Your Achievement Newsletter recently published an article titled “Sam Walton’s Rules for Success” written by Harvey Mackay. The full article is available at yoursuccessstore.com.
Let’s not forget that regardless of negative press, constant competitor attacks, as well as both legitimate and frivolous lawsuits, Wal-Mart continues to be, by far, the largest retailer in the world.
Bottom line (no pun intended) action speaks far louder than words. Over 125 million people visit a Wal-Mart store every week. Over 18 million people a day! Net sales in 2010 were 405 billion!
Regardless of how you feel about Sam Walton or Wal-Mart, there is absolutely no question that Sam was very successful and Wal-Mart continues to be one of the most successful companies and enterprises the world has ever known.
So, what can we learn from them? I encourage you to carefully think about each of Sam’s “Rules for Success” as written by Harvey Mackay. How does each apply to you in both your personal and professional life? What will you do, and what will your organization do to improve in each of these critical “Success Rules?”
- “Commit to your business. Believe in it more than anyone does. Passion is at the top of the list of the skills you need to excel.
- Share profits with your employees. If you treat them as partners, they will treat you as a partner, and together you will perform beyond your wildest dreams.
- Motivate your partners. Money and ownership are not enough. Set high goals, encourage competition and then keep score. Competition makes you better and stronger.
- Communicate everything you possibly can to your employees. The more they know, the more they will understand.
- Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. In addition to point #2, find ways to let your employees know that you value their contributions.
- Celebrate your successes. Find some humor in your failures. Don’t take yourself so seriously. Maintain a positive tone, even when things don’t go as planned.
- Listen to everyone in your company, and figure out ways to get them talking. Many people think that communication means getting others to do what you want them to do. For them, good listening means, “I talk, you listen.”
- Exceed your customers’ expectations. There’s one thing no business has enough of: customers.
- Control your expenses better than your competition.
- Swim upstream. If everyone else is doing it one way, there is a good chance you can find your niche by going in the opposite direction.”
These “rules,” strategies or principles work. There is no question. The hard evidence is in, and it is overwhelming. The only question is, what will you do to improve in each of these critical areas?
“If it’s to be, it’s up to me.” And now it’s up to you!
