Introduction Jan Fields is the Executive Vice President (EVP) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of McDonald’s USA where she is in charge of the strategic decision and the overall business results of over 14,000 McDonald’s restaurants based in the United States. Jan Fields, a military wife, started her career at McDonald’s in 1978 at the age of 22 flipping burgers at one of the many McDonald’s restaurants established in the US. Since then she rose through the ranks by working at the various levels and positions of the company. Before her current location, Fields worked as the president of McDonald’s Central Division where she oversaw the operations of more than 4,400 restaurants in the United States. Her elevated status now requires her to manage the daily activities of over 14,000 fast food restaurants operated by the retail giant (Success Magazine, 2009). Background of her Career With no college degree or any job qualifications and experience, Jan Fields made a fateful stop for a drink inside a McDonald’s restaurant in Dayton, Ohio as she was on her way for an interview. She spotted the hiring sign for crewmembers and decided to apply as she preferred the flexible work hours the restaurant was offering its employees. Fields applied immediately for the job and succeeded in the interview preceding her secretarial job interview. After her first day at work, she was overcome with emotion and lamented to her husband that she was not able to do the job because it was too hard. The reason for this was that the restaurant had many rules on how to make French fries which made them distinguishable from other French fries sold by competing companies such as KFC (Hartman et al., 2009). Fields eventually decided to endure the hard working conditions in the restaurant by returning there the next day to work at the front counter. It was while she was serving customers that Fields realized she loved her job. This enabled her to advance towards the various positions within the company as well as the various tiers of management. She was able to progress from being a crewmember to a fry chief and then to every restaurant-level position within the company. Fields were able to manage the Dayton restaurant in Ohio for more than two years before she moved up again to manage multiple restaurants in the larger area of the United States (Hartman et al., 2009). During her journey to the top, Fields held to her work ethics and philosophy where she focused all her strength and ability on the current job she held instead of concentrating all her efforts on receiving promotions. She explained her philosophy by stating that if an employee focuses on their existing job by placing a lot of effort on the performance of the job thereby doing it better than other employees; then their advancement to the next position within the organization would come at a much faster and easier rate. Fields noted that recognition within McDonald’s was easily rewarded for employees who performed their work duties at their best possible work effort. She, therefore, attributed her career success to performing her work duties exceptionally well and not focusing on getting another job within McDonald’s (Success Magazine, 2009). Career Advancement Since her humble beginning as a crew member at the McDonald’s restaurant in Dayton, Fields has worked for the company for over 28 years in the span of which she has become a senior vice president for the Central Division as well as a senior vice presi