Integrity personified

When I came to Burger King as COO, I was not from the fast food business or a franchise industry. I was a duck out of water. Before I was CEO, I knew Jim McLamore had an office at Burger King Headquarters, but no one really reached out for help or talked with him about the company in an active way. 

When I took over as CEO in 1993, I wanted the same help Jim McLamore had been offering us before. He still officed in our building so I went down and said, “Jim, you are Burger King personified. This company has struggled for eight years and there was a war internally with franchisees. I like what you have done so far and I want you to continue helping Burger King. I’m here to turn it around, but I could use your help, and I need your input.” 

Jim said, “I would love to help but I have one condition, I will be brutally honest and I might throw some harpoons. I won’t hold back.” So I went home that night and thought about it and the next day I came back and agreed. 

It became clear that if I was going to fix Burger King, I needed the franchisees behind me. Jim and I got together started the ‘Jim and Jim Show’ to talk about all the issues and strategies to fix the problems Burger King had been facing. Jim became my mentor and advocate and he helped me get things done with the franchisees that corporate had not been able to do before. Within 8 months, we turned Burger King around and set up a new franchisee agreement, in large part to Jim’s candor and hard work. 

I’d never be able to do that in such a short amount of time without Jim’s help. He could take anyone under his wing and guide them to success. That’s what he did with me in this franchise system. The franchisees listened to him and respected him and I believe that my success was because of Jim’s influence, both personally and with the franchisees.

Jim Adamson - Former CEO of Burger King