Leadership Is a System
With Jarred Patterson, COO — New South Restaurant Group
Most restaurant owners think leadership is a personality trait.
Something you’re born with.
Something you either “have” or you don’t.
That belief is exactly why so many restaurants stay stuck.
In Episode 181 of The Restaurant Coach Podcast, I sit down with Jarred Patterson, COO of New South Restaurant Group, to break that myth wide open.
Because leadership isn’t luck.
It isn’t charisma.
And it definitely isn’t title-based.
Leadership is a system.
And when that system is built correctly, it changes everything.
From General Manager to COO — Built, Not Promoted
Jarred didn’t come into New South Restaurant Group as an executive.
He started as a General Manager at one location.
What changed wasn’t opportunity.
What changed was identity, structure, and execution.
Through the implementation of the TRC Method, Jarred didn’t just “move up.”
He grew into the role of enterprise leader.
This episode walks through how:
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Leadership standards were clarified and enforced
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Culture stopped being a slogan and became a daily operating system
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Accountability replaced chaos
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Managers were developed instead of babysat
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And how that shift produced the most profitable year in company history
Not by working harder.
But by building leaders who could think, decide, and execute without constant oversight.
Culture Isn’t a Vibe — It’s a Framework
One of the biggest takeaways from this conversation:
Culture doesn’t improve because you talk about it.
It improves because you design it.
Jarred shares how New South moved away from reactive management and into intentional leadership development, where:
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Expectations were clear
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Standards were non-negotiable
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Leaders were trained to lead people, not just run shifts
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And results were tracked, reviewed, and reinforced
When leadership became systemized, culture followed.
When culture aligned, profit followed.
Why Most Restaurants Never Make This Leap
Most operators stay trapped at the location level because:
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They confuse effort with effectiveness
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They promote based on tenure instead of capability
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They rely on “gut feel” instead of frameworks
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They never install leadership systems that scale
This episode exposes why those habits quietly cap growth—and what happens when you finally replace them with structure.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
In Episode 181, we break down:
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Why leadership is not a personality trait—but a repeatable system
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How Jarred transitioned from GM thinking to enterprise leadership
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The role the TRC Method played in transforming culture across multiple locations
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How leadership development directly drove record profitability
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What restaurant owners must stop doing if they want leaders who can actually lead
This Episode Is For You If…
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Your restaurant depends too heavily on you
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You have managers but not leaders
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Culture feels inconsistent or fragile
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Profitability improves only when you personally intervene
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You want to scale without losing your soul—or your sanity
Final Thoughts
If leadership were just talent, Jarred’s story wouldn’t be repeatable.
But it is.
Because leadership isn’t magic.
It’s method.
And when you build the system, the results take care of themselves.
Ready to Build Leadership That Runs Without You?
If this episode made one thing clear, it’s this:
You don’t need to work harder.
You need a system.
If you want to learn how you can deploy my TRC Method inside your restaurant—to build real leaders, engineer culture, and create predictable profit—
Go watch my FREE training at:
www.GrowMyRestaurantNOW.com
This is where you stop guessing and start building a restaurant that actually works for you, not because of you.
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