New Delhi, Oct. 25 -- Catherine Tan-Gillespie, president of KFC US, began her working life as a dishwasher at the age of 13, earning just £1.20 an hour. Decades later, after building a career across marketing and global business leadership, she says financial rewards and prestigious titles were never her primary motivation.

Instead, the 52-year-old executive told Fortune that she focused on opportunities that allowed her to learn, take risks and develop professionally.

"I wasn't chasing money, I wasn't chasing title," she told Fortune. "I was chasing opportunities that put me in the learning zone as opposed to in the comfort zone-and tried to keep me out of the panic zone."

Raised in a middle-class British family, Tan-Gillespie st...