Julia Stewart started waiting tables at IHOP at age 16. Decades later she ran the place. Then she bought its rival. And she made one particular phone call that still echoes in restaurant industry circles. The story sounds like corporate folklore. But every detail checks out. In the late 1990s Stewart served as president of Applebee’s. The chain lagged. Its chair and CEO struck a bargain: fix the business and the top job would be hers. She delivered. System sales jumped 14 percent in 1999 to $2.35 billion. Earnings per share rose 20 percent. The stock doubled under her watch. Yet when Stewart raised the subject of the promised promotion, the response landed like a slap. “No, not ever.” One Sentence That Changed a Career She didn’t argue. She left. Stewart joined rival IHOP in 2001 as chair and CEO. The pancake house needed rescue. She supplied it. Eighteen consecutive quarters of growth followed. Same discipline. Different outcome. By 2007 the moment arrived.…