Monty Moran: Lead with Vulnerability

This is the third in a series of weekly posts sharing lessons I’ve learned working with interesting authors.

TL;DR: The lesson I learned from editing and writing Monty’s books Love Is Free, Guac Is Extra and No One Is a Stranger: Vulnerability is a superpower. Match it with gratitude and authenticity, and you’ll be unstoppable, both as a leader and  in life.

Monty Moran turned a half-dozen Denver burrito stores into Chipotle. I edited his first book and wrote his second. A central theme in both books: lead with an open heart.

Monty has a restless, curious mind and a deep sense of humility. He’s physically big and has a personality that fills a room—the sorts of attributes you expect in a Fortune 500 CEO. But he is self-aware about this, and he works hard to put people at ease, sharing his own fears and vulnerabilities and inviting others to open up. 

Much of Monty’s first book revolved around how he took the time to truly see and connect with as many individuals as he could—20,000 at Chipotle, by his count. He would walk into a Chipotle store and sit down with the manager not for the usual report card-style check-in, but a real heart-to-heart about who they were, why they were there, what they wanted in life. More than once the manager and Monty ended up in heartfelt tears. This level of connection generated fierce loyalty and commitment in the notoriously difficult-to-staff food service industry. It was the secret sauce that helped Monty build a local restaurant group into a Wall Street darling.

In his second book, Monty leaned further into vulnerability. He truly was nervous about publishing No One Is a Stranger, in which he explores his own personal and spiritual development and how it helps him every day. More than once I talked him through a frozen moment where he wasn’t sure that he wanted to proceed. I reminded him that if he was writing something that made him feel uncomfortable, he probably was doing it right, because that meant he was creating real opportunities to connect with his readers.

Love Is Free, Guac Is Extra: How Vulnerability, Empowerment and Curiosity Built an Unstoppable Team

No One Is a Stranger: Finding Love, Connection and a Brilliant Life