????麥當(dāng)勞公司（McDonald's）備受贊譽(yù)的接班人方案已經(jīng)正式啟動(dòng)。

????這家快餐巨頭上周三晚間宣布，執(zhí)掌公司7年半的吉姆?斯金納即將榮休。麥當(dāng)勞現(xiàn)任董事長(zhǎng)兼首席運(yùn)營(yíng)官多恩?湯普森將于7月1日接任這個(gè)最高職務(wù)。

????《財(cái)富》雜志（Fortune）曾于去年秋天做了一篇關(guān)于斯金納的人物報(bào)道，我們當(dāng)時(shí)在文中稱，他的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)才能為“金色拱門”（Golden Arches，麥當(dāng)勞公司別稱——譯注）迎來了一段簡(jiǎn)直可以堪稱“黃金時(shí)代”的歲月。麥當(dāng)勞去年的利潤(rùn)高達(dá)55億美元，比斯金納2004年履新時(shí)翻了一番多。1月20日，公司股價(jià)達(dá)到102.22美元，創(chuàng)下了歷史新高。

????除了創(chuàng)下耀眼的財(cái)務(wù)數(shù)據(jù)之外，斯金納還培養(yǎng)出一只高素質(zhì)的后備人才隊(duì)伍：他非常關(guān)心公司各個(gè)層面上的繼任規(guī)劃。斯金納出任CEO那一幕頗具悲劇色彩：前任CEO吉姆?坎塔盧波死于心臟病發(fā)作，而原定的繼任者則因罹患癌癥必須接受治療。

????湯普森出任CEO后面臨的最大挑戰(zhàn)是，如何維持麥當(dāng)勞公司在斯金納監(jiān)管下業(yè)已形成的發(fā)展勢(shì)頭。去年5月，在準(zhǔn)備那篇關(guān)于斯金納的人物報(bào)道時(shí)，我在位于伊利諾伊州奧克布魯克市的麥當(dāng)勞公司總部對(duì)湯普森進(jìn)行了采訪。“他是我經(jīng)歷過的最有實(shí)力的導(dǎo)師之一，”湯普森如此評(píng)價(jià)他的老板。“他在公司的日常運(yùn)營(yíng)方面給了我巨大的空間。”

????高效干練的斯金納（他已在麥當(dāng)勞公司供職41年之久）是一位堅(jiān)決奉行顧客至上原則的經(jīng)營(yíng)大師。我們?cè)?011年的報(bào)道中注意到斯金納自己收藏了許多老款的麥當(dāng)勞咖啡杯蓋——即使顧客喜歡新設(shè)計(jì)，但他本人真的不喜歡。

????當(dāng)時(shí)，我嘗試著誘導(dǎo)斯金納談一談他的退休計(jì)劃，但他只是開玩笑地說，哪一天他的咖啡杯蓋用完了，他就退休。

????以下內(nèi)容節(jié)選自斯金納上周三晚上宣布退休后首次接受采訪的實(shí)錄摘要。

????《財(cái)富》：看來你的杯蓋真是用完了？

????吉姆?斯金納：我評(píng)估了一下我的咖啡杯蓋收藏，我估摸著還能用大約25個(gè)年頭，所以我打算把它們帶回家。

????為什么選擇現(xiàn)在退休呢？

????每個(gè)人都在問我這個(gè)問題，我認(rèn)為對(duì)于麥當(dāng)勞公司而言，這是一個(gè)最佳時(shí)機(jī)。衡量一項(xiàng)繼任規(guī)劃成功與否的真正標(biāo)準(zhǔn)體現(xiàn)在CEO是否在恰當(dāng)?shù)臅r(shí)間離職。在許多情況下，退休時(shí)間宜早不宜遲。

????還有些人會(huì)說：“比我們想象的早了一點(diǎn)。”我今年67歲，我已經(jīng)在這家公司呆了41年，在此之前我在海軍服了10年兵役。公司的業(yè)績(jī)正處于歷史最高位，而且我也有機(jī)會(huì)把它交給一位已經(jīng)做好充分準(zhǔn)備、并且有能力把這種可持續(xù)增長(zhǎng)延續(xù)至未來的人選，還有比現(xiàn)在更好的時(shí)機(jī)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.