Rodney Bullard decided to go to college at the United States Air Force Academy because they had a solid football program. He set a goal to become an All-American, and when a knee injury ended his pursuit of playing on the gridiron, he went on to achieve All-American status in something else—mock trial. In a recent episode of Corporate Competitor Podcast, Bullard shared that while he learned many lessons about leadership at the academy, one stands out.

It took place amid all the noise and chaos of basic training at the Air Force Academy, when one of the upperclassmen approached Bullard and said, “Cadet Bullard, I do not have to yell at you because you are yelling at yourself on the inside. This is about correction.”

At that moment, Bullard realized, “I understood that he cared about me and my development. I knew when I got the opportunity to be an upperclassman, it was going to be important not to yell at someone or to push them, but to develop them. That shaped the way I would lead for the rest of my career.”

The shift in Bullard’s aspirations from football to mock trial paved the way for him to go to law school at Duke and on to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney and White House Fellow before moving into the corporate world. Today, he is the Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility for Chick-fil-A.

One of the mentors Bullard had as a young man, Dr. Gregory Ellison, related a pearl of wisdom to Bullard he has never forgotten and uses to this day with all whom he meets. “It’s called the ‘three feet analogy,’” said Bullard. “And it basically says that I may not be able to change the world, but I do know I can impact anybody within a three feet radius of me. We don't know what people are going through. And in this time of division in this country, we should think about our three feet and the impact you have on those with whom you interact.”

Whether or not he understood it as such, the upperclassman who reassured Bullard during basic training used his influence to make his three feet radius a better place for Bullard. And in his professional capacity as Chick-fil-A’s Vice President for Corporate Social Responsibility, Bullard has paid the gesture forward by employing a leadership style grounded in trust, grace, and dignity.

Here are some highlights:

• Champion authenticity: A senior executive at Chick-fil-A, Bullard believes that the best teammates are those who are not only competent but “can authentically and comfortably show up as themselves.” Authenticity not only unleashes the special talents unique to each individual, it will also expose their flaws. “Football taught me that we all fall down,” said Bullard. “Everybody will fall down. I will fall down. As a leader, I have to be filled with enough grace to forgive and to pick my teammate up again so we can continue the journey together.” 
• Build trust: To encourage authenticity, Bullard devotes himself to building trust with his team, which leads, in turn, to two of the greatest feelings a teammate can have: confidence and comfort. “To me, building a great team starts with trust,” Bullard said. “So many teams fail to develop that. They go towards activity and action without recognizing that beneath any action there is a person who has to achieve the action.” 
• Compete hard . . . in the right way: Whether it’s football, mock trial, litigation or building successful community partnerships, Bullard loves to compete. “In football, I did better after the first hit. After I was hit, and maybe knocked down, I was so much better. And in trial, after someone objected to me, it was the same thing,” Bullard explained. But competing hard is only good when the game is played fairly and with discipline, he added. “It’s okay to push yourself, but remember the goal of litigation and football is a fair trial and fair game. And the goal of business is to profit and serve your community.” 

Bullard offers a readily adaptable model for anybody who aspires to align their careers with their passion. “In my life, I followed football to the Air Force Academy,” noted Bullard, “Then I followed my passion for mock trial to law school. Then my passion for law, litigation, and giving back to people led to my current role at Chick-fil-A. 

“Follow your passions. But remember, the passion you follow today may not be the passion for tomorrow.”