Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald's: The 7 Leadership Principles that Drive Break Out Success [Hardcover]

Paul Facella (Author), Adina Genn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 2008

What is it about McDonald's that has enabled it to produce more millionaires from within its ranks than any company in history?

What earns the undying respect and loyalty of its franchisees, vendors, and 47 million customers served daily, from Moscow to Evansville to Rio de Janeiro?

And how does it continue to expand its products, retool its image, and become more popular with each passing year?

Few authors are as qualified to answer those questions as company insider Paul Facella. Beginning behind the counter at age 16, Paul literally grew up at McDonald's. From counter, to grill, to Regional Vice President, he has, over the course of his distinguished 34-year career, developed an intimate knowledge of the fast-food giant's management practices and culture. He's also forged personal ties to its legendary leaders, including founder Ray Kroc and CEOs Fred Turner, Mike Quinlan, Jack Greenberg, former President Ed Rensi, and current CEO Jim Skinner.

Everything I Know Ab out Business I Learned at McDonald's delivers an up-close-and-personal look at a company where talent is cultivated and encouraged to thrive, from the individual restaurant to the corner office. With the help of in-depth interviews and “in their own words” commentaries from company executives, franchisees, and vendors, he explores McDonald's result-driven culture, and reveals the core principles, first laid down by founder Ray Kroc in 1955, that have successfully guided the company for more than five decades.

Finally, Paul distills all that knowledge and experience into powerful lessons on teamwork, leadership, integrity, communication, and relationship building that you'll use to achieve stellar results in your company-whether your goal is to build an international business empire of your own, or just the best darned shop in town.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

How Old Fashioned Virtues Made McDonald's a Branding Icon

“Written in the same good faith with which Facella lived his tenure at McDonald's, this book relates lessons that are time-tested and applicable in any business, of any size, in any era.”
-Jeff Kindler, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer

“Paul Facella has completely captured the timeless and practical essence of the ‘McDonald’s Way’ that allowed so many ordinary people to succeed beyond their wildest dreams. Reading this book will surely become a must-read for anyone aspiring to win.”
—Claire Babrowski, executive vice president, chief operating officer of Toys “R” Us

“The sentiments expressed and the experiences so eloquently demonstrated in Paul’s book clearly define how this company keeps employees engaged and keeps ‘ketchup flowing’ in the blood.”
—Janann Williams, vice president of people, MccLane company, Inc.

“The book shows how McDonald’s successful business model was founded on seven simple ‘human principles,’ and is useful for any business person as a guide for how their business can succeed.”
—Jean-Marie Horovitz, former managing director, Citigroup

“How essential relationships, integrity, and culture are at McDonald’s is clear. This book, through lessons learned, translates its applicability to all business environments.”
—Daniel T. Henry, chief financial officer, American Express

About the Author

Paul Facella was Regional Vice President of the New York Region, a position he held for 11 years. As a pupil of the legendary leaders Ray Kroc and Fred Turner, Paul took their teachings to heart. Working as a team with his staff, operators and vendors, he applied these lessons to the New York Region, growing it to $600 million in revenues--a four-fold increase in profit and a 90% increase in store count, and one of the strongest performing regions in the country. Paul now operates a successful consulting firm in New York. Visit Paul at insidemanagement.com.

Adina Genn is an award-winning journalist who has written for The New York Times and Long Island Business News.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (October 7, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071601414
• ISBN-13: 978-0071601412
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #224,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Business & Investing > Marketing & Sales > Marketing > Product Management

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars And I dont even eat at McDonald's February 10, 2009

By Jim Estill

Format:Hardcover

I found the book to be outstanding, easy to read, simple, and right on the money. I have not eaten in McDonald's in over ten years and I am not an advocate of the products that they sell(I am too much of a health guy).

That said, they have been incredibly successful as a business and the book explains what the author thinks are the key reasons for their business success.

7 reasons:

1 - honesty and integrity, all in a handshake.

It is not what you do, it is the way you do it -- Ray Crock.

I have often said that having a legal agreement is much less important than doing business with people of high integrity and I have long been an advocate of the handshake over anything else.

2 - the rule is relationships, he speaks glowingly of the great relationships amongst the MacDonald's staff and talks about the three legged stool. This refers to the relationship among the three partners as operators/owners, suppliers, and corporate staff. Each is dependant on each other to support the group as a whole.

3 - standards will never be satisfied.

The quality of the leader is reflected in the standards that they set for themselves -- Ray Crock.

MacDonald's is the ultimate e-myth company. They set process and standards and expect everyone to religiously follow them. They have done a great job of communicating what those standards are and I love the never be satisfied philosophy.

One of the great lines that is totally simple is if you have time to lean, you have time to clean.

4 - Lead by example: clearly this one is obvious and many people try to do this; however, actions speak louder than words. Never underestimate ones actions.

One of the things that I particularly liked in this chapter was in the lessons learned -- "achievers never stop learning" (this is one of the things that I always ascribed to).

5 - Courage -- telling it like it is. The gist of the message is, regardless of what the message is, positive or negative, people need to know what it is and the larger the organization, the tougher it is to get the get the truth. People tend to avoid the risk in telling people the truth.

6 - Communications: It is not how often you communicate, it is how well -- Ray Crock.

There is an entire section on decentralization -- try to get the decision making as close to the customer as possible, of course all within a frame work and a philosophy. I am a big believer in decentralization as I believe this is the way to be the most efficient. It is also the way to get the little things to matter.

7 - Recognition: there is no better way to inspire a team then with recognition. Deep down we create that recognition. I think I could use a little work on this one.

Its a good book. Good words of wisdom.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Fast-food version of a business book November 22, 2009

By Jeremy Crowhurst

Format:Hardcover

If you've never read a business book before, this probably wouldn't be such a bad one to read first. It's a fast read (though sluggishly written in parts) with some good content here. But the problem is right there in the title: he may have learned everything he knows at McDonalds, but clearly, he didn't learn very much that's of general application. So, what you get is a book about McDonalds with no insight into which of the fundamental principles are of general application, and which ones only work when you're a part of the largest conglomerate on the planet, who can step in and squash like a bug anybody who tries to screw you. The author has obviously thought about his material a lot, but as somebody without any education or non-arches experience his thoughts are of limited value. He really should have brought in somebody more knowledgeable -- not an economics professor, even, just somebody with a broader base of experience in the business world. (I can't help but wonder what someone like Harvey Mackay might have done with this material.)

Take the bit about the handshake deals. It's a nice piece of history. Probably worked really well in 1968 when the deal was "I need 1,500 hamburger buns at 7 a.m. each and every day and I'll pay you 1.25 cents for each one." I'm sure it works especially well when the one-shop baker is looking at the power of the arches, as opposed to "Ronnie Mac's One-Off Burger Shack". He's never going to screw up that relationship. But handshake deals for everybody else, in the real world, in this day and age? Come on.

McDonalds is a great organization with an effective business model, and with the huge population of former employees to draw from for stories and anecdotes, there's a real opportunity for a high-quality, instructive book, but this isn't it.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Mac Scores... October 20, 2008

By T. Kenny

Format:Hardcover

I enjoyed reading this book on 3 levels; first, as a friend who was excited to read about "stuff" that has happened to the author that I did not know about and remembering things that I did, second, reading it as an "ex" Mickey D alumni that brought back fond memories that helped form my path in life and business, and third, as an interesting business tool that gives insight to successful planning, coaching, and action guides that offer accountability and positive long lasting results.
The author is successful on all three levels. The anecdotes in the book keep it fresh,interesting, and personal.
A must read for all who would like to have an insightful guide to being a respected leader who gets results, inspires loyalty, and maintains long lasting relationships.