Being accepted as a manager by your colleagues is one of the most important moments in anyone's career. Growing within a company is a goal shared by most of us. Organizations always need leaders: individuals who can emotionally shape individuals into a committed, goal-focused team. However, at some point, organizations also need generals: individuals who balance process and risk in order to maximize the organization's chances of success. It's refreshing to know that there is a company that cares about serving quality food quickly, that has compassion for people, that knows how to have fun, and that takes advantage of every opportunity to make a positive impact on the community. That company is Chick-fil-A, Inc. According to Chickfila.com, for more than 40 years Chick-fil-A has enjoyed serving customers and in that time Chick-fil-A has become one of the largest restaurant chains privately owned in the nation. (chickfila.com) Let's find out why Chick-Fil-A is so successful. In 1946, an enterprising young Georgia restaurateur named Truett Cathy began serving food at a small restaurant called Dwarf Grill in Hapeville, Georgia, south of downtown Atlanta. (chickfila.com) In 1963, he conceived what he thought was a simple idea: create and market a mouth-watering chicken sandwich. (chickfila.com) This simple idea has taken hold in economics. Truett opened his first Chick-fil-A restaurant at the Greenbriar Mall in Atlanta. That's where he served his perfect Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich, intentionally creating it with the highest quality ingredients, including whole chicken breast and low-fat peanut oil. From its modest beginnings in the small restaurant in South Atlanta more than 60 years ago, Chick-fil-A has grown... to the middle of the paper... the highest-selling days for restaurants, for time and family cult. (www.innovativesolutions.org)• Chick-fil-A has remained steadfastly privately held and has never had to issue stock to finance the creation of more than 1,000 restaurants in 37 states. It did this through internally generated cash flows and credit lines. (www.innovativesolutions.org)Chick-fil-A today remains a fast food restaurant rooted in the betterment of the community and its employees. Its leadership is to be commended for upholding the founding beliefs of such a phenomenal company. As Truett Cathy says, "Character traits are very important. Everything else can be learned." changeminds.org/disciplines/leadership/theories/burns_transformational.htm