Learning how to do things really, really well – from the CEO of McDonald's

By Rick Grbavac Industry award-winner Jim Skinner has led McDonald’s to amazing performance over the past year using a formula that sounds identical to what we teach every day:

  • Rebuild purpose
  • Realign talent with a return to the company’s fundamental principles
  • Focus on leadership development to strengthen internal talent
  • Hands off management style, empower the people
  • Set high expectations
  • Demand accountability
  • Be better, not just bigger
 His simple assessment: “With 32,000 locations around the world, you need to have a good team aligned with a solid plan, with very simple expectations about what needs to get done.”  And here’s a refreshing idea: Skinner’s  first goal was to set long term growth.  Long term.  I love to hear a CEO talk about long term vision and then actually execute a plan to achieve it.   During the 5 years he has been CEO, McDonalds’s has experienced a compound average growth rate  of 19.2% with an increasing operating margin. CEOs  can learn a lot  from a close reading of Skinner’s methods and philosophy. He’s a straightforward and plainspoken leader who leads!]]>

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