His Willingness To Listen Helped Build Burger King; Have It Your Way: Founder Jim McLamore's drive to offer customers quick service set the tone at the fast-food chain.(LEADERS & SUCCESS)(BEST OF LEADERS & SUCCESS)

Byline: IRA CARNAHAN

Jim McLamore wasn't always a big shot. When the future Burger King honcho graduated from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration in 1947, he took a job directing food service at the Wilmington, Del., YMCA.

His salary? $267 a month.

It was tough. In addition to earning lousy pay, McLamore was butting heads with his assistant manager, Mrs. Kelley. Instead of spending her time helping McLamore keep things sailing along smoothly in food service, Mrs. Kelley spent most of every day recording costs in big ledgers, McLamore recalled in his 1996 autobiography, "The Burger King." She had stacks of the dusty books. Some went back 25 years.

He analyzed the situation. Mrs. Kelley needed to change her approach. But she'd been at the YMCA a long time. It didn't look as if she were likely to change willingly.

McLamore decided to give her a hand.

"I picked up the phone and had the building manager send over a big laundry truck," he wrote. "All of Mrs. Kelley's ledgers went into that truck, as did the contents of her desk drawers. The entire load was dispatched into the furnace."