Jesus modelled that NOBODY changes the world alone. Why do we forget that?

Every church, charity and ministry begins with a vision. But vision only becomes reality through people who trust one another, know why their work matters, take ownership, keep learning and serve together. If the team is healthy, the mission can flourish. If the team is fragile, even the clearest vision will struggle to travel.

That is why LAUNCH is bringing a team of speakers from Chick-fil-A in the United States to Ivy Church Manchester on Tuesday 8 September 2026. It is a rare opportunity to learn directly from leaders shaped by one of the world’s most respected service cultures – and to translate those lessons into the very different world of churches, charities and ministry teams.

When Chick-fil-A leaders last visited us in Manchester in 2022, we learned far more than customer service techniques. Their teaching helped us think more deeply about culture, people development and the kind of servant leadership that can transform an organisation from the inside out. Those insights informed our leadership more broadly and helped us as we developed the community-minded hospitality of Ivy Café at Ladybridge Connect—a welcoming space created to connect people and strengthen community.

The best leaders are servant leaders

Chick-fil-A’s founder, Truett Cathy, famously insisted that the business should be about more than selling chicken: it should become part of customers’ lives and the communities it serves. Behind the operational excellence sits a bigger conviction – the organisation is in the people business.

That principle travels. Whatever our context, leadership is not primarily about position, platform or personal recognition. It is about taking responsibility for people and purpose. The best leaders use their influence to help others flourish. They do not make themselves the hero; they build strong people and strong teams who can carry the mission together.

In 2022, the visiting team of some of their top leaders gave us a memorable framework for doing that. I made a note of the five practices which spell SERVE— they offer a useful preview of the kind of practical, stretching learning leaders can expect if you join us in September (places are going fast!)

S.E.R.V.E.

1. See the future

High-performing teams need more than a list of tasks; they need a compelling picture of the future. Leaders must help people answer three questions: Where are we now? Where are we going? How will we get there?

Vision gives meaning to effort. But the most revealing leadership question may be: Who will get us there? A mission that depends on one gifted leader is not yet a movement. Servant leaders cast vision in a way that invites others to see it, own it and shape it.

2. Engage and develop others

Strong teams are built intentionally. That begins by selecting people with the right character, chemistry and competence. Character comes first: humility, drive and integrity cannot be treated as optional extras. Chemistry asks whether people can trust and work well with one another. Competence asks whether someone can do—and grow into—the work required.

Recruitment is only the beginning. Great leaders energise effort by showing people their value, giving genuine responsibility and creating opportunities to do meaningful work. They foster growth with clear expectations, coaching and practical development plans. A healthy team is a grace-filled environment, but grace is not the absence of growth; it is the atmosphere in which honest growth becomes possible.

3. Reinvent continually

What worked yesterday may not serve tomorrow’s mission. Yet familiar methods quickly become comfortable, and comfortable can quietly become untouchable.

Continual reinvention means developing our own skills, improving systems and asking whether our structures are flexible enough for the future. One of the most useful questions from that session was: “If we started with a blank slate, how would we do this?”

Healthy reinvention is not frantic novelty. It means making time to think, identifying priorities, setting tangible goals, monitoring progress and creating a stop–start–continue list. Crucially, leaders communicate through the process: explaining the need for change, building support, assigning responsibility and adjusting as they learn.

4. Value results and relationships

Most leaders lean naturally towards one side. Some are energised by goals, pace and getting things done. Others instinctively focus on people, belonging and wellbeing. High-performing teams need both.

Results without relationships eventually exhaust people. Relationships without results can leave the mission drifting. Servant leadership embraces the tension: setting clear expectations while demonstrating genuine care; listening well; celebrating wins; grieving losses; and helping every team member understand both what matters and why they matter.

5. Embody the values

Values do not shape culture because they appear on a wall. They shape culture when leaders embody them, teams talk about them and organisations use them to guide real decisions.

Chick-fil-A’s values—Here to Serve, Better Together, Purpose Driven and Pursue What’s Next – are short enough to remember and strong enough to influence behaviour.

Every leadership team should ask: What beliefs must drive the way we behave? Do our people know them? Do our systems reinforce them? And can they see those values in us? Culture is formed through repeated behaviour. If leaders do not live the values, nobody else will believe the values matter.

Bring your team—not just your notebook

The temptation with leadership development is to attend alone, fill a notebook, return inspired and then struggle to translate the learning for everyone else. This gathering (like our national event in Manchester this November) is an opportunity to change that. Bring the people with whom you lead. Listen together. Discuss what applies to your context. Identify the conversations and changes your team needs next. This way you build strong!

Whether you lead paid staff, volunteers, a church plant, a ministry department, a charity, business or a entrepreneurial community project, you will come away with practical ideas to strengthen collaboration, foster ownership, inspire excellence and unite people around a shared mission. Book now!

BUILDING HIGH-PERFORMANCE TEAMS Featuring a visiting team of leaders from Chick-fil-A Tuesday 8 September 2026 • 9.45am registration • 10am–1pm Ivy Church, 97 Barlow Moor Road, Didsbury, Manchester M20 2GP Suggested contribution: £10, with a free ticket option available BOOK YOUR PLACE