TRC Nation Leadership Retreat · Scottsdale, AZ · January 25–26, 2027
Pressure
Proof™
The 2-day leadership forge that sends your leaders home STEADY, sharp and accountable.
Two days. Five disciplines. One standard. Your leaders come back with the words, the tools and the nerve to run a Saturday night. Then 90 days in the TRC Leadership OS App to make it stick.
The Leak
Your leader just cost you a Saturday.
The rail backs up. Your manager snaps at a server in front of a guest. Two tables get comped. The server quits Monday. You never see that four-top again. That is not a bad night. That is a leader nobody ever trained to handle PRESSURE.
Comps & Remakes
Every rattled leader gives away margin to make the noise stop.
Turnover
People don't quit restaurants. They quit the leader on shift. Then you pay to replace them.
Lost Guests
Guests feel tension in the room before the food ever lands. They just don't come back.
What Your Leaders Master
Five disciplines. Zero fluff.
The Core Value Card
Turn values from wallpaper into a weapon. Every value rewritten as behavior you can SEE on a Friday night, then used in hiring, pre-shift, recognition and correction.
Word Patterns
The language that moves people. Leaders rewrite the 20 phrases they say most on shift and learn to de-escalate a guest or a cook in seconds.
The Direct Conversation
Stop talking around the problem. Most problems on your floor are a conversation somebody keeps putting off, so you learn the words to open it, say it plainly and close it with a clear next step.
Owning the Clock
The 168-hour audit, a personal Morning Operating System and a kill list of three things to STOP doing on Monday.
Stress Under Fire
Pararescue-tested tools: tactical breathing, clear thinking and the 10-second reset before a leader opens their mouth.
Built for the Service Team and the Culinary Team.
GMs, chefs, sous chefs, shift leads and anyone you are grooming to lead.
The Two Days
9am to 5pm. Every minute works.
DAY 1
The Standard & The Words
DAY 2
The Conversation, The Clock & The Pressure
For the Owner
You don't just send a leader. You get PROOF back.
A 90-Day Plan
One value to model, one conversation pattern, one time habit, one stress protocol. In writing.
The Letter to You
"Here is what I'm bringing back." Written by your leader before they leave the room.
Shift-Ready Scripts
Rewritten pre-shift, correction and guest-recovery language they can use the next night.
The Hard Talk, Handled
The conversation they have been avoiding is scripted, rehearsed and ready to run.
The TRC Leadership OS App
Two days teach it.
The app makes it stick.
Two days in the room can fade fast if nothing carries them back to the shift. Every leader gets 90 days in the TRC Leadership OS App, so what they learn in Scottsdale turns into what they do on Friday night.
The room gives them the tools. The app gives them 90 days to use them.
90-day access is included with the seat. Lunch, a printed workbook and a written 90-day plan too.
Who Leads the Room
Donald Burns, The Restaurant Coach®
46 years in the industry. Former Pararescue. 5th Degree Black Belt in American Kempo. Author of the Your Restaurant Sucks! trilogy, Restaurantology and Ingredients. He has stood on the line and in the chaos, and he teaches leaders how to stay steady in both.
"Pressure doesn't build leaders. It REVEALS them. Build yours before Saturday does."
— Donald Burns
The Details
36 seats, then the room is full.
No discounts. No exceptions. This is an INVESTMENT in your team.
7190 E Kierland Blvd
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
