Page 162 - Everything I Know About Business I Learned

Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald’s

results at the end were never harmful or had repercussions, we
engaged in such activity. Still, not everyone felt as I did, and I
never quite understood later in situations why many of my
peers would not speak up if they had a difference of opinion.
I believe that it helped me get to know the leadership of the
organization on a much better level, years later. In one memo-
rable episode, I was a department head in a room of my peers
at a national conference for operations. More than 200 people
were present and chairman of the board Mike Quinlan was
making a case for changing the grading policy of the restau-
rants. This was always a controversial topic. As he wound
down his rationale, and asked for any thoughts, I instinctively
put my hand up to question the wisdom of what he was sug-
gesting. I thought, incorrectly, that my group around me, who
were clearly not in favor of the change and whispering as much
in the audience, would have their hands up as well. Not. I real-
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ized as I looked around the room that I had the only hand up!
Not a good feeling.
Now it was me and the chairman of the board, mano a mano.
I quickly summarized my points as best I could, making the case
how it would adversely affect operations and not allow the
stores to measure themselves. Mike was cordial and thanked me
for my comments in front of the audience. Although grading
went through as presented, within two years it was back again.
I discovered that while you could question, you had to do it in
the right way. Have the courage to speak up, but present your
arguments in a professional, objective manner. Conflict was
good, but don’t take it personally. Surprisingly to me, not every-
one spoke up the way I and others did, but I believe I was
availed with more opportunities because I spoke my mind. In
fact when I retired, then-president Alan Feldman said, “Now
that Paul is stepping down, who is going to challenge us?” I took
that as a compliment.