Page 72 - Everything I Know About Business I Learned

Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald’s

Friends at Work
Many in leadership positions feel you cannot have friendships
and still be a boss to an individual. But I have never subscribed
to that theory, and most of the folks I have met in my years with
McDonald’s don’t either. When you have true friends in busi-
ness, they will at times offer constructive criticism, with com-
plete, and sometimes bristling, candor. In such relationships,
there is give and take, and you might be surprised how much
you can learn, especially from your subordinates. But you must
be ready to listen. It’s a skill worth honing.
In their book, First, Break All the Rules, authors Marcus
Buckingham and Curt Coffman analyze the in-depth interviews
they conducted with more than 80,000 managers in 400-plus
companies. Their conclusions about relations are very revealing:

The most effective managers say yes, you should build per-
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sonal relationships with your people, and no, familiarity
does not breed contempt. This does not mean that you
should necessarily become best friends with those who
report to you—although if that is your style, and if you
keep them focused on performance outcomes, there is
nothing wrong with doing so. The same applies to social-
izing with your people—if that is not your style, don’t do
it. If it is your style, then there is nothing damaging about
having dinner or a drink with them, as long as you still
evaluate them on performance outcomes.

The system within McDonald’s demanded that friendships
were based on more than simply getting along with another per-
son. Perhaps that’s why the relationships I formed at McDon-
ald’s have persevered, even eight years after I left the system. In
an effort to continue these relationships with the alumni of