13A-Reading Reflection

Title: Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's, Ray Kroc

1. What surprised me the most is how McDonald's was running before Kroc became involved and how structured their process of doing things were. I sort of assumed McDonald's was what you see today but it was completely different back when The McDonald brothers were running it. That is ultimately drew Ray Kroc to the restaurant which he eventually took over and helped start the franchising of McDonald's.
-I most admired that Kroc started out as a salesman. He was not some big shot that just inherited a company. He went from playing piano at a bar at night to help with finances to selling paper cups during the day. He was a great salesman and overall a great businessman. I also admired his philosophy of never selling a product to someone that they did not need. He had so much integrity in what he did and that is what made him so successful.
-I least admired how Kroc handled his personal relationships outside of the business. He had multiple marriages and a lot of this was due to his non stop work ethic. I thought that when he and his last wife Joni whom he had loved while he was married to another woman both got divorces at the same time and then married was a pretty low way to do things. He gave his previous wife a nice pay off when he left but the way everything turned out to me was just not a honorable way to treat marriage and what it stands for.
-Kroc did not experience to much failure in the growth of McDonald's. He was such a strong businessman and surrounded himself with very smart people that he only continued to climb. The adversity he did run against was dealing with some of his top people. He had a great President and CEO in Harry Sommerman, however over time there relationship became sour due to differences in the business. This made it tough on Kroc because he had people within the company that were very loyal to Sommerman and himself. So when Sommerman left he had to deal with a lot of people believing that McDonald's was going to fail and I think that was tough on Kroc who was working so hard to make sure it continued to succeed.

2. The competencies that Ray Kroc held was that he was a very good salesman. He was able to sell just about anything. He sold paper cups which he was great at and what really led to his success was when he began to sell the Multimixer which was a milkshake machine. This machine is what led him to McDonald's. He also was a great talker and able to really turn any situation into something that would benefit him. I also believe the fact that he did not push sales on people was a great skill to have. To be able to connect with people and sell them items without coming off as pushy or needing to make a sale was a skill that I think really helped him become one of the best and most successful businessman around.

3. There were a few parts of the reading that confused me. Most of the book really talked about the success of Ray Kroc and how he was able to build this empire. He was no doubt a workaholic and that was beneficial to him. He also seemed like a really good guy that looked out for people and was willing to give people a chance. I guess I was confused by when not conducting business how he handled his personal life. Him holding on to this love for a woman while he was married confused me. He had a few different marriages throughout his life but I just couldn't understand how a man who was so disciplined in how he handled things could not handle marriages. He did not seem to treat them with the importance that marriages need and often left his wives alone while he was on business. He didn't show a lot of care in trying to balance a work/home life and that was confusing.

4. The first question I would ask Ray Kroc is what made him such a great salesman? I think sales are extremely hard and I have been in that type of industry before. I would like to know his secrets and how he was able to be so successful in getting people to trust him? The second question I would ask him is how do you handle success in this world? I know with that type of success comes so much stress and weight on your shoulders. I would want to know how he balanced it and managed to continue to push through.

5. I think Kroc's opinion of hard work was never stopping. He was constantly working and striving to be the best. He had the type of mindset that breeds success. He was not a slacker and did not expect others to be that way either. He was also a man that did not just focus on finances. He wanted to see McDonald's grow and that was his pride and joy. Of course with that type of success comes large amounts of money but Kroc did not even take a salary. His drive to make McDonald's the very best restaurant he could was due to his never die attitude. He had this type of work ethic even we he was selling paper cups and trying to make any money he could. He never let success make him lazy or slow down and I think that is what defined his hard work. I completely share this opinion because in order to be successful in this day and age you have to strive to be the best at whatever you do and never give up. There are always going to be people out there that have drive and a hard work ethic but you have to be better then them and never stop. I 100% believe in how Kroc handled his work and the type of business he conducted. I just wish that he would have learned to make him home life a bit better but besides that he had the type of work ethic that you need to be successful in this world.