I bet they're great at solving a million little problems, shielding devs and getting shit done. If that's your priority/emphasis they'd be a great source of solid employees.

So-called “soft skills” are essential to effective management and hence team cohesion, employee happiness, and lots of other hard to measure metrics which still contribute directly to the bottom line and the team’s ability to deliver. Someone with minimal technical skills and great people skills can still effectively lead strong technical teams. If those skills are not present on a team at all, they will struggle 100% of the time. Nobody may even recognize the struggle if there is no one who can identify these things.

I actually bet your experience holding it down and getting shit done in that failing store was a good reflection of your ability and character and helped you get the next gig.

> Maybe there is some untapped potential in all the store managers of the world?

McDonalds is a great leadership pipeline because there's no reason for a competent assistant manager to stick around.