Frederick F. Reichheld, contributor to the Harvard Business Review and author of several books, defines The Loyalty Effect as "The full range of economic and human benefits that accrue to leaders who treat their customers, operators, and employees in a manner worthy of their loyalty."
Reichheld’s premise about loyalty might seem obvious at first. Of course loyalty is important for business success. But studies have shown that loyalty, in fact, is a concept many companies might be able to talk about, 
but can rarely develop in their customers and employees.
Truett Cathy, legendary founder of the wildly successful Chick-fil-A restaurant chain, has taken the development of loyalty to an art form. In fact, Chick-fil-A fosters so much loyalty among its customers and operators, that Reichheld wrote, "I can’t imagine a serious discussion of loyalty in business that does not reference the Cathy family and their accomplishments. Why? Because Chick-fil-A has succeeded by designing its entire business system around customer loyalty; because Truett Cathy recognizes that a company earns customers’ loyalty by consistently delivering superior value; because Chick-fil-A has created a degree of loyalty among its customers, employees, and restaurant franchise Operators that I had never imagined possible . . . ."
Cathy himself writes, "The more we can foster the feeling that we are a group of people working together, depending on each other, and not just bound by a franchise agreement, the more likely we are to be loyal to each other. In our case . . . the extra measure of trust has brought us the success we enjoy today."
Imagine that! A company whose "secret sauce," "crown jewels," or "proprietary advantage" is the way it treats people! Ideas like that almost sound, well, out of date. Can it really be that simple?
One of the most important things to understand in the world of leadership is that principles never change. There is no such thing as an "out-of-date" principle. Absolutes are never trendy. The longer I live, the more I am convinced of the truth of the saying, "Methods are many, principles are few, methods always change, but principles never do."
Loyalty as a business strategy sounds both obvious and out-of-date at the same time. I find that interesting. But what I have witnessed in my own life shows the wisdom of Cathy and Reichheld. Wherever loyalty has been earned and developed, great things happen. Wherever it is demanded or compelled, bad things happen.
Personally, I appreciate the people who have taken the time to earn my trust, make deposits in my life, and add value to me as an individual. They have earned my loyalty. I am also thankful for all the people in my life who have shown me loyalty. It is encouraging, but also comes with massive responsibility. I would never want to let them down!
As leaders, I think we would do well to duplicate the example of Truett Cathy and the culture he has built at Chick-fil-A. Whether our leadership is in the home, at work, in a business of our own, at church, or in our community, we should build loyalty in all that we do.
This brings up an interesting question for discussion: in what ways can we as leaders "build loyalty?" How, exactly, does that get accomplished? I look forward to your input!
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