Ray Kroc
Leadership Case Study

Ray Kroc Leadership
Who was He?

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Ray Kroc is the man behind the multimillion dollar fast food empire, MacDonald’s. In his life, he has built the fast food chain from a simple hamburger restaurant to a multi-billion dollar franchise that has reached almost every part of the world today.

A Quick History

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Ray Kroc was born in 1902 in the city of Illinois. He had grown up to be a brash, enthusiastic young man who was a visionary and a salesman.

During World War I, although he was underage, he still signed up to be trained as a ambulance driver, but he never made to the front lines as the war ended before his training did.

After the war, he worked in many professions as a paper cup salesman, a pianist, a musician as well as at the Chicago Radio Station.

His breakthrough came with his fascination with the multi-mixers. He saw the potential in the McDonald’s brothers’ hamburger restaurant in churning out burgers after burgers like clockwork.

He suggested expansion to the brothers and volunteered to be the person to expand the restaurant chain. He saw great potential in the concept that the brothers did not.

Eventually he would buy over the restaurant from the brothers at $2.7 million. Ray Kroc would revolutionize the dining industry by created an assembly line method of selling his burgers that would be standardized throughout the world.

By 1963, McDonald’s would have sold its 1 billionth burger and open its 500th restaurant.

At the end of his life in 1984, Ray Kroc amassed a personal fortune of $500 million, and in 2007, the McDonald’s Corporation that he founded had achieved a revenue of $22 billion.

Awards and Honours

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1.Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century
2 The Ray Kroc Award, an award given to Macdonald’s top 1% managers, is named after him.

Ray Kroc Leadership Lessons

1. Having a big vision
When Ray Kroc first saw the multi-mixers in the restaurant of the McDonald’s Brothers, he envisioned 8 of these restaurants churning out burgers and making a steady stream of cash immediately.

Leaders are men of vision and when they look at a certain situation, they see its potential. They see what things could become. You must have that as a leader as well; to think about possibilities.

2. Commitment to Excellence
Ray Kroc has an obsession for cleanliness in his restaurants and he is known for being extremely particular about every corner of his restaurants. He expects that every employee do his best at every moment during his work.

I believe that this is one of the great traits of a leader as well: to be committed to every single detail in your plans, your events and so on. Your commitment to this details is your commitment to excellence and it will set you one notch above your competition.

What’s more, having a commitment to excellence will also compel your followers to live up to that same standard as you. When you set the standard with your personal example, you can expect to build a great organization.

Related Books on
Ray Kroc Leadership

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Best Quotes from
Ray Kroc Leadership

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“Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you get.”

“The two most important requirements for major success are: first, being in the right place at the right time, and second, doing something about it.”

“All money means to me is a pride in accomplishment.”

“We take the hamburger business more seriously than anyone else.”

“When you're green, your growing. When you're ripe, you rot.”

“While formal schooling is an important advantage, it is not a guarantee of success nor is its absence a fatal handicap.”

“You're only as good as the people you hire.”

“The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.”

“Its easy to have principles when you're rich. The important thing is to have principles when you're poor.”

“Creativity is a highfalutin word for the work I have to do between now and Tuesday.”

“If you work just for money, you'll never make it, but if you love what you're doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.”

“If you're not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business.”

“None of Us is as Good as All of Us.”

Video on
Ray Kroc Leadership

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Other Links

Wikipedia: A highly detailed account of Ray Kroc's life
Time.com: Time's profile of Ray Kroc

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