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The need to grow from hands-on management to influential leadership is a challenge every franchisee must overcome on their way to becoming a successful multi-unit operator. Though the journey is different with no one-size-fits-all approach, there are well-trodden paths to making the transition from day-to-day management to strategic leadership. Successful multi-unit operators understand that the path to great leadership never ends.
We recently interviewed a number of operators who shared their secrets to making the transition from managing to leading. Here's some of what they had to say.
Kimberly Crowell is president of Kalo Restaurant Group, which operates 29 Jersey Mike's, with five stores in development in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.
Moving from the operational trees to the strategic forest with a robust support system is critical to making the transition to multi-unit leader.
"We probably invested a bit early in upper management by hiring a director of operations by our fifth store," says Kimberly Crowell, president of Kalo Restaurant Group, "but we felt it was essential that we had leadership in place to provide support and oversight for our continued growth."
She also recently hired an employee relations director to bolster management support at the store level. "We preach to our team all the time: 'Stay ready, so you don't have to get ready.'"