Recently, I once again found myself reading and learning from the incredible leadership and success of Ray Kroc. As you may know, Ray Kroc was the driving force behind the establishment of the McDonald’s Corporation, and the huge, worldwide success of McDonald’s restaurants—and the fast food industry in general.
If you have forgotten or are unfamiliar with some of the world-class leadership and success lessons from the life and accomplishments of Ray Kroc, I encourage you to read chapter five of the recently published book, Is This Seat Taken? It’s Never Too Late to Find the Right Seat. The short, interesting, well-written chapter includes well over a dozen excellent leadership and success principles and strategies taken directly from the life, decisions, and actions of Ray Kroc.
In fact, this chapter would make an excellent resource article for discussions throughout your entire organization regarding leadership excellence and achieving greater success.
As a young boy, Ray opened a lemonade stand on the street in front of his house, setting the stage for a lifetime of sales. His first real job as a young man was selling paper cups. As a salesperson, Ray soon discovered the key to sales success was to most effectively discover and teach his clients how to be more successful.
That universal sales principal built Ray’s reputation and credibility over the years, and led to his eventual partnership with the McDonald brothers, from whom he ultimately bought the corporation. Ray Kroc understood and lived “the power of partnership!”
Author Kristin Kaufmann offers these key lessons from the life and leadership of Ray Kroc:
- “Always play to your strengths, and surround yourself with those who augment, extend, and complement what you bring to the table.”
- “Love what you do, be good at it, and tie it to something greater than yourself. Others’ success is your success.”
- “Sweat the small stuff. Pay attention to detail.”
- “Push yourself out of your comfort zone. Take calculated risks to grow.”
- “Listen to your gut and follow your intuition.”
This chapter, in my opinion, contains much leadership and success gold. Why not access it, share it with your colleagues, and benefit from it?
I especially love the closing quote by Ray Kroc: “I was an overnight success alright, but 30 years is a long, long night.” Ray didn’t believe in “get rich quick,” he believed in working hard and staying true to his personal conviction that “Others’ success is your success.”
