13A - Reading Reflection No. 1

Reading Reflection No. 1

I read the book Grinding it out:  The making of McDonald's.  It is Ray Kroc's story of his life and what it took to create the McDonald's empire.

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?
• Ray Kroc had an ability to make things happen almost thru sheer will and determination.  It surprises me that he never gave up on his ventures and always found a way to come prevail and continue moving forward.
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I admired his will and passion for whatever Ray set it mind on.  People would follow him and I think because of the confidence he portrayed in his ideas.
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• What I admired least was how he allowed his home life to be destroyed.  In business according to his book, he was a man of integrity and commitment but he could not honor the commitment of his marriage.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• Yes, many times.  Ray himself was a very good creative problem solver and he surrounded himself with others like that too.  An executive team like that can accomplish anything.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

Ray seemed to have an ability to see an opportunity, open doors to that opportunity and convey that  with such clarity and detail that others bought into it as well.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. 

I did not find anything confusing in this book.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

1. I would ask how did you stay so confident in your actions especially in times of adversity?  I would ask this because I struggle with this.  I make a lot of decisions in my job and I don't always feel as confident has Ray seemed in the book.
2. Was his ability to compartmentalize something learned or simply in his nature?  I can compartmentalize pretty well and have a stressful job but there are times when it is definitely harder than others.  Being able to do this allows for better focus on the issue at hand.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

It is pretty clear that Ray Kroc was not afraid of hard work.  He did it his whole life and expected it out of his team too.  I do share that opinion and expect it out of my teams.