1. The part that surprised me the most was that Ray Kroc did not see much success with McDonalds until he was 52 years old. He spent many years working as a manager and in sales before McDonald;s business took off! The part I admire most about Ray Kroc is the leadership ability he possessed. Kroc did not let McDonald's become complacent, but he took it international with big plans and dreams. Kroc faced a ton of adversity. McDonald's grew relatively fast compared to the average restaurant chain once Kroc came to leadership.
2. Kroc displayed many different competencies. His best qualities were the ability to sell and the ability to lead & tell stories.
3. The part of the story that was extremely confusing to me was the story about the woman eating a hamburger in the McDonald's who gave Kroc a weird affectionate feeling over the food McDonald's served.
4. I would like to ask Ray Kroc:
- What was the biggest difficulty over you had to overcome when you began the expansion phase of the business?
- What do you have to say to someone who is looking to expand their leadership qualities?
5. The entrepreneur's definition of hard work I would say is the ability to produce quality service as well as quality consistently. Service is huge in food service, and it is probably more important than the taste of the food itself. I would agree with this definition of hard work, considering it is easy to become lazy in the service industry.
Hi Walter,
ReplyDeleteI also read Grinding it Out was completely struck by Kroc's persona and ego. I'm curious to know how you felt about his narrative and work style because, quite honestly, he seemed scrappy to me. I gathered that he was often willing to exploit his relationships in order to make sales. Did you get this impression as well?
I wish your post ran smoother, you listed the points of the assignment but I wish it was mixed in with a summary. What you wrote in your post I could have read somewhere else on the internet, so make it more personal and more in depth with newer information I didn’t already know. I really liked you entrepreneur’s definition, it seemed like it came right from Ray Kroc.
ReplyDeleteHi Walter,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed learning about your reading reflection! I think it is incredible that Ray Kroc began to achieve success when he was 52 years old---this emphasizes the importance of perseverance and hard work. If you look at the international expansion of McDonalds, I also believe it is very evident that Kroc was never complacent and always looked for ways to improve. Nowadays, it seems like there is a McDonald's everywhere you go, whether it be within the United States or abroad.