Page 11 - Everything I Know About Business I Learned

Foreword

right thing to do. It’s what the region required: someone who
understood the culture, who understood the market, and was
tough enough to push back.
Ask anyone who ever served at McDonald’s about the orga-
nization’s success and the profound impact it has made on his
or her life and you will get just one person’s perspective. Ask
another person, and another after that, and you inevitably
gather points of view that may or may not vary. Collectively,
these opinions tell a story and add insight into McDonald’s
legacy.
Paul was the right person to gather these insights, and in
doing so, he won many willing supporters. Perhaps that’s
because Paul has always understood people, and always inspired
their trust. I’m glad Paul wrote this book, and believe it repre-
sents hundreds of us, both licensee, corporate, and suppliers that
grew in such a great environment.
ix
Paul extracted seven principles he learned from McDonald’s:
honesty and integrity, courage, relationships, recognition, com-
munication, standards, and leading by example. They represent
good business practices—you cannot run a business without
those things being in proper order. And they represent Paul, who
has demonstrated these elements since the day I met him. Paul
remains a terrific confidant—someone whom I am proud to call
my friend.
Ed Rensi, former president of McDonald’s USA
for 14 years, NASCAR team owner