Although I never knew Sam Walton personally, I’ve felt his spirit and experienced his impact on numerous occasions. Earlier in my career, Walmart was a great client of mine providing distribution for products we manufactured in Pennsylvania. Through Walmart’s stores and distribution, our products were made available in virtually every mid-sized town in America, and at a very reasonable price to our end-use customers.
Walmart’s headquarters are in the quaint small town of Bentonville, Arkansas, and I’ve been there many times. We would travel to Bentonville to participate in training and meeting sessions in their understated yet still somewhat intimidating purchasing and corporate offices. As you can imagine, the best sales and marketing representatives in the world walk through their doors each year, and I was humbled to be among them.
Thank You Sam Walton
Whatever your beliefs about or experience with the company, Walmart’s story and Sam Walton’s legacy is worth knowing. Sam Walton believed that running a successful business could be boiled down to ten simple rules, which he used to help Walmart become the global leader it is today. Here’s one, Sam’s simple rule #4:
“Communicate everything you possibly can to your partners. The more they know, the more they’ll understand. The more they understand, the more they’ll care. Once they care, there’s no stopping them.”
If you have any interest in becoming a successful leader and growing a prosperous organization, I encourage you to learn more about Sam Walton’s ten rules. In the meantime, what can you better communicate today to your partners?
Source: Sam Walton, Made in America: My Story.