13A Reading Reflection 1

For this first reading reflection, I choose to read the autobiography by Ray Kroc intitled “Grinding it Out”. The focus of the autobiography is how a man named Ray Kroc took a small restaurant and made it into the largest fast-food chain restaurant in the nation. The beginning of the book focuses on Kroc’s humble beginnings and his obsession with business, in particular, the art of making good deals. The character trait of being a master negotiator would go on to be a saving grace for Kroc but it would also be one of his tragic flaws at the same time. He begins to model his personal life and relationships similarly to how he ran his businesses. This would put those who were close to him in a tough position because sometimes his negotiator attitude would be too much for them to handle. One question that I would inquire of Mr. Kroc would be if he had any regrets about employing too much of his business acumen in his personal life? I feel he could have experienced much more happiness during his life if he had not chased away everyone who cared about him. I too struggle with developing personal relationships with people in a very similar way to Mr. Kroc so I would love to hear he incite on if he would change his ways or continue to employ the same tactics. An aspect of Mr. Kroc’s personality that both admired and surprised me was his tenacity when it comes to business. The man didn’t know the word “quit”. He would sell, sell, sell, till the day was over and then he’d do it all over again. This trait was definitely one of the reasons he was able to build the McDonalds brand into what it has become today. Another aspect that surprised me but definitely evolved into one of his core competencies was how he wouldn’t try and rip people off or oversell them products if it didn’t benefit them. Kroc sold paper cups for a living before he founded the McDonalds empire. Kroc never sold anyone a cup he didn't think they would not need. He was always very honest and prided himself in providing a tool to business owners that would improve their business and increase their customer and cash flow. This core competency is paramount in his vision for McDonald's. As they try and provide a very affordable product to their customers instead of overcharging their customers for a bigger profit. Another question I would ask Mr. Kroc would be how difficult it was to maintain that core competency of only providing cups to those who needed them rather than selling them as much as you could? I’ve seen countless times in the entrepreneurial world where business owners will succumb to the pull of increased profits and greed. I found it remarkable that even as he continued to have massive success this was one aspect of his methodology that never changed. 

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