Issue No. 537 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting details the contrarian and unconventional leadership best practices at Hobby Lobby. Stunning, really. And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies), click here for over 500 book reviews, and click here for the table of contents to Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.
This “CLOSE COUNTS” billboard-sized reminder from David Green, Hobby Lobby’s Founder, is positioned in the warehouse hallway at the company’s campus. Read why “too many choices” will harm your business.
Hobby Lobby’s Leadership Manual
Really? So you’ve been preaching (bragging?) that you lead your company or organization with God-honoring principles? Sure you do. But what happens when you come face-to-face with a company that actually walks its talk? Yikes!
You will be shocked (shocked!) at the contrarian and convicting biblical standards that guide the leadership at Hobby Lobby. Caution! More must-reading ahead: Leadership Not by the Book: 12 Unconventional Principles to Drive Incredible Results, by David Green and Bill High.
I spotlight five books in Part 7, “Contrarian Thinkers,” in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books. Stop the presses! Here’s another must-read contrarian book—with 10 contrarian examples:
CONTRARIAN EXAMPLE #1: Deep Generosity, Not PR Giving. The more we read about the implosion of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange, the more we’re stunned. According to The Wall Street Journal, FTX employees “…thought that they were part of this idealistic enterprise because Sam Bankman-Fried was so associated with philanthropy and the movement called Effective Altruism." He pledged to give a percentage of the exchanges fee revenue to charity. (Some call that "PR giving.")
Contrast that with Hobby Lobby, now an $8 billion privately-owned company with 1,000 stores and 50,000 employees. They give 50 percent of their profits to nonprofit ministries. According to a 2021 internal report, Hobby Lobby has given to 364 ministries over 25 years. Yet…“The top seven of them have received 80 percent of our funding, which reflects our philosophy of going deep with a few rather than shallow with many.” (And… “We almost never give to a new or failing ministry.”)
CONTRARIAN EXAMPLE #2: Better, Not Best. David Green, CEO and founder, coaches his buyers to focus on “better” not “best.” Why this contrarian approach? “I tell our buyers that we want to be ‘the best at being better.’” That’s where 80 percent of the sales are. “If ‘good’ is the bottom and ‘best’ is the top, we’re in the middle at ‘better.” Note: Hobby Lobby stores have 12 departments, so the corporate office has 12 merchandise managers with about six buyers per team. Why? Each store carries about 100,000 items (30% is seasonal). Imagine!
CONTRARIAN EXAMPLE #3: Simplicity, Not Perfection. Talk about unconventional! This fascinating book by David Green and Bill High delivers a contrarian roadmap for leaders—with 12 principles in 12 short chapters. (Hmmm. Might make a great 2023 staff meeting resource: one principle a month.)
Green has known co-author Bill High, a former attorney, for about 20 years. High’s organization focuses on generosity and donor-advised funds and “consults with families to help them create thriving family legacies and to see lives changed by Jesus.” Read more here. He also emcees Hobby Lobby’s two-day seminars for CEOs and business leaders. High poignantly asks, “What would happen if generosity became less about transactions and more about transformation?”
In Chapter 11, “Choose Simplicity, Not Perfection,” Green explains how he pushes back on decision-making overload. Example: How many nativity sets should they ship to each store for Christmas? The traditional way: in painstaking detail, calculate each store’s numbers. But wait! “Multiply thirty thousand items by one thousand stores and you’ll see we’d saddle ourselves with thirty million decisions every year! No, thank you.” (Ditto their year-round inventory: 70 million decisions every year. “Again, no thanks.”)
So Green countered (no pun intended) with this. At their Oklahoma City campus, a warehouse hallway features a billboard-sized sign in bright white letters:
Too many choices are harmful to business.”
Green notes, “It’s the only sign in our entire complex with my name on it. I want this reminder front and center as all of us go about our workday.” (Brilliant!)
This chapter is must-read and it will help you streamline your leadership and management decision-making process. Every report need not have exact numbers. Close counts. Green’s own style is contrarian (and bare bones—no cell phone and no email!). He reminded me of the contrarian style of the former president of USC. (Read my review.) Green explains, “I operate this way because I want to run a thousand stores one time, not one store a thousand times. To accomplish this feat, I need to keep things simple.”
CONTRARIAN EXAMPLE #4: Stewards, Not Owners. Priceless! When David Green was interviewed by Stuart Varney on Fox Business, Nov. 14, Varney did a double take when he learned Hobby Lobby gave away 50 percent of its profits—and was also closed on Sundays! Plus, the company is controlled by a seven-member trust. Only family members that work at Hobby Lobby receive compensation (no trust fund babies)—and a special committee approves all family member promotions and annual salaries. Contrarian! Click here to view the Fox Business interview.
Watch Stuart Varney on Fox Business do a double take when David Green mentions that Hobby Lobby gives away 50 percent of their profits! Click here.
Why? Green discerned, after a few years of struggling, that God owns the company and “If God owns Hobby Lobby, then how do we operate differently than those who believe they own their business?” Read Chapter 3, “Give the True Owner the Vote,” to learn why “when you’re an owner, wealth can easily become a curse. When you’re a steward, wealth becomes a tool. When family members see themselves as stewards, they don’t feel entitled to wealth. Unlike owners, they know they must earn their income through their labor.” (For more on owner/stewards, read my review of The Steward Leader.)
CONTRARIAN EXAMPLE #5: This Book, Not That Book! While David Green does mention helpful books by Patrick Lencioni and Jim Collins—he’s not a big fan of what is taught at Harvard Business School or the often “conventional” thinking of Harvard Business Review—with one exception. HBR’s “How Winning Organizations Last 100 Years” piqued his interest because the principles align with Hobby Lobby’s vision to impact the next five generations. (Oh, my. I thought I was doing well just to influence my five grandchildren!)
The HBR article identified the principles of companies that lasted more than 100 years (“Centennials”). They had “three primary elements about both the core and the disruptive edge,” including: a stable purpose, a stable stewardship, and a stable openness. The disruptive edge side of Centennials featured: disruptive experts, disruptive nervousness, and disruptive accidents (their people mingle to share problems and explore opportunities). Would Green be satisfied with 100 years? No! His plan is for 150 years—thus impacting his great-great-great-great grandchildren. (Listen to the three-minute blurb on Libro.fm.)
Interestingly, Centennials “deliberately open themselves up to invite scrutiny and create pressure” and also “find great things to do and then share them with the world through books, articles and films.” (Memo to Disney's Iger and Chapek: read this HBR article for insights on succession!)
Important! In the book’s epilogue, “Leadership by the Book,” Green emphasizes the “uncommon business practices” adopted by Hobby Lobby and why “Not” is in the book’s title. “As you’ve learned by now, every one of the ingredients in our secret sauce comes straight out of the Bible. In addition, most of the pivotal moments in our history took place after I experienced some divine episode engineered by the Holy Spirit." Don’t skip the first chapter detailing Hobby Lobby’s early days when Green thought of himself as the “Einstein of business!” Once proud and cocky, he was humbled (Daniel 4:37) and burdened in debt. (The company has zero debt today and opens about 50 new stores every year.)
MORE CONTRARIAN, UNCONVENTIONAL WISDOM:
#6. “Stock, Say, Salary.” See the appendix for the unconventional approach to family wealth. No “…family member receives money from Hobby Lobby unless they work for Hobby Lobby.” (See who has the say and who owns the stock. Contrarian!)
#7. The Trio of Three Crucial Traits. “God says he looks with favor on those who are humble, who are contrite in spirit, and who tremble at God’s Word.” (These three keys to divine favor are from Isaiah 66:2.)
#8. “None of Our Competitors Do That!” Whew! In the must-read chapter, “Put Employees First, Not Money,” David Green outlines what that looks like. Hobby Lobby closes their stores at 8 p.m. They are closed on Sunday. Stores are open for just 66 hours per week. The minimum wage is $18.50 per hour. Plus…you won’t believe this: all salaried managerial employees (and their spouses) “have an opportunity to attend a first-class weekend retreat on marriage enrichment, most often a ‘Weekend to Remember’ event hosted by FamilyLife.” Hobby Lobby covers airfare, hotel, and all incidentals. “None of our competitors do that.”
#9. “Defer to Your People, Don’t Just Listen to Them!” Green writes, “Today we hear all the time, ‘Hire people smarter than you,’ which I consider excellent advice. But when I see how some of us lead, I want to ask, ‘If the people you hire are smarter than you, then why don’t you listen to them?’” Read why Green goes beyond listening…to deferring. (Excellent! And this reminds me of Dennis Bakke’s wisdom in Joy at Work and The Decision Maker.)
#10. Anointing Versus Calling. In addition to learning about Green’s wisdom on “The One Thing,” you’ll slam on the brakes—to think and pray about the difference between your purpose and your calling and God’s anointing. He writes, “An anointing is a special, God-given empowering that enables us to serve and honor the Lord in a unique way.” Consequently, Green is also the company’s senior vice president of marketing. I love that and I think more CEOs should align their special anointing from God with their job description. (See Chapter 9, “Remember Your One Thing, Not the Shiny Things.”)
Note: I quote Scott Rodin in an ECFA blog on this topic. Rodin writes, “I know of few Christian leaders today who were anointed before they were appointed.” Think about this!
There’s so much more: stunning answers to prayer, the Post-it Notes decision-making methodology for their giving, Hobby Lobby’s 2021 partnership with others to serve 1,800 Afghan refugees in Oklahoma—plus rules, exceptions to rules, and more. This is another must-read!
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Leadership Not by the Book: 12 Unconventional Principles to Drive Incredible Results, by David Green and Bill High. Listen on Libro (5 hours, 36 minutes). Note: Jim Seybert, who narrates this book, is also the author of The One Year Mini for Leaders. (Read my review.) And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.
YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:
1) Read the section in Chapter 11 on “Close Counts” and why investing time on exact numbers is often counter-productive. Balance this with the decision-making styles of the four social styles (Drivers, Analyticals, Amiables, and Expressives). Drivers believe “any decision is better than no decision.” Analyticals preach, “No decision is better than the wrong decision.” So…how do you honor God-given social styles, while helping your people learn versatility (a key component of social styles)? For more, see Book #51, How to Deal With Annoying People, in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.
2) What other books have you read by company founders/CEOs that relate to your current leadership position? (I’ve recently appreciated books by the founders of Texas Roadhouse, Trader Joe’s, and Chick-fil-A.) Contrast these leadership styles with the "NOT by the book" values at Hobby Lobby.
3) Read these recent WSJ articles about the failed bank, GloriFi, and Tyson's CFO, and then discuss this question: Why does Hobby Lobby invest in marriage enrichment retreats for their store managers?
Mastering 100 Must-Read Books - Part 2: Books-of-the-Year
Book #8 of 100:
Call Sign Chaos
For your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by spotlighting Book #8 in Mastering 100 Must-Read Books.
Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead
by Jim Mattis and Bing West
Books #6 through #21 spotlight 16 books that I named the Book-of-the-Year from 2006 to 2020. Book #8 pairs perfectly with Leadership Not by the Book (see above).
• Read my review.
• Order from Amazon: Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead
• Download the 100 Must-Read Books list (from John and Jason Pearson)
General Mattis, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, writes: “If you haven’t read hundreds of books, learning from others who went before you, you are functionally illiterate—you can’t coach and you can’t lead.”
Too busy to read? General Mattis writes that the Commandant of the Marine Corps maintains a list of required reading for every rank. “All Marines read a common set; in addition, sergeants read some books, and colonels read others. Even generals are assigned a new set of books that they must consume. At no rank is a Marine excused from studying.”
And I appreciated his humorous humility: “Memo to young officers: I can appear brilliant if I fight enemy leaders dumber than a bucket of rocks.” (I like the bucket reference!)
BLIND SPOT! If…I were a pastor, I would put my current sermon series on pause. Then I’d use my Bible and this hot-off-the-press book from Gallup—with 20 thought-provoking chapters. Read Blind Spot: The Global Rise of Unhappiness and How Leaders Missed It. Read more on the Pails in Comparison blog.
PEARPOD | TELLING YOUR STORY. What level of communications and marketing do you need: Good, Better, or Best? (Hobby Lobby focuses on “Better.”) You’ll save time and resources when you can accurately define your customer or donor niche. Need help? Contact Jason Pearson at Pearpod (Design, Digital, Marketing, Social).
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