The Seven Stages of Multiunit Leadership Development

Multiunit leaders (MULs) have many different titles—Area Director, District Manager, Area Coach, and District Leader being the most common. But whatever their title, the job responsibilities are the same: above-store managers implement policy, develop teams, communicate goals, and align performance objectives across multiple markets. This critical leader helps generate millions of dollars in revenue, develops hundreds of future leaders, and juggles dozens of weekly priorities. They’re the vital link between the company brand and the customer experience. Yet most companies spend more time training and developing their cooks and servers than they do their multiunit leaders. It’s a mistaken belief that only leaders in crisis need direction and training; all leaders benefit from additional training and insight, especially our above-restaurant leaders. How much stronger would your people, performance, and profits be in 2025 if you could measurably improve your Area Managers' mindsets, skillsets, and effectiveness?

My name is Jim Sullivan. I’m the author of the bestselling book Multiunit Leadership: How to Build Successful Teams Across Multiple Markets (over 280,000 copies sold worldwide), and my clients include Walt Disney, Chipotle, McDonald’s, Texas Roadhouse, Starbucks, The Cheesecake Factory, Apple, Chick-fil-A, Domino’s, Marriott, and more.

Every year we interview hundreds of high-performing multiunit leaders and compile and categorize their best demonstrated practices. We’ve found that there are seven distinct stages and competencies of multiunit leadership growth:

• Brand Ambassador: This initial stage is rooted in credibility, integrity, and energy. A great Brand Ambassador knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.
  
  
• Talent Scout: This competency is focused on the ability to find, hire, and retain high-performing team members. Talent Scouts make hiring THE most important decision.
  
  
• Servant Leadership: “My customer is anyone who isn’t me.”
  
  
• Head Coach: The best multiunit leaders realize that they don’t fix problems but rather teach their managers and team members how to fix the problems. A Head Coach provides direction, strategic clarity, and effective communication. They don’t just tell their teams what to do; they teach their teams how to think.
  
  
• Marketing Guru: The best above-store leaders align corporate sales and marketing directives across all their stores and communicate why those directives are important weekly.
  
  
• Synergist: The Synergist stage is aligned to situational leadership: you identify the training and talent gaps in your marketplace and then apply the necessary skillsets, mindsets, and training resources necessary to consistently improve your people, performance, and profits.
  
  
• Goal-Getter: This final stage is all about first prioritizing your tasks and then executing (always in that order). It takes focus, discipline, and patience.
  
  

The multiunit leadership role is complex, nuanced, and ever-evolving. Study and master the best-demonstrated practices of high-performing multiunit leaders in our industry and share those strategies and tactics with your own above-restaurant leadership teams. To keep leading, keep learning. School is never out for the pro.

If you’re interested in learning more about a creative and effective e-learning program that will train, develop, and engage both your new and veteran multiunit leaders in these seven stages, check out Multi-U 2.0.