The Demand

This week, you put a leadership development plan in place for at least one leader you promoted and then left to figure it out. If you keep treating leadership development as a one-time event at hiring, the undeveloped leader will not just underperform — they will cascade poor behavior down through every person on their cast, and you will see the cost in turnover and Guest Experience before it ever shows up on the P&L.

The Work

  1. Name one leader in your building who was promoted for being good at the job but has never received leadership-specific development since.
  2. Pair that leader this week with one of your exceptional leaders for a specific, named skill — not general shadowing. Have the exceptional leader teach one thing they have mastered in your building, under your conditions.
  3. Identify your next hourly leadership opening — shift lead, key holder, trainer — and use it as the bridge role instead of jumping someone straight from hourly to manager.
  4. Look inside your current cast for your next assistant manager, trainer, or floor lead before you look outside. Start the conversation with that person this week.
  5. Put a recurring cadence on this leader’s development — not annual, not ad hoc. Name the next date before you leave this week.

This week, you name one leader who has been undeveloped since promotion and start their development cadence before the week ends.