????但斯金納對(duì)自己的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)能力卻充滿了信心——好像這位“龍?zhí)住币恢痹谀ゾ氀菁迹瑫r(shí)刻在為大制作做準(zhǔn)備。公司員工和分析師們認(rèn)為，他熱衷于滿足消費(fèi)者的需求，即便要為此放棄自己的理念和偏好也在所不惜。比如，幾年前，公司對(duì)新款咖啡杯蓋進(jìn)行了大量測(cè)試，最終推出的那一款備受消費(fèi)者喜愛。而實(shí)際上，經(jīng)常喝咖啡的斯金納對(duì)此卻并不滿意。但斯金納并沒有否決大多數(shù)人的意見，而是想出了自己的解決方案：他存了一批舊蓋子留著自己用。

????從廚房做起

????看起來，斯金納對(duì)麥當(dāng)勞的廚房輕車熟路，這是因?yàn)樗羞^在這里工作的經(jīng)歷，公司40%的管理人員都有類似的經(jīng)歷?！緛嗰R遜公司（Amazon）CEO杰夫?貝佐斯與頂級(jí)大廚理查德?布雷斯都曾在麥當(dāng)勞廚房打過工?！克菇鸺{16歲時(shí)，在達(dá)文波特的麥當(dāng)勞得到了一份工作。斯金納的父親是一位磚瓦匠，他回憶說：“在我們家，如果想有錢花，就必須工作?！碑?dāng)時(shí)是1962年，制作炸薯?xiàng)l的土豆還需要由員工剝皮、漂白和切片。

????在餐廳工作六個(gè)月后，斯金納離開愛荷華州，加入美國(guó)海軍，在中途島號(hào)（Midway）與奧里斯坎尼號(hào)（Oriskany）航母上服役。（在奧里斯坎尼號(hào)航母上服役期間，他曾與約翰?麥凱恩有過短暫共事的經(jīng)歷。）十年紀(jì)律嚴(yán)明、令行禁止的軍人生涯錘煉出斯金納優(yōu)秀的品格。服役的最后一年，他遇到了后來的妻子凱思琳，于是決心安定下來（目前，他們已經(jīng)共同生活了42年。在一位戰(zhàn)友的鼓勵(lì)下，他申請(qǐng)并成為一家麥當(dāng)勞餐廳的見習(xí)經(jīng)理。

????斯金納對(duì)麥當(dāng)勞的忠誠(chéng)為他贏得了良好的聲譽(yù)。他總是默默完成自己份內(nèi)的工作，從不炫耀。丹尼斯?埃內(nèi)坎在2010年之前一直擔(dān)任麥當(dāng)勞的歐洲業(yè)務(wù)總裁，他說，將來，麥當(dāng)勞的首席執(zhí)行官肯定會(huì)得到“Jim Skipsdinner”的綽號(hào)，因?yàn)樗偸窍矚g工作結(jié)束后，一個(gè)人在酒店安靜就餐，而不是為了拋頭露面去參加正式的宴會(huì)。埃內(nèi)坎現(xiàn)任法國(guó)雅高集團(tuán)（Accor）CEO，他表示：“即便沒有必要，有些人也會(huì)自以為是，認(rèn)為自己必須露面。但吉姆卻截然不同?！痹诠救温毜膸孜桓吖苊枋?，斯金納對(duì)于故弄玄虛的官僚主義作風(fēng)痛恨不已，還有人稱他就像有一臺(tái)“精確的廢話檢測(cè)儀”。（但這并不意味著他缺乏幽默感。實(shí)際上，他非常風(fēng)趣。他說自己最喜歡的電視劇之一就是《好漢兩個(gè)半》（Two and a Half Men），而且打算聯(lián)系劇組，就如何在這部情景喜劇中加入艾什頓?庫奇的戲份談?wù)勛约旱南敕?。?/p>

????But Skinner's leadership has been utterly self-assured -- it is as though the walk-on had been quietly practicing for his big shot all along. Employees and analysts say he's guided by a zeal for satisfying customers, even if it comes at the expense of his own ideas and preferences. A few years ago the company did extensive testing on new coffee-cup lids and rolled out a version that consumers liked -- and that Skinner, who happens to drink a lot of coffee, really didn't. Rather than overrule the masses, Skinner came up with his own solution: He keeps a stash of the old lids on hand.

????From the kitchen up

????If Skinner seems as though he knows his way around a McDonald's kitchen, it is because he once worked in one, as did 40% of the company's executives. (Amazon (AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos and Top Chef Richard Blais did too.) At age 16 he got a job at McDonald's in Davenport. "I was in a family where, if I wanted to have any spending money, I had to work," says Skinner, whose father was a bricklayer. It was 1962 and employees still peeled, blanched, and sliced potatoes for French fries.

????After six months behind the counter, he left Iowa behind for the Navy, serving on the aircraft carriers Midway and Oriskany. (He briefly overlapped with Oriskany veteran John McCain.) The hallmarks that came with spending nearly a decade in a highly disciplined, execution-driven environment became classic Skinner. He met his future wife, Kathleen, during his last year in the service -- they're still married 42 years later -- and decided it was time to settle down. He landed at McDonald's as a restaurant manager trainee after a Navy buddy encouraged him to apply.

????Skinner earned a reputation as a loyal McDonald's man, one who always did his homework but never felt the need to show it off. Denis Hennequin, who until 2010 served as the company's head of Europe, says the future McDonald's chief would eventually earn the nickname "Jim Skipsdinner" for his preference for having a quiet bite in the hotel once business was finished rather than attend an official meal for the sake of appearances. "Some people have an ego that makes them need to be seen even if it's not necessary," says Hennequin, now CEO of hotel operator Accor. "Jim is not like that." Several former executives described Skinner as having no tolerance for bureaucratic double talk, one noting that he has a "good crap detector." (None of this is to say he's humorless. In fact, he's rather funny. Ask him about one of his favorite shows, Two and a Half Men, and he'll offer his thoughts on how he would write Ashton Kutcher into the sitcom.)