In 2025, the leadership and management stories that resonated most with ACF Chef's Table SmartBrief readers reflected what today's leaders care about most: sustainable growth, clear communication, resilient teams and a renewed focus on fundamentals. From executives outlining strategies to reignite expansion, to thought leaders challenging how busyness, hope and communication are perceived in the workplace, this year's most-read stories highlighted leadership as both a strategic discipline and a human one. Whether centered on franchise development, team culture or personal effectiveness, these pieces underscored a common theme -- strong leadership is built through intention, clarity and consistency, not quick fixes.

Here are the top five leadership and management news stories of 2025 in ACF Chef's Table SmartBrief.

Bobby Morena, the new chief development officer at Church's Chicken, discusses the brand's growth momentum and the strength of the chain's executive team. Key efforts will include analyzing franchisee health, testing a smaller footprint and igniting expansion in markets with the most potential. "It's really the domestic pipeline that was needed to be rebooted," Morena says. "And that's my mission."

If you find yourself frequently saying, "I'm so busy," you may be unintentionally undermining your credibility, writes leadership coach Scott Cochrane. Others can perceive you as disorganized, unclear on your goals, unable to build a team or trying to impress others with your busyness, Cochrane writes, adding that effective leaders manage to be productive without appearing frantic.

Hope is often confused with optimism or wishing for a specific outcome, but as Paula Davis, a stress management and work/life performance expert, writes, hope is an "active, cognitive process" that involves setting goals, identifying ways to achieve them and believing you can make that happen. You can instill hope in your teams by giving them clear roles and small goals to get quick wins and helping them master new challenges, Davis writes.

Ted's Montana Grill achieved record performance in 2025 with a back-to-basics strategy that emphasized elevating core operational elements. The brand introduced more than 14 key enhancements, including refining menu favorites, upgrading plateware and redesigning uniforms to reinforce a consistent and elevated guest experience. Leadership focused on returning to what set Ted's apart: delivering a fully scratch-made, hospitality-driven experience, and resisting the urge to chase fleeting food trends.

Poor communication with your team can affect employee trust, retention and engagement, writes clinical psychologist and author Monica Vermani, who offers seven steps to better communication, including the need for leaders to engage in two-way communication, adapt their style and invest in training. "When leaders share organizational goals and values, talk about opportunities on the horizon and share information about navigating organizational changes and challenges, they create a culture where employees feel valued and included," Vermani writes.

Join Grant Tipton, Chef and Operations Manager at the Polish Center of Wisconsin, on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, at 2 p.m. ET, for a webinar focused on one of Poland's most popular foods, pierogi. Chef Tipton will give attendees a brief overview of the history of dumplings and pierogi before moving on to a demonstration of Polish potato cheese pierogi. Chef will show how to prepare the potato cheese stuffing and the dough, how to stuff and seal the dumpling, and finally, how to cook, boil, and pan fry the pierogi. Register today.

Applications for the 2026 ACF National Awards are now being accepted. Deadline for all applications is Jan. 31, 2026. Award recipients will be announced during the 2026 ACF National Convention. Learn more.

SmartBrief will not publish Thursday, Jan. 1 in observance of New Year's Day.