $2 to his business. Each little chick is work about $300. The barn was controlled (food, water, temperature, and lighting) and set to produce the best environment for healthy growth.

As we walked up to the second level, we saw 5 dead chicks. He sighed and told me that losing these chickens cost his company $1,500. He saw the little birds for more than what I could see on the surface. He saw lost potential. He saw value.

After we were done looking at the birds, Ron told me that he looks at people the same way he looks at his chickens. He said, "Everyone has the ability to be used by God in great ways. Everyone has been given amazing gifts and the leaders around them should maximize their potential. Empower, encourage, and fan their flames into greatness!"