麦当劳CEO谈退休：“这是最佳时机。”

    麦当劳公司（McDonald's）备受赞誉的接班人方案已经正式启动。

    这家快餐巨头上周三晚间宣布，执掌公司7年半的吉姆•斯金纳即将荣休。麦当劳现任董事长兼首席运营官多恩•汤普森将于7月1日接任这个最高职务。

    《财富》杂志（Fortune）曾于去年秋天做了一篇关于斯金纳的人物报道，我们当时在文中称，他的领导才能为“金色拱门”（Golden Arches，麦当劳公司别称——译注）迎来了一段简直可以堪称“黄金时代”的岁月。麦当劳去年的利润高达55亿美元，比斯金纳2004年履新时翻了一番多。1月20日，公司股价达到102.22美元，创下了历史新高。

    除了创下耀眼的财务数据之外，斯金纳还培养出一只高素质的后备人才队伍：他非常关心公司各个层面上的继任规划。斯金纳出任CEO那一幕颇具悲剧色彩：前任CEO吉姆•坎塔卢波死于心脏病发作，而原定的继任者则因罹患癌症必须接受治疗。

    汤普森出任CEO后面临的最大挑战是，如何维持麦当劳公司在斯金纳监管下业已形成的发展势头。去年5月，在准备那篇关于斯金纳的人物报道时，我在位于伊利诺伊州奥克布鲁克市的麦当劳公司总部对汤普森进行了采访。“他是我经历过的最有实力的导师之一，”汤普森如此评价他的老板。“他在公司的日常运营方面给了我巨大的空间。”

    高效干练的斯金纳（他已在麦当劳公司供职41年之久）是一位坚决奉行顾客至上原则的经营大师。我们在2011年的报道中注意到斯金纳自己收藏了许多老款的麦当劳咖啡杯盖——即使顾客喜欢新设计，但他本人真的不喜欢。

    当时，我尝试着诱导斯金纳谈一谈他的退休计划，但他只是开玩笑地说，哪一天他的咖啡杯盖用完了，他就退休。

    以下内容节选自斯金纳上周三晚上宣布退休后首次接受采访的实录摘要。

    《财富》：看来你的杯盖真是用完了？

    吉姆•斯金纳：我评估了一下我的咖啡杯盖收藏，我估摸着还能用大约25个年头，所以我打算把它们带回家。

    为什么选择现在退休呢？

    每个人都在问我这个问题，我认为对于麦当劳公司而言，这是一个最佳时机。衡量一项继任规划成功与否的真正标准体现在CEO是否在恰当的时间离职。在许多情况下，退休时间宜早不宜迟。

    还有些人会说：“比我们想象的早了一点。”我今年67岁，我已经在这家公司呆了41年，在此之前我在海军服了10年兵役。公司的业绩正处于历史最高位，而且我也有机会把它交给一位已经做好充分准备、并且有能力把这种可持续增长延续至未来的人选，还有比现在更好的时机么？

    The wheels of McDonald's lauded succession planning are now in motion.

    The fast food giant announced on Wednesday night that Jim Skinner, who led the company for seven-and-a-half years, is retiring. McDonald's (MCD) president and COO Don Thompson will step into the top job on July 1.

    Fortune profiled Skinner last summer, when we described his leadership as having brought on nothing short of a Golden Age for the Golden Arches. Last year's profits hit $5.5 billion, more than double what they were in 2004, the year Skinner took over. The stock reached an all-time high of $102.22 on January 20.

    Beyond delivering stellar financials, Skinner also developed a deep bench; he cared deeply about succession planning at all levels of the company. He became CEO under tragic circumstances, after former CEO Jim Cantalupo died of a heart attack and Cantalupo's successor underwent treatment for cancer.

    Thompson's biggest challenge as CEO will be to maintain the momentum that took hold on Skinner's watch. Last May, I interviewed Thompson at McDonald's headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill., while reporting the Skinner profile. "He has been one of the strongest mentors I've ever had," he said of his boss. "He's given me tremendous room in terms of the day-to-day business of McDonald's."

    The no-nonsense Skinner, who spent 41 years with the company, is an operations guru with a penchant for always putting the customer first. In our 2011 story, we noted that Skinner had his own stash of the old type of McDonald's coffee cup lids, because even though customers liked the new design, he really didn't.

    At the time, I tried to get Skinner to talk about retirement, but he only joked that he would retire when he ran out of his supply of lids.

    The following are edited excerpts of one of Skinner's first interviews since Wednesday night's announcement.

    Fortune: So you ran out of lids?

    Jim Skinner: I assessed my lid collection, and I think I've got about 25 years left, so I'll be taking those with me.

    Why now?

    Everybody's asking this question, and I think it's the perfect time for McDonald's. The true measure of a successful succession plan is manifested by the CEO handing off at the right time. In many cases, that's sooner rather than later.

    Some other people have also said, "It's a little sooner than we thought." I'm 67 years old, I've been here 41 years, and I had 10 years in the Navy before that. What better time than now, when the company's performing at the highest level ever and there's the opportunity to pass it on to someone who's more than ready and capable of delivering sustained growth well into the future.