Why Championship Companies Follow Walmart’s Lead

Recent business conversations with leaders have been telling of our times. Fear is increasing in corporate cultures, only the safest options are pursued, and it’s back to the basics for most. Businesses seem to be slowly treading closer to commodity models once again – standard, transactional business as usual.

These companies are following the breadcrumbs to the mouth of the hungry wolf. If they don’t wake up, they’ll be eaten.

That’s why my admiration goes to championship companies. I describe championship companies as those who exude three characteristics:

Agility – a strong hunger and aptitude for change
Vision – able to imagine new possibilities and execute towards them
Culture – committed employees, who personally align with their work, respect and develop others, and share ideas openly and often

I work with many companies, but none of them display these three characteristics quite like Walmart. This may surprise you, but I’ve seen this company transform over the last five years and it’s nothing short of amazing. Walmart, as an organization, has a soul. This company is mission-minded and bold.

Walmart doesn’t experience change; it hunts it down through continuous restructuring. It doesn’t just envision opportunities, it disrupts precious business models. Walmart doesn’t just talk culture, it embraces the unique contribution of every individual.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina was a significant tragedy for New Orleans and the entire U.S. It was also a tragedy for Walmart. Over 30 of its store operations had been shut down and over 10,000 of its Associates displaced. Even more, Walmart saw the suffering in the communities where the Associates lived. When the community hurts, so does the community Walmart store. Walmart immediately went into crisis management roll. But this time, Walmart went further. Walmart donated millions of dollars and provided helpful services to thousands of people.

This was no flash in the pan effort for Walmart. Experiencing the calamity of Hurricane Katrina impacted former Walmart CEO, Lee Scott, personally as he walked the devastation and worked side by side with Walmart Associates to lend a helping hand. So much so, that on October 2005, Lee delivered a bold speech to Walmart Associates at Walmart’s annual kick off meeting. Bold, because the speech was the beginning of a departure from Walmart’s honored “Every Day Low Prices” practices. Below is an excerpt from that speech.

Katrina asked this critical question, and I want to ask it of you: What would it take for Walmart to be that company, at our best, all the time? What if we used our size and resources to make this country and this earth an even better place for all of us: customers, Associates, our children, and generations unborn? What would that mean? Could we do it? Is this consistent with our business model? What if the very things that many people criticize us for – our size and reach – became a trusted friend and ally to all, just as it did in Katrina?

Walmart is walking the talk. And it’s paying out. Walmart has added 100 new product lines and saved millions of dollars in store operations through their sustainability and diversity efforts. “It’s smart business” says Doug McMillon, CEO of Sam’s Club. “This is business in the 21^st Century. Being a successful business AND a good corporate citizen.”

Walmart’s heritage is respect for the individual, strive for excellence, and serve the customer. But the top global company also understands that its heritage, though timeless, must be made relevant to the times; and therefore, Walmart’s heritage is masterfully being expressed to ever-changing customer needs. And because of it, even today the brand is growing stronger around the globe.

Image Credit: NASA

Tags: championship, Katrina, responsibility, social, Walmart

All This Talk About Creativity

I’ve been impressed lately by the play creativity has been getting from business writers. Fast Company has really highlighted the topic and has featured a number of articles that show how creativity helps leaders and their businesses get ahead. Check out the October edition of Fast Company - page 56.

This brief highlights the book Iconoclast by Gregory Berns. The brief and the book present how our brains are lazy and our creative or imaginative process defaults to what we already know. The brief goes on to suggest that creativity and imagination happen most often in new environments or with new experiences.

Next time you want to get creative or imaginative, take on a new experience – bust out of the conference or leave the seminar, and go find a mountaintop, a shaded tree, or a roller coaster. Your mind needs a little right brain action. You and your business will benefit.

Tags: berns, business, champion, champions, championship, company, creativity, development, Fast, gregory, Iconoclast, imagination, Leadership, mike, organizational, thompson, Training

The End Result from Organizational Champions – Championship Companies

Champions build championship companies. What are championship companies?

Championship companies don’t compete, they win. They are most often category or industry leaders, or at least on their way to a category leadership position. Sometimes you might find a newly formed championship company in a turnaround effort. These companies are easy to spot.

1. They have great agility in an ever-changing world
2. They maximize partnerships and operate globally as an enterprise
3. Their culture is a highly diverse and performance-based culture
4. Accountability moves in all directions (evaluations happen up and down)
5. The organization operates as an interdependent system of cross-functional teams, clients, and suppliers.
6. These companies make bold plays and are disruptive by nature, often changing the game.
7. These companies are authentic – they walk the talk.
8. These companies have a genuine concern for their success and their contribution to society.

How do champions help build these championship companies?

1. They have trust and build trust within the organization by their example, their authenticity and consistency, their pure pursuits (win-win), and through accountability.
2. They are highly encouraging to others and spend a great deal of time investing in the highest potential.
3. They are inspiring through their emotional energy and drive for what’s possible.
4. They are always reminding people of the vision and connecting the dots to execution.
5. They are amazingly persevering and always get back up after a set-back (perspective).
6. They receive and give feedback regardless of hierarchy. They elevate above the politics. They have no time for politics.
7. They value the unique styles and experiences of all.
8. They personally engage. Their work has purpose, and therefore, they have a strong sense of mission.
9. The world doesn’t happen to them, they happen to the world (Jib Ellison).

Tags: agility, business, champions, championship, change, collaboration, companies, diversity, ellison, emotion, energy, enlighten, executive, interdependence, jib, Leadership, mutual, opportunities, organizational, performance, possibilities, purpose, risk, team, values, vision, win