By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to help you inspire with more than words. Reading time: 2:12.

The founder of the McDonald’s hamburger empire was fuming mad. Ray Kroc was so hot that you could have grilled a Big Mac on his forehand.

The Golden Arch patriarch wanted his store managers to spend more time with customers in the front of the store and less time sitting on the wooden chair in the office in back of the store. He sent each store manager a hand saw and a message: “Saw off the back of your chair.”

Apocryphal or not, the story illustrates Kroc’s passion to continuously improve performance, a passion that is the crux of leadership that embodies, embraces and espouses a can-do, will-do, spirit, energy and drive.

The saw-off-the-legs-of-the-chair story also illustrates a key skill of the most inspiring leaders: They speak loudly and carry a big stick (or saw), especially in steering an organization through culture-busting change.

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