#65: Dee Ann Turner — The Secret Sauce of Chick-fil-A Culture

<p class="">Join the <strong><a href= "https://www.facebook.com/groups/142912974513374">Intentional Leader Lab Facebook</a></strong> group. </p> <p class="">Support our efforts to close the gap in leadership education by becoming a <a href= "https://www.patreon.com/calwalters"><strong>Patron</strong></a>!  </p> <p class=""><strong><a href="https://www.deeannturner.com/">Dee Ann Turner</a></strong> understands the importance of stewarding talent. </p> <p class="">A 33-year veteran of <a href= "https://www.chick-fil-a.com/"><strong>Chick-fil-A, Inc</strong></a>, she was selected as the company’s first female officer in 2001 and served as the Vice President, Talent and Vice President, Sustainability. During her long career, she worked closely with Chick-fil-A’s founder, <a href= "https://www.chick-fil-a.com/about/history"><strong>S. Truett Cathy</strong></a>, and other key leaders as an architect of their organizational culture. Additionally, she led Staff Learning and Development, Diversity and Inclusion, and Culture and Engagement, and Talent Management. More recently, Dee Ann launched and led Chick-fil-A’s sustainability function focusing on a strategy to implement sustainable practices at the then $10.5 billion company.</p> <p class="">Dee Ann was instrumental in building and growing Chick-fil-A’s well-known culture and talent systems, responsible for selecting thousands of Chick-fil-A franchisees and corporate staff members. Under her leadership, Chick-fil-A enjoyed industry-leading employee engagement scores and became known for selecting the best talent in the hospitality business, maintaining a 95% retention rate for corporate staff and franchisees. She has also mentored and championed hundreds of people to discover their unique vocational callings and build careers they love.</p> <p class="">Today, she leads her own organization, <a href= "https://www.deeannturner.com/"><strong>Dee Ann Turner & Associates, LLC</strong></a>, focused on writing books and speaking to audiences both virtually and in-person on h