Page 115 - Everything I Know About Business I Learned

Standards

system where running out of stock was verboten. And it wasn’t
just me who found McDonald’s high regard for standard influ-
encing the hours they spent outside of the job. “The principles
that you use in McDonald’s guide your life. You use them
throughout your life. You become a better person,” Frank Behan
notes. “Lack of discipline will kill you,” he adds. “You can’t live
a life without discipline.” That discipline folded into your iden-
tity as a leader, and back at work we strived for culture where
only excellence would suffice.
The best of us took “never be satisfied” personally, a prac-
tice that drove Jim Skinner to the top office of McDonald’s. Jim
has made a practice of writing his personal goals, along with his
corporate goals, every year as a means of raising his expecta-
tions. Jim used to share his goals with Jim Cantalupo, who was
at that point CEO. Jim Cantalupo questioned Jim Skinner as to
why he was sharing his goals, to which Jim Skinner would reply,
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“I want you to know what I want to get better at, and I’m work-
ing on this to get better.’” Jim Skinner, in fact, is meticulous
about putting things to paper, a practice that can be attributed
to the standards and responsibility he takes as a leader. He spoke
with me about this: “I’m in a meeting and I’m taking notes,
every meeting, out of respect for people. Jim would say, ‘Why
are you writing that down?’ I’d say, ‘Because I want to under-
stand what you and I talked about when I leave the room.’”
But Jim, Frank, and others I spoke to in writing this book
aren’t the only ones to recognize just how far that discipline can
get you—especially at McDonald’s. As Bill Cosby said in his
commencement address to Cheyney University’s Class of 2007,
workers at McDonald’s pick up many skills. “If I’m flipping
burgers,” Cosby noted, “I’m not flipping burgers for the rest of
my life. I’m learning to become the manager. And I’m not the
manager forever because I’m learning to become the regional
manager.” Cosby accurately depicted opportunities at McDon-