The Army Was Tough, But Restaurants Made Her Cry — Lessons From The Drive-thru From A Former Kfc Exec

Monica Rothgery is simply a earthy leader. She has trained work soldiers, managed fast-food edifice teams, built world franchise locations, and wrote a book astir it each called Lessons from nan Drive-Thru: Real Life Wisdom for Frontline Leaders.

The activity recreation fueled her unsocial onslaught to edifice guidance and a ngo to uplift frontline leaders. Serving successful nan Army gave her important skills that nan erstwhile KFC Chief Operating Officer carries to this clip arsenic an writer and speaker.

"Getting trained by nan U.S. Army to spell an serviceman is immoderate of nan champion activity training location is," Rothgery said to Shawn Walchef, large of nan Restaurant Influencers podcast.

But erstwhile she transitioned from taxable activity to managing a fast-food restaurant, civilization daze group in. There was nary manual for starring group who had nary anterior maestro training.

She quickly learned that nan expectations group for soldiers, who received weeks of moreover nan astir basal training, didn't construe to nan world of edifice squad members. Many were starting their first jobs.

"When I told soldiers they had to do something, they had to do it. If I told a squad unit to do something, they could conscionable leave, and sometimes they did."

Related: 5 Founders Who Transformed Franchising — And nan Powerful Lessons Behind Their Success

The instruction she learned was that to lead efficaciously successful this caller environment, Rothgery needed to animate her squad connected a overmuch deeper level.

Caring astir these group arsenic individuals first, not conscionable squad members, was nan cardinal to getting them to attraction astir nan edifice and nan customers. This was a ample alteration from starring an work unit. To animate differently, she had to attraction differently.

Storytelling and a passion for nickname are astatine nan bosom of Rothgery's activity philosophy.

Her occupation soon gave her opportunities to proceedings these crossed cultures. When she moved to Southeast Asia to thief build KFC locations successful Thailand, she brought nan thought of utilizing stories to animate and unite. "Does appreciation transcend culture?" she asked.

The results amazed her: by focusing connected recognition, appreciation, and storytelling, she motivated her squad to outperform moreover their ain expectations. Language barriers and sensation differences didn't extremity them from becoming their best.

Despite nan successes, she still had a reliable roadworthy ahead. The conception civilization was truthful risk-averse. The portion to triumph made nan fearfulness of nonaccomplishment immobilizing. She recalled a peculiarly humbling infinitesimal erstwhile her squad successful Thailand was slow to clasp her strategies.

"I told nan team, 'I'm going to thatch whoever wants to learn,'" Rothgery said. Out of 8 successful nan original meeting, only 2 group showed up for activity training.

Over time, it worked. One of those successful that training became nan COO of a franchise group. "That was a win," Rothgery reflected.

Lessons from nan Drive-Thru

Rothgery's book, Lessons from nan Drive-Thru, takes readers down nan scenes of her journey. She shares nan hard-earned contented from her toughest days arsenic a frontline leader.

Written for edifice managers, her book distills activity down to its core: "This is each correction I ever made, each of nan bad shifts and precocious nights," she explained.

The book focuses connected nan stories from Rothgery's early occupation successful nan 1990s, peculiarly her clip arsenic a wide caput astatine Taco Bell.

"Being a edifice wide caput was nan hardest business I ever had, measurement harder than being successful nan army," Rothgery said. "I discontinue each clip successful my head, but I ever came backmost nan adjacent day."

Her stories are earthy and honest. She empathizes pinch edifice teams because she has been pinch them successful those trenches. She believes bully activity tin clip disconnected a bequest and alteration personification forever.

"I wrote this book for frontline leaders," Rothgery emphasized. "The ones who deliberation their business is conscionable moving nan adjacent shift. But they personification nan powerfulness to style lives—most importantly, nan lives of nan group they manage."

For Rothgery, nan existent heroes of nan edifice manufacture are those successful activity who woody pinch nan pressures of regular operations, customer satisfaction, and squad dynamics. "Your business is truthful overmuch bigger than you believe. You alteration lives," she said, urging edifice managers to spot nan immense worthy successful their roles.

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"You're not nan bottommost rung of nan nutrient concatenation successful careers. You're a coach, a teacher, a pillar successful your community."

As her book continues to scope overmuch readers, Rothgery remains connected a ngo to empower edifice teams and show their worthy successful nan industry. "My dream is to assistance them up and thief them admit their potential," she said. In her adjacent book, she plans to turn connected unlocking that imaginable from nan bottommost up.

"Frontline leaders are truthful often doing nan business of nan personification underneath them, but if we could get everyone doing their ain role, we unlock growth."

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