麦当劳CEO谈退休：“这是最佳时机。”

    继任规划一直是你优先考虑的事项。你能说说这个计划酝酿了多长时间吗？

    说实在的，我觉得我对董事会的责任之一就是要确保在我离开时为他们找到一位有能力运营这家公司的人选。直到我能够完成这一使命，我才会离开，这件事需要时间。多恩已经担任了2年的首席运营官。我一直在为他提供各种指导意见，而且在接下来的90天里还将继续这么做。但他是一个非常有才华的人，在麦当劳已经工作了22年，执掌过美国公司。正如我常说的那样，他是这个职务的上上之选。

    公司继续前进面临的最大挑战将是什么？

    挑战保持不变：如何在一个清洁的环境中，以消费者每天都能负担的优惠价格提供热腾腾的快餐食品，如何培养公司员工，确保公司能够继续开发人才资源和领导团队，从而使他们有能力执行麦当劳公司长期的发展战略。

    此刻，我们在大宗商品和汇率方面面临一些不利因素。各大经济体称不上强劲，尤以欧洲为甚。但这是周期性的现象。我们有过安然度过这种局面的先例，这次也理应如此，我们的团队非常成熟，深谙应对挑战之道。

    41年是很漫长的一段时间。你会不会觉得很难舍弃这一切？从海军退役之后，你的整个职业生涯都是在麦当劳公司度过的。

    首先我要说，我真的不知道这个问题的答案，因为我现在还没有放手。但我觉得我不会难以割舍。

    一位董事曾说过：“这番举动的确令人印象深刻，因为人们会说你想呆多久就可以呆多久。”许多人不愿意离职。但我们不能等得太久，必须在时机恰当的时机离开，尽管我即将退休这件事其实让分析师圈子和媒体感到很意外。

    有没有你一直想完成，但一直觉得就是没时间去做的事情？

    我没有什么未了的心愿。我们所经历的非凡成功甚至连我自己都觉得有些惊讶。我们实话实说吧。7年半或8年前，我们正在经历一段异常困苦的时期，如果你那时候告诉我（我当时担任副董事长），我们在今天会成为一家市值高达1,000亿美元的公司，5年期股东总回报率高达21.3%，我或许会认为你是在痴人说梦。

    你是否把这些看成是你留下来的遗产？

    数据本身就说明了一切，但我认为真正的遗产是人才管理，领导力开发，以及这样一批人。如果把人的因素理顺了，其他事都好办。

    Succession planning has been a priority for you. Can tell you me how long this has been in the works?

    I basically felt the responsibility to the board of directors to be sure I provided them with someone who could run the company when I'm gone. Until I was capable of doing that I would not have left, and it takes time. Don's been in the [COO] job for two years. I've been tutoring him and mentoring him and will continue to do so over the next 90 days. But he's a very talented guy, 22 years at McDonald's, ran the U.S. company. As I like to say, he's the real deal.

    What will be the biggest challenge for the company going forward?

    The challenge stays the same: how do you deliver hot food fast in a clean environment, great price, everyday affordability, develop your people, and make sure you continue to develop the talent and develop the leadership team to be able to execute the strategies of McDonald's over the long term.

    Right now, we have headwinds on commodities, and headwinds on currency. Economies are not exactly robust, particularly in Europe. But that's cyclical. We've been through that before so it comes with the territory, and the team is well developed and well versed in terms of handling those challenges.

    Forty-one years is a long time. Do you think you're going to have a hard time letting go? You spent your whole career after the Navy at McDonald's.

    First of all, I don't know the answer to that question, because I haven't let go yet. But I don't think so.

    One of the directors said, "That's really a class act, because one could argue you could stay here as long as you want." There are a lot of people who would not be willing to step away. You can't wait too long. You have to go when the time is right, even when, in fact, it turns out to be a surprise to the analyst community or the media.

    Is there anything you've wanted to accomplish that you just feel like you haven't had the time to do?

    I left nothing unturned of what I wanted to get done. The extraordinary success we've had has been even a little bit of a surprise to me. Let's be realistic. If you would have told me seven-and-a-half or eight years ago, when I was vice chairman, with the trials and tribulations of what was going on then, that we'd be a $100 billion company [in market capitalization] today and have a 21.3% five-year compound on the annual shareholder return, you just wouldn't have been able to say that's reasonable.

    Do you consider that your legacy?

    The results speak for themselves, but I think the real legacy is the talent management and leadership development and the people. If you get the people right, the rest is easy.