WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.131 --> 00:00:03.813
So the first thing we did was look at a demographic search of what does that community look like?
2
00:00:04.273 --> 00:00:05.294
Is it African-American?
3
00:00:05.314 --> 00:00:06.074
Is it Latino?
4
00:00:06.194 --> 00:00:07.515
Is it of a certain age group?
5
00:00:07.555 --> 00:00:08.475
Is it large families?
6
00:00:08.875 --> 00:00:13.778
And then we tailored each store, the merchandising, to match that store.
7
00:00:14.198 --> 00:00:18.460
And so if it was a highly Jewish community, we made sure we had enough kosher items.
8
00:00:19.081 --> 00:00:24.066
If it was Latino community, we made sure we had products and services and the fruits, things that they liked.
9
00:00:24.626 --> 00:00:29.131
And the other thing we did was we understand that most of the folks who work for us live in that same community.
10
00:00:29.772 --> 00:00:31.394
And so making sure we take care of them.
11
00:00:31.474 --> 00:00:37.040
So in one of our Hispanic stores, we decided to have overhead announcements to be made both in English and in Spanish.
12
00:00:37.740 --> 00:00:49.193
And in doing those small things, along with a thing I have called God, greet, offer, thanks, make sure that every customer comes in, get greeted, offered assistance, and thanks for their business, that was really the simplicity of moving the needle.
13
00:00:50.021 --> 00:00:53.964
Hey there folks, welcome to today's episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast.
14
00:00:54.044 --> 00:00:55.325
My name is Anthony Taylor.
15
00:00:55.746 --> 00:01:05.794
You know, my next guest embodies leadership, but as we were talking in our pre-call, we were saying, you know, where the world is, let's call it leadership is uncommon in certain places.
16
00:01:05.814 --> 00:01:15.762
So he literally wrote the book on uncommon leadership, formerly corporate vice president of Walmart, independent director of past organizations, present organizations,
17
00:01:16.222 --> 00:01:19.043
overseeing president of Acme Markets for super value.
18
00:01:19.363 --> 00:01:25.685
Like so, so much dollars move through the organization, but the only way dollars can move is because of people.
19
00:01:25.965 --> 00:01:30.987
So my guest today, Keith Weich, supporting great organizations across the United States and around the world.
20
00:01:31.067 --> 00:01:33.728
Keith, thanks so much for joining us on the Strategy and Leadership Podcast.
21
00:01:34.228 --> 00:01:34.628
Hey, Anthony.
22
00:01:34.648 --> 00:01:36.108
Hey, thank you so much for having me.
23
00:01:36.588 --> 00:01:37.349
It's my pleasure.
24
00:01:37.389 --> 00:01:44.571
So I did your bio, anything that you wanna fill in the blanks of about your career, your work, your life, and we'll get into some questions.
25
00:01:45.023 --> 00:01:46.124
Yeah, you did a great job.
26
00:01:46.144 --> 00:01:47.545
My mother will love that introduction.
27
00:01:48.186 --> 00:01:55.692
The only thing I'll add is that, ironically, every role I had and every company I had was an organization or an industry undergoing change and transformation.
28
00:01:56.193 --> 00:02:01.878
I was at the Bell Company before divestiture in 1984 when they broke up from being a monopoly to being a competitive entity.
29
00:02:02.458 --> 00:02:07.081
I went to IBM when it was transforming from a hardware and software to more of a services company.
30
00:02:07.922 --> 00:02:12.445
Went to Pitney Bowes when they were trying to find other revenue streams other than mailing.
31
00:02:12.785 --> 00:02:21.431
And the last but not least, Walmart, when it was trying to transform from a brick-and-mortar retailer to more of an omni-channel e-commerce retailer to compete with the Amazons of the world.
32
00:02:21.471 --> 00:02:26.455
So every role I've had has been one that's been bound and changed the transformation.
33
00:02:27.252 --> 00:02:27.732
Interesting.
34
00:02:28.052 --> 00:02:29.573
So, I mean, let's start there.
35
00:02:29.914 --> 00:02:34.677
So, of course, you know, especially in I worked in a grocery store, I stock shelves.
36
00:02:34.837 --> 00:02:39.660
I know what it takes to get, you know, a can of food into the hands of people distinct from the farming component.
37
00:02:40.100 --> 00:02:41.481
But let's talk about driving change.
38
00:02:41.761 --> 00:02:43.062
You've got independent roles.
39
00:02:43.082 --> 00:02:44.162
You've got president roles.
40
00:02:44.623 --> 00:02:46.083
Let's talk about governance.
41
00:02:46.564 --> 00:02:49.806
Let's talk about how small groups of people.
42
00:02:50.386 --> 00:03:00.549
can be responsible for the success or failure of these large transformational initiatives what have you seen what's required and where have you seen it go less well
43
00:03:01.140 --> 00:03:05.643
Yeah, you know, the best ones follow something I call the four R's of change.
44
00:03:05.743 --> 00:03:09.186
And they make sure that they communicate, first of all, the relevance of change.
45
00:03:09.706 --> 00:03:11.347
Here's why we're making this change.
46
00:03:11.387 --> 00:03:13.529
And typically it's a burning platform situation.
47
00:03:14.029 --> 00:03:16.110
Customer segmentation issues have happened.
48
00:03:16.150 --> 00:03:17.331
Customer buying habits change.
49
00:03:17.351 --> 00:03:18.252
So what's the relevance?
50
00:03:18.832 --> 00:03:20.173
Secondly, what's the readiness?
51
00:03:20.673 --> 00:03:22.635
Are we ready for this change?
52
00:03:22.895 --> 00:03:25.177
When I say ready, are we ready from a cultural standpoint?
53
00:03:25.857 --> 00:03:28.139
Are we ready from a technological standpoint?
54
00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:29.920
You know, are we ready?
55
00:03:31.020 --> 00:03:35.801
The other thing I would throw out there is the, I would say, the responsiveness of that change.
56
00:03:35.941 --> 00:03:40.902
You know, are we coming back to people saying, hey, you know, here's where we are, here's what's going on.
57
00:03:40.982 --> 00:03:50.644
I find when you're going through change and transformation, you need to over-communicate because absence of communication, people will make up in their own minds, you know, what it is that they're doing.
58
00:03:50.844 --> 00:03:52.764
And the last R is robustness.
59
00:03:52.844 --> 00:03:53.865
Is this change too much?
60
00:03:53.885 --> 00:03:55.245
So I see companies right now with AI,
61
00:03:56.355 --> 00:03:57.336
And I see three different things.
62
00:03:57.377 --> 00:03:59.919
I see companies who are saying, hey, let's pilot this stuff internally.
63
00:04:00.260 --> 00:04:06.087
But then there's always that company that wants to go full board, just go all AI, kind of leading edge, bleeding edge.
64
00:04:06.387 --> 00:04:14.637
And in my experience, change needs to be and transformation needs to be structured in such a way that you're evolving instead of just all of a sudden trying to go full board.
65
00:04:15.643 --> 00:04:20.125
So let's talk about, as I look at one of the examples and there are many, so please tell me if there's something else.
66
00:04:20.445 --> 00:04:39.152
As I look at your experience of super value, you know, an industry that is notorious for having razor thin margins and a lot of challenges, you not only increase same store growth, sales, and increase even a margin through that, that doesn't happen by accident without kind of divulging any company secrets.
67
00:04:39.172 --> 00:04:45.034
Can you take us back to what it meant to kind of move that forward towards that transformation?
68
00:04:45.521 --> 00:04:46.542
Anthony, that's a great story.
69
00:04:46.562 --> 00:04:51.164
And what makes that story even more interesting is I had no grocery background prior to getting that role.
70
00:04:51.865 --> 00:04:54.166
I'd come from Pitney Bowls and IBM and AT&T.
71
00:04:54.646 --> 00:05:00.890
And so the simplicity of it for me was, okay, most people shop within a two-and-a-half-mile radius of where they live.
72
00:05:01.430 --> 00:05:05.133
So the first thing we did was look at a demographic search of what does that community look like?
73
00:05:05.573 --> 00:05:06.593
Is it African-American?
74
00:05:06.613 --> 00:05:07.374
Is it Latino?
75
00:05:07.494 --> 00:05:08.815
Is it of a certain age group?
76
00:05:08.855 --> 00:05:09.795
Is it large families?
77
00:05:10.176 --> 00:05:11.977
And then we tailored each store.
78
00:05:12.777 --> 00:05:15.060
the merchandising to match that store.
79
00:05:15.500 --> 00:05:19.745
And so if it was a highly Jewish community, we made sure we had enough kosher items.
80
00:05:20.386 --> 00:05:25.372
If it was Latino community, we made sure that we had products and services and the fruits, the things that they liked.
81
00:05:25.932 --> 00:05:30.438
And the other thing we did was we understand that most of the folks who work for us live in that same community.
82
00:05:31.058 --> 00:05:32.679
And so making sure we take care of them.
83
00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:38.341
So in one of our Hispanic stores, we decided to have overhead announcements to be made both in English and in Spanish.
84
00:05:39.041 --> 00:05:48.244
And in doing those small things, along with a thing I have called GOT, greet, offer, thanks, make sure that every customer comes in, get greeted, offered assistance and thanks for their business.
85
00:05:48.565 --> 00:05:50.505
That was really the simplicity of moving the needle.
86
00:05:50.665 --> 00:05:54.827
And so what's interesting about that, again, we're talking about things that are uncommon.
87
00:05:55.307 --> 00:05:56.928
you see these trends in business.
88
00:05:57.028 --> 00:06:03.592
You've been leading teams, leading organizations since early 90s, 80s, they're not gonna age you or anything.
89
00:06:03.952 --> 00:06:04.753
But if you look at,
90
00:06:06.579 --> 00:06:10.282
to standardization, right?
91
00:06:10.442 --> 00:06:17.868
And building that, and then you did across 112 stores, like as a lot of people, you said, not that.
92
00:06:18.409 --> 00:06:22.512
How do those conversations come about in the boardroom?
93
00:06:22.772 --> 00:06:24.493
How do they come up with the managers?
94
00:06:24.554 --> 00:06:29.117
And you talk like over communicate, over communicate, but how did you get people on board with that?
95
00:06:29.177 --> 00:06:31.499
Did they see the benefit of doing it?
96
00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:36.163
Or was it like dragging people uphill to get them on board with this idea?
97
00:06:36.637 --> 00:06:39.299
No, it was rooted and grounded in the facts.
98
00:06:39.359 --> 00:06:44.283
And so the facts are in almost every grocery store, 85% of what people buy is going to be the same.
99
00:06:44.423 --> 00:06:45.324
So it's going to be Tide.
100
00:06:45.364 --> 00:06:46.145
It's going to be Cresk.
101
00:06:46.205 --> 00:06:48.026
It's going to be, you know, those products, right?
102
00:06:48.427 --> 00:06:51.629
But 15% of that should be tailored for that audience.
103
00:06:52.230 --> 00:06:57.394
And so we did things like, and you're going to chuckle out of this, we went to an African-American community in Minneapolis and,
104
00:06:57.932 --> 00:07:04.576
And I went to the hair care section and none of the hair care products in that section fit that community.
105
00:07:04.596 --> 00:07:06.157
So there was dust on top of the boxes.
106
00:07:06.237 --> 00:07:10.500
And so, you know, taking board members with me to do these tours to see, hey, here's what's happening.
107
00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:14.923
Similarly, Thanksgiving, went to a store, again, heavily African-American community.
108
00:07:14.983 --> 00:07:17.585
They had tons of pumpkin pie.
109
00:07:17.605 --> 00:07:18.926
They had no sweet potato pie.
110
00:07:19.486 --> 00:07:20.787
And so we did a little litmus test.
111
00:07:20.807 --> 00:07:23.829
We said, hey, let's put 50 of each out, same price, see what sells.
112
00:07:23.889 --> 00:07:27.071
We come back the next day, you still get about 25 or so pumpkin pies.
113
00:07:27.515 --> 00:07:28.677
All the sweet potato pies are gone.
114
00:07:28.997 --> 00:07:41.717
And so it's really just focusing in on the buying habits of the customers and helping those leaders see that at the end of the day, if you take care of the customer, they can shop when they want, where they want, and what they want, they'll come back to you time and time again.
115
00:07:42.877 --> 00:07:49.441
So let's, so no grocery experience, but what the heart of it is, is making sure that it's tailored to people.
116
00:07:50.101 --> 00:07:56.205
And then what you did to move the change forward was allow people to bring that first R, the relevance.
117
00:07:56.245 --> 00:07:57.466
You know, this is relevant.
118
00:07:57.486 --> 00:07:58.426
Here's why you're relevant.
119
00:07:58.626 --> 00:08:00.027
You brought the facts in.
120
00:08:00.387 --> 00:08:08.072
And I think that responsiveness, you know, both on both ends of things, like being a connector to help other people kind of discover it for themselves.
121
00:08:08.652 --> 00:08:09.834
Something you want to add?
122
00:08:09.854 --> 00:08:13.819
Yeah, the other thing that helped is that I looked at everything through the lens of the customer, right?
123
00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:15.261
And let me give you what that looks like.
124
00:08:15.281 --> 00:08:19.927
You know, from the moment I got to the parking lot, was the parking lot clean or was there trash everywhere?
125
00:08:20.928 --> 00:08:22.850
When I went to the vegetable, were there carts there?
126
00:08:22.891 --> 00:08:24.793
Were the carts all scattered over the parking lot?
127
00:08:25.173 --> 00:08:29.059
You know, when I went to the meat department, did the meat look fresh or was there brown meat?
128
00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:31.942
And so I was always looking at it through the lens of a customer.
129
00:08:32.023 --> 00:08:34.206
Is the pricing where I can see it and understand it?
130
00:08:34.326 --> 00:08:35.968
You know, is the product where it needs to be?
131
00:08:35.988 --> 00:08:40.454
And so everything I did was really through the lens of the customer to enhance and improve
132
00:08:40.734 --> 00:08:45.536
The customer shopping experience, even down to self-checkouts versus man checkouts, right?
133
00:08:45.556 --> 00:08:47.596
Doing those things to say, okay, this is a young community.
134
00:08:47.616 --> 00:08:49.097
It's right next to the University of Minnesota.
135
00:08:49.457 --> 00:08:50.597
These kids want to get in and out.
136
00:08:51.577 --> 00:08:54.919
Maybe the predominant would be mostly predominantly self-checkout.
137
00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:57.879
Here's another community in another part of the city.
138
00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:01.461
Elderly people don't really want to weigh their potatoes and their bananas.
139
00:09:01.741 --> 00:09:05.902
And so making sure, again, everything fit that community, but looking through the lens of the customer.
140
00:09:06.706 --> 00:09:07.687
Well, I think that's something.
141
00:09:07.707 --> 00:09:17.376
So, you know, as you're listening, you know, most of you, many of you senior leadership people, you're on board and you have a view of the entire organization.
142
00:09:17.436 --> 00:09:22.160
Your SVPs, your VPs, your other senior leaders, they have a lot of functional things.
143
00:09:22.220 --> 00:09:30.248
But, you know, my invitation coming out of what I'm hearing Keith say is, you know, zoom out on the entire business, but take the lens of your customer to look at that.
144
00:09:30.688 --> 00:09:33.150
Yeah, the other thing is listen to your frontline associates.
145
00:09:33.230 --> 00:09:48.719
Anthony, every time I go into a store, I would ask my frontline associates, not the management team, the hourly workers, tell me three things I'm asking you to do that make no sense at all to you, and tell me three things or three products that if you had this product or if we did this, we could sell more of it or sell it.
146
00:09:49.299 --> 00:09:56.223
And I got more information and knowledge and intelligence out of those conversations of things that we were making them do that added no value.
147
00:09:56.283 --> 00:09:57.504
Maybe it made a report change.
148
00:09:57.784 --> 00:10:00.706
to me looked good, but it was taking time away from them serving the customer.
149
00:10:01.266 --> 00:10:09.712
And so just listening to that frontline associate to say, hey, we have these big oranges, but my customer likes the mini oranges more or whatever that might be.
150
00:10:09.752 --> 00:10:13.655
And so listening to that frontline associate was also part of that equation.
151
00:10:14.321 --> 00:10:17.043
So let's talk associates, you know, no grocery experience.
152
00:10:17.083 --> 00:10:22.046
Then you find yourself in Walmart responsible for 30,000 associates.
153
00:10:22.066 --> 00:10:27.329
You know, the Walmart greeter is, you know, now synonymous with Walmart.
154
00:10:27.349 --> 00:10:29.551
I don't know if you created that or if that's came through.
155
00:10:29.591 --> 00:10:30.291
No, that was there.
156
00:10:30.751 --> 00:10:31.292
Before there.
157
00:10:31.372 --> 00:10:31.572
Okay.
158
00:10:31.792 --> 00:10:34.014
So was it more of the same?
159
00:10:34.054 --> 00:10:40.798
What was the difference moving from the previous organization into Walmart, which was obviously a much, you know, larger scope?
160
00:10:40.958 --> 00:10:44.040
What was it like leading teams in that organization?
161
00:10:44.561 --> 00:10:51.109
You know, what I loved about Walmart was that almost everyone from the CEO down started as an hourly associate.
162
00:10:52.250 --> 00:10:58.638
And so they understood the business from, you know, unloading the truck, stocking the shelves, you know, sweeping the parking lot perspective.
163
00:10:59.179 --> 00:11:04.265
The other thing I did as part of my onboarding for the first 90 days is I actually worked in stores.
164
00:11:04.805 --> 00:11:05.786
I changed oil.
165
00:11:05.846 --> 00:11:06.927
I changed tires.
166
00:11:07.007 --> 00:11:08.468
I fried chicken in the deli.
167
00:11:08.668 --> 00:11:16.734
I stopped trucks because I wanted to understand primarily from a general merchandise perspective, you know, how this is different.
168
00:11:16.994 --> 00:11:19.356
The beautiful thing about Walmart is that they had this book.
169
00:11:19.456 --> 00:11:20.497
It was called One Best Way.
170
00:11:20.517 --> 00:11:21.117
It wasn't a book.
171
00:11:21.137 --> 00:11:21.878
It was a process.
172
00:11:22.218 --> 00:11:23.939
This is just one best way to do everything.
173
00:11:23.999 --> 00:11:29.203
So the way we bake bread in Philadelphia was the exact same way we bake bread in San Francisco.
174
00:11:30.010 --> 00:11:32.412
The way you frost a cake was the same.
175
00:11:32.432 --> 00:11:43.018
And so because we had these standard operating procedures and a long history of tenured people in place, it was very easy to kind of come in and understand how Walmart moves and shakes.
176
00:11:43.418 --> 00:11:46.620
The challenge at Walmart was that they were trying to move from brick and mortar
177
00:11:46.940 --> 00:11:50.981
to e-commerce, which was something that was not their strong suit.
178
00:11:51.021 --> 00:11:55.302
The whole machinery was built around coming into the store brick and mortar.
179
00:11:56.382 --> 00:12:02.584
And so what I had to do, for my team at least, was to create a story to talk about the relevance as why we needed to make that change.
180
00:12:02.964 --> 00:12:05.744
And I dug back in my history, Anthony, to my time at Sears.
181
00:12:05.904 --> 00:12:07.665
I was an intern at Sears in the late 70s.
182
00:12:08.625 --> 00:12:11.089
And I said, guys, who was the number one retailer in 1978?
183
00:12:11.529 --> 00:12:12.250
Very few people knew.
184
00:12:12.270 --> 00:12:12.851
It was Sears.
185
00:12:13.332 --> 00:12:14.834
I said, here's what was unique about Sears.
186
00:12:15.075 --> 00:12:20.442
Sears was both Walmart and Amazon at the same time because they had the brick and mortar like Walmart.
187
00:12:20.943 --> 00:12:22.986
But like Amazon, they had these catalogs.
188
00:12:23.907 --> 00:12:28.330
where you could order from the catalog for Christmas or back to school, what have you.
189
00:12:28.430 --> 00:12:30.351
It could be delivered to your home or you could pick it up.
190
00:12:30.871 --> 00:12:38.275
I said, so if they were able to be basically both companies at once in the late 70s to non-existent today, why?
191
00:12:38.995 --> 00:12:40.836
Because they didn't change with the times.
192
00:12:40.876 --> 00:12:42.917
They didn't change with the customer buying habits.
193
00:12:43.317 --> 00:12:48.720
And once we kind of shared that story, that created the platform for them to say, hey, we need to change.
194
00:12:48.860 --> 00:12:51.702
But we took it one step further because people want to know what's in it for me.
195
00:12:52.760 --> 00:13:05.304
And so we had this story about, hey, we did some research that if a customer had a great shopping experience, Anthony, all the way through the self-checkouts or the checkouts, they liably will come back and they'll add one more item to the basket the next time they shop.
196
00:13:06.165 --> 00:13:16.128
If you say $5 is average unit retail in Walmart times a million customers that come through there, it creates more revenue, but it also creates more hours for that worker.
197
00:13:16.268 --> 00:13:21.790
Because most workers at Walmart and any other retail establishment, the coup de grace is how many hours can I get?
198
00:13:22.310 --> 00:13:22.530
Right.
199
00:13:22.850 --> 00:13:28.174
And so once they saw the connection of, you know, hey, cashier, you're the last line of defense.
200
00:13:28.535 --> 00:13:33.418
If she has a great customer shopping experience and a quick checkout experience, she's going to be happy and come back.
201
00:13:33.558 --> 00:13:37.401
Conversely, she can have a great shopping experience, but the lines are long.
202
00:13:37.441 --> 00:13:38.301
You're mean and nasty.
203
00:13:38.321 --> 00:13:42.865
And so connecting the people to the vision where they could see themselves really made a difference.
204
00:13:43.485 --> 00:13:53.614
And that's why it's interesting because it's the kind of the one best way plus this whole new way and being able to merge those, especially with folks that have been with the organization.
205
00:13:53.914 --> 00:13:57.778
You know, I've been at Walmart for 20, 30 years.
206
00:13:58.038 --> 00:14:03.663
You know, this is a whole new way for them and getting them to connect it to what's important, what their drivers are, I think is important.
207
00:14:03.683 --> 00:14:05.144
Yeah, and you had to work with them.
208
00:14:05.164 --> 00:14:09.748
You know, we had meat department managers who were used to saying, hey, this is how many steaks I need to put out.
209
00:14:09.848 --> 00:14:15.453
Well, we had documents through One Best Way that said, well, given the buying habits and the time of the month, this is how much.
210
00:14:15.493 --> 00:14:20.057
And so it was a trial and error there, but they learned to trust the data, and it was a wonderful experience.
211
00:14:20.157 --> 00:14:21.398
One of the best companies I've ever worked for.
212
00:14:21.958 --> 00:14:22.459
That's amazing.
213
00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:23.339
Okay, so let's talk.
214
00:14:24.797 --> 00:14:28.381
especially with Walmart in this case, everybody has been there.
215
00:14:28.441 --> 00:14:29.582
You got your hands dirty.
216
00:14:29.602 --> 00:14:30.643
You did all that stuff.
217
00:14:31.044 --> 00:14:39.572
Now in your work as an independent director, currently at the time of publishing Internet Sciences, Brinks, and I'm sure more, you're a director.
218
00:14:39.993 --> 00:14:41.915
You're looking at people in the organization.
219
00:14:42.275 --> 00:14:43.717
How do you balance that
220
00:14:44.692 --> 00:14:56.695
getting the right people, the right people on the bus, the balance between kind of new blood and experienced people, and then managing those perspectives as they all come to work together.
221
00:14:56.715 --> 00:14:59.695
I hope my question makes sense, but- Yeah, sure, sure, sure it makes sense.
222
00:14:59.735 --> 00:15:02.376
I mean, you know, the board role is a governance role, right?
223
00:15:02.416 --> 00:15:07.957
You know, and I always have to remind my fellow board members sometimes, you know, we don't run the business, we govern the business, right?
224
00:15:08.637 --> 00:15:10.559
you know, nose in, fingers out.
225
00:15:11.640 --> 00:15:15.664
But I also make sure that we stress that it's all about the top talent and having top talent.
226
00:15:16.344 --> 00:15:24.552
And so working with the CEO and executive leadership teams to make sure that, hey, you know, let's do an assessment and do a regular assessment of the talent we have around us.
227
00:15:24.892 --> 00:15:33.200
And it could be, you know, Keith's in this role as CFO and he's okay, but would he be better suited, you know, being at the comptroller or the treasurer?
228
00:15:33.740 --> 00:15:38.301
and let's go find a global CFO with this type of experience.
229
00:15:38.361 --> 00:15:43.143
We look to say, from a talent standpoint, do we blend young with new?
230
00:15:43.183 --> 00:15:46.304
Right now, AI, cybersecurity, all those things are hot topics.
231
00:15:46.324 --> 00:15:46.844
Well, guess what?
232
00:15:47.184 --> 00:15:51.185
The subject matter experts in those spaces are in their 30s and 40s at best, right?
233
00:15:51.286 --> 00:15:55.787
And so you have to maybe realize, hey, there's going to be a young person on your leadership team
234
00:15:56.607 --> 00:15:58.669
because you need that expertise.
235
00:15:58.829 --> 00:16:07.455
And then making sure that there's healthy conversation where people are free to share their, you know, disagreeable ideas but in a very agreeable manner.
236
00:16:07.475 --> 00:16:10.417
You know, respect for the individual, those types of things.
237
00:16:10.977 --> 00:16:12.058
And we manage that.
238
00:16:12.198 --> 00:16:19.303
And from there we put the best people on the field and we overlook, you know, govern and work with senior leadership to make it happen.
239
00:16:20.574 --> 00:16:29.857
What's clear to me is everything that you do, trust, integrity, focus, performance, and like people, human centered.
240
00:16:29.877 --> 00:16:34.178
It sounds like that's the MO for how you approach leadership and how you approach your roles.
241
00:16:34.258 --> 00:16:35.379
Is it fair to say?
242
00:16:35.399 --> 00:16:36.019
You're spot on.
243
00:16:36.059 --> 00:16:38.319
In fact, I have an equation for trust.
244
00:16:38.800 --> 00:16:40.080
And trust is character.
245
00:16:40.975 --> 00:16:44.377
times competency, times consistency.
246
00:16:44.917 --> 00:16:53.062
And you need all three of those to be an effective leader that develops trust because you can have character and competency, but if you're not consistent, it's problematic.
247
00:16:53.463 --> 00:16:57.665
You can be consistent and have character, but not competency, still problematic.
248
00:16:57.685 --> 00:17:05.710
And so I find if you marry the three of those, again, character times competency, times consistency, you develop trust in organizations and with people.
249
00:17:06.392 --> 00:17:11.336
Okay, so let's talk about, I want to build on that equation, and I want to talk about the book.
250
00:17:11.797 --> 00:17:20.003
Let's say you've got a CEO, they're not going through change, let's say, but they are trying to build their organization for the future.
251
00:17:20.304 --> 00:17:32.094
You know, what are some things, and as a, again, board member experience person, what are some things that you'd have them either think about, consider, whether that's the equation as the place, and then tell us a little bit about the book.
252
00:17:32.114 --> 00:17:33.855
So two questions in one, I'll let you run with it.
253
00:17:33.915 --> 00:17:34.155
Sure.
254
00:17:34.195 --> 00:17:39.437
The first thing I tell any leader, not just a CEO, is don't be afraid to surround yourself with individual talent.
255
00:17:39.457 --> 00:17:41.658
They may know more than you do in a given area.
256
00:17:42.379 --> 00:17:46.440
You know, I want my CFO to know more about the financials of the P&L than I do.
257
00:17:46.580 --> 00:17:51.422
I want my HR leader to be very deeply rooted and grounded in HR.
258
00:17:51.482 --> 00:17:54.644
Don't be afraid to again, because you're the conductor of that orchestra.
259
00:17:54.864 --> 00:17:57.545
You don't have to play the trombone as well as the best trombone player.
260
00:17:58.105 --> 00:17:59.606
And so surround yourself with talent.
261
00:17:59.627 --> 00:18:01.668
Don't be afraid to surround yourself with talent.
262
00:18:02.209 --> 00:18:04.251
That really eclipses your knowledge in certain areas.
263
00:18:04.271 --> 00:18:05.111
So that's the first thing.
264
00:18:05.752 --> 00:18:09.976
The second thing is you can elevate both performance and people at the same time.
265
00:18:10.616 --> 00:18:19.364
One of the things that I think really kind of hurt a lot of businesses and people is the focus on short-term results or that quarterly return.
266
00:18:19.624 --> 00:18:23.748
People make short-term behaviors to get the results without respect to the people.
267
00:18:24.629 --> 00:18:27.372
And whenever you make people the pawns in the equation, it's problematic.
268
00:18:27.512 --> 00:18:33.460
I think the most valuable asset on anybody's balance sheet is the human capital, the people that do the work.
269
00:18:34.422 --> 00:18:39.829
And so the book is really one of those books that says, hey, let's get back to creating environments of trust.
270
00:18:40.537 --> 00:18:45.940
Let's get back to an environment where we have people who are focused on the people.
271
00:18:46.840 --> 00:18:53.404
Because, again, too often we move from servant leadership to self-serving leadership many times.
272
00:18:53.724 --> 00:18:57.186
And I think the movement is, hey, let's get back to what leadership should be.
273
00:18:57.826 --> 00:19:04.930
I don't have to tell you, particularly in the States, you turn on any television any day and you'll see characters acting badly from elected officials to
274
00:19:05.631 --> 00:19:07.453
faith-based leaders to business leaders, right?
275
00:19:08.395 --> 00:19:12.361
And they're setting an example for that next generation of leadership that we need to correct.
276
00:19:12.622 --> 00:19:15.526
I'm trying to...
277
00:19:16.289 --> 00:19:19.990
I praise this because you said it, you know, like self-serving versus self-leadership.
278
00:19:20.410 --> 00:19:26.091
And I think in some cases it's maybe easy to lose your way, assuming it's not malicious, right?
279
00:19:26.111 --> 00:19:28.172
You know, sometimes you're trying to figure it out.
280
00:19:29.032 --> 00:19:38.474
Is there anything you want to like check yourself before you wreck yourself as leaders to say, hey, like just take maybe if you're listening to the episode, just pause and say, hey, am I focused on the people in my organization?
281
00:19:38.874 --> 00:19:40.674
Or am I focused on something else?
282
00:19:40.734 --> 00:19:43.115
Is there anything you've done for yourself if you've ever lost?
283
00:19:43.755 --> 00:19:44.395
You're spot on.
284
00:19:44.415 --> 00:19:50.678
And the first thing I would tell you is to examine yourself, because as a leader, everything about you sends a signal and people will watch you.
285
00:19:50.738 --> 00:19:58.042
Something as simple as this, Anthony, when I go into a grocery store to tour with my team, if I see trash on the floor, I bend down and pick it up and throw it away.
286
00:19:58.442 --> 00:19:58.742
Why?
287
00:19:58.942 --> 00:20:03.184
Because if I don't do that, I've just told all the folks working with me that it's OK to have trash on the floor.
288
00:20:03.524 --> 00:20:05.225
So you'll have to walk the talk yourself.
289
00:20:06.097 --> 00:20:07.177
And just evaluate yourself.
290
00:20:07.217 --> 00:20:14.739
One thing that we don't do, particularly when we get the egos that are big as most leaders, you tend to have no one who wants to tell you that you have no clothes.
291
00:20:14.779 --> 00:20:20.181
And so also have people around you who you give the right to say, hey, have you thought about your behavior this way?
292
00:20:20.201 --> 00:20:21.101
Have you thought about that?
293
00:20:22.142 --> 00:20:27.083
And above all, have your own value system in place of what you will and will not do from an integrity standpoint.
294
00:20:28.497 --> 00:20:31.758
I mean, that's where it starts and ends there.
295
00:20:32.638 --> 00:20:35.058
And so I love that that's a great place to finish.
296
00:20:35.118 --> 00:20:36.979
Keith, where can people connect with you?
297
00:20:36.999 --> 00:20:37.899
Where can they get your book?
298
00:20:37.919 --> 00:20:39.659
Where can they learn more about your work?
299
00:20:39.699 --> 00:20:43.040
And if there's anything else you want to add that I didn't ask you, please share it.
300
00:20:43.060 --> 00:20:45.100
No, you've been a generous and gracious host, Anthony.
301
00:20:45.140 --> 00:20:47.621
I would say reach me at keithweich.com.
302
00:20:47.641 --> 00:20:50.742
That's K-E-I-T-H-W-Y-C-H-E.com.
303
00:20:51.302 --> 00:20:55.442
I'm always on LinkedIn and you can follow me on Instagram at TheRealKeithWeich.
304
00:20:55.863 --> 00:20:58.063
My book is available online at Walmart
305
00:20:58.703 --> 00:21:01.505
Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com and wherever books are sold.
306
00:21:02.206 --> 00:21:02.786
Excellent, Keith.
307
00:21:02.866 --> 00:21:04.067
I super appreciate it.
308
00:21:04.087 --> 00:21:12.632
Thanks for being on the show today and just thanks for being the person that you are for literally tens of thousands of people have benefited from your leadership and I wish you nothing but the best moving forward.
309
00:21:13.193 --> 00:21:14.213
Thank you so much, Anthony.
310
00:21:14.233 --> 00:21:14.714
Same to you.
311
00:21:15.294 --> 00:21:16.775
Folks, my guest today, Keith White.
312
00:21:17.315 --> 00:21:19.577
You know, one of the things I encourage you to do coming out of this episode
313
00:21:19.877 --> 00:21:21.318
You know, just listen to it with your team.
314
00:21:21.459 --> 00:21:23.260
Like, stop, have a meeting, look at this.
315
00:21:23.921 --> 00:21:29.526
And what I get from Keith is just really about the standards, like setting the standards, having those non-negotiables.
316
00:21:29.586 --> 00:21:31.028
You know, I hate this.
317
00:21:31.108 --> 00:21:32.029
I thought I hate this reference.
318
00:21:32.049 --> 00:21:32.809
I use it all the time.
319
00:21:33.030 --> 00:21:34.851
The Migos, you know, you got to walk it like you talk it.
320
00:21:35.132 --> 00:21:38.715
And so if you don't do that, people are going to know and people are going to see it.
321
00:21:38.975 --> 00:21:40.437
And it's a hard enough job.
322
00:21:40.937 --> 00:21:45.618
build a great team around and that's what's really uncommon about great leadership.
323
00:21:45.798 --> 00:21:47.799
So I hope you got a lot from today's episode.
324
00:21:47.819 --> 00:21:54.400
Please share with some folks that'll make a difference because it'll make a difference in the lives of your people and that's obviously what today was all about.
325
00:21:54.460 --> 00:21:57.341
So my guest today, Keith White, you can connect with him online.
326
00:21:57.801 --> 00:21:58.701
My name is Anthony Taylor.
327
00:21:58.721 --> 00:22:02.382
This has been the Strategy and Leadership Podcast and as always, until next time.
1
00:00:00.131 --> 00:00:03.813
So the first thing we did was look at a demographic search of what does that community look like?
2
00:00:04.273 --> 00:00:05.294
Is it African-American?
3
00:00:05.314 --> 00:00:06.074
Is it Latino?
4
00:00:06.194 --> 00:00:07.515
Is it of a certain age group?
5
00:00:07.555 --> 00:00:08.475
Is it large families?
6
00:00:08.875 --> 00:00:13.778
And then we tailored each store, the merchandising, to match that store.
7
00:00:14.198 --> 00:00:18.460
And so if it was a highly Jewish community, we made sure we had enough kosher items.
8
00:00:19.081 --> 00:00:24.066
If it was Latino community, we made sure we had products and services and the fruits, things that they liked.
9
00:00:24.626 --> 00:00:29.131
And the other thing we did was we understand that most of the folks who work for us live in that same community.
10
00:00:29.772 --> 00:00:31.394
And so making sure we take care of them.
11
00:00:31.474 --> 00:00:37.040
So in one of our Hispanic stores, we decided to have overhead announcements to be made both in English and in Spanish.
12
00:00:37.740 --> 00:00:49.193
And in doing those small things, along with a thing I have called God, greet, offer, thanks, make sure that every customer comes in, get greeted, offered assistance, and thanks for their business, that was really the simplicity of moving the needle.
13
00:00:50.021 --> 00:00:53.964
Hey there folks, welcome to today's episode of the Strategy and Leadership Podcast.
14
00:00:54.044 --> 00:00:55.325
My name is Anthony Taylor.
15
00:00:55.746 --> 00:01:05.794
You know, my next guest embodies leadership, but as we were talking in our pre-call, we were saying, you know, where the world is, let's call it leadership is uncommon in certain places.
16
00:01:05.814 --> 00:01:15.762
So he literally wrote the book on uncommon leadership, formerly corporate vice president of Walmart, independent director of past organizations, present organizations,
17
00:01:16.222 --> 00:01:19.043
overseeing president of Acme Markets for super value.
18
00:01:19.363 --> 00:01:25.685
Like so, so much dollars move through the organization, but the only way dollars can move is because of people.
19
00:01:25.965 --> 00:01:30.987
So my guest today, Keith Weich, supporting great organizations across the United States and around the world.
20
00:01:31.067 --> 00:01:33.728
Keith, thanks so much for joining us on the Strategy and Leadership Podcast.
21
00:01:34.228 --> 00:01:34.628
Hey, Anthony.
22
00:01:34.648 --> 00:01:36.108
Hey, thank you so much for having me.
23
00:01:36.588 --> 00:01:37.349
It's my pleasure.
24
00:01:37.389 --> 00:01:44.571
So I did your bio, anything that you wanna fill in the blanks of about your career, your work, your life, and we'll get into some questions.
25
00:01:45.023 --> 00:01:46.124
Yeah, you did a great job.
26
00:01:46.144 --> 00:01:47.545
My mother will love that introduction.
27
00:01:48.186 --> 00:01:55.692
The only thing I'll add is that, ironically, every role I had and every company I had was an organization or an industry undergoing change and transformation.
28
00:01:56.193 --> 00:02:01.878
I was at the Bell Company before divestiture in 1984 when they broke up from being a monopoly to being a competitive entity.
29
00:02:02.458 --> 00:02:07.081
I went to IBM when it was transforming from a hardware and software to more of a services company.
30
00:02:07.922 --> 00:02:12.445
Went to Pitney Bowes when they were trying to find other revenue streams other than mailing.
31
00:02:12.785 --> 00:02:21.431
And the last but not least, Walmart, when it was trying to transform from a brick-and-mortar retailer to more of an omni-channel e-commerce retailer to compete with the Amazons of the world.
32
00:02:21.471 --> 00:02:26.455
So every role I've had has been one that's been bound and changed the transformation.
33
00:02:27.252 --> 00:02:27.732
Interesting.
34
00:02:28.052 --> 00:02:29.573
So, I mean, let's start there.
35
00:02:29.914 --> 00:02:34.677
So, of course, you know, especially in I worked in a grocery store, I stock shelves.
36
00:02:34.837 --> 00:02:39.660
I know what it takes to get, you know, a can of food into the hands of people distinct from the farming component.
37
00:02:40.100 --> 00:02:41.481
But let's talk about driving change.
38
00:02:41.761 --> 00:02:43.062
You've got independent roles.
39
00:02:43.082 --> 00:02:44.162
You've got president roles.
40
00:02:44.623 --> 00:02:46.083
Let's talk about governance.
41
00:02:46.564 --> 00:02:49.806
Let's talk about how small groups of people.
42
00:02:50.386 --> 00:03:00.549
can be responsible for the success or failure of these large transformational initiatives what have you seen what's required and where have you seen it go less well
43
00:03:01.140 --> 00:03:05.643
Yeah, you know, the best ones follow something I call the four R's of change.
44
00:03:05.743 --> 00:03:09.186
And they make sure that they communicate, first of all, the relevance of change.
45
00:03:09.706 --> 00:03:11.347
Here's why we're making this change.
46
00:03:11.387 --> 00:03:13.529
And typically it's a burning platform situation.
47
00:03:14.029 --> 00:03:16.110
Customer segmentation issues have happened.
48
00:03:16.150 --> 00:03:17.331
Customer buying habits change.
49
00:03:17.351 --> 00:03:18.252
So what's the relevance?
50
00:03:18.832 --> 00:03:20.173
Secondly, what's the readiness?
51
00:03:20.673 --> 00:03:22.635
Are we ready for this change?
52
00:03:22.895 --> 00:03:25.177
When I say ready, are we ready from a cultural standpoint?
53
00:03:25.857 --> 00:03:28.139
Are we ready from a technological standpoint?
54
00:03:28.159 --> 00:03:29.920
You know, are we ready?
55
00:03:31.020 --> 00:03:35.801
The other thing I would throw out there is the, I would say, the responsiveness of that change.
56
00:03:35.941 --> 00:03:40.902
You know, are we coming back to people saying, hey, you know, here's where we are, here's what's going on.
57
00:03:40.982 --> 00:03:50.644
I find when you're going through change and transformation, you need to over-communicate because absence of communication, people will make up in their own minds, you know, what it is that they're doing.
58
00:03:50.844 --> 00:03:52.764
And the last R is robustness.
59
00:03:52.844 --> 00:03:53.865
Is this change too much?
60
00:03:53.885 --> 00:03:55.245
So I see companies right now with AI,
61
00:03:56.355 --> 00:03:57.336
And I see three different things.
62
00:03:57.377 --> 00:03:59.919
I see companies who are saying, hey, let's pilot this stuff internally.
63
00:04:00.260 --> 00:04:06.087
But then there's always that company that wants to go full board, just go all AI, kind of leading edge, bleeding edge.
64
00:04:06.387 --> 00:04:14.637
And in my experience, change needs to be and transformation needs to be structured in such a way that you're evolving instead of just all of a sudden trying to go full board.
65
00:04:15.643 --> 00:04:20.125
So let's talk about, as I look at one of the examples and there are many, so please tell me if there's something else.
66
00:04:20.445 --> 00:04:39.152
As I look at your experience of super value, you know, an industry that is notorious for having razor thin margins and a lot of challenges, you not only increase same store growth, sales, and increase even a margin through that, that doesn't happen by accident without kind of divulging any company secrets.
67
00:04:39.172 --> 00:04:45.034
Can you take us back to what it meant to kind of move that forward towards that transformation?
68
00:04:45.521 --> 00:04:46.542
Anthony, that's a great story.
69
00:04:46.562 --> 00:04:51.164
And what makes that story even more interesting is I had no grocery background prior to getting that role.
70
00:04:51.865 --> 00:04:54.166
I'd come from Pitney Bowls and IBM and AT&T.
71
00:04:54.646 --> 00:05:00.890
And so the simplicity of it for me was, okay, most people shop within a two-and-a-half-mile radius of where they live.
72
00:05:01.430 --> 00:05:05.133
So the first thing we did was look at a demographic search of what does that community look like?
73
00:05:05.573 --> 00:05:06.593
Is it African-American?
74
00:05:06.613 --> 00:05:07.374
Is it Latino?
75
00:05:07.494 --> 00:05:08.815
Is it of a certain age group?
76
00:05:08.855 --> 00:05:09.795
Is it large families?
77
00:05:10.176 --> 00:05:11.977
And then we tailored each store.
78
00:05:12.777 --> 00:05:15.060
the merchandising to match that store.
79
00:05:15.500 --> 00:05:19.745
And so if it was a highly Jewish community, we made sure we had enough kosher items.
80
00:05:20.386 --> 00:05:25.372
If it was Latino community, we made sure that we had products and services and the fruits, the things that they liked.
81
00:05:25.932 --> 00:05:30.438
And the other thing we did was we understand that most of the folks who work for us live in that same community.
82
00:05:31.058 --> 00:05:32.679
And so making sure we take care of them.
83
00:05:32.759 --> 00:05:38.341
So in one of our Hispanic stores, we decided to have overhead announcements to be made both in English and in Spanish.
84
00:05:39.041 --> 00:05:48.244
And in doing those small things, along with a thing I have called GOT, greet, offer, thanks, make sure that every customer comes in, get greeted, offered assistance and thanks for their business.
85
00:05:48.565 --> 00:05:50.505
That was really the simplicity of moving the needle.
86
00:05:50.665 --> 00:05:54.827
And so what's interesting about that, again, we're talking about things that are uncommon.
87
00:05:55.307 --> 00:05:56.928
you see these trends in business.
88
00:05:57.028 --> 00:06:03.592
You've been leading teams, leading organizations since early 90s, 80s, they're not gonna age you or anything.
89
00:06:03.952 --> 00:06:04.753
But if you look at,
90
00:06:06.579 --> 00:06:10.282
to standardization, right?
91
00:06:10.442 --> 00:06:17.868
And building that, and then you did across 112 stores, like as a lot of people, you said, not that.
92
00:06:18.409 --> 00:06:22.512
How do those conversations come about in the boardroom?
93
00:06:22.772 --> 00:06:24.493
How do they come up with the managers?
94
00:06:24.554 --> 00:06:29.117
And you talk like over communicate, over communicate, but how did you get people on board with that?
95
00:06:29.177 --> 00:06:31.499
Did they see the benefit of doing it?
96
00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:36.163
Or was it like dragging people uphill to get them on board with this idea?
97
00:06:36.637 --> 00:06:39.299
No, it was rooted and grounded in the facts.
98
00:06:39.359 --> 00:06:44.283
And so the facts are in almost every grocery store, 85% of what people buy is going to be the same.
99
00:06:44.423 --> 00:06:45.324
So it's going to be Tide.
100
00:06:45.364 --> 00:06:46.145
It's going to be Cresk.
101
00:06:46.205 --> 00:06:48.026
It's going to be, you know, those products, right?
102
00:06:48.427 --> 00:06:51.629
But 15% of that should be tailored for that audience.
103
00:06:52.230 --> 00:06:57.394
And so we did things like, and you're going to chuckle out of this, we went to an African-American community in Minneapolis and,
104
00:06:57.932 --> 00:07:04.576
And I went to the hair care section and none of the hair care products in that section fit that community.
105
00:07:04.596 --> 00:07:06.157
So there was dust on top of the boxes.
106
00:07:06.237 --> 00:07:10.500
And so, you know, taking board members with me to do these tours to see, hey, here's what's happening.
107
00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:14.923
Similarly, Thanksgiving, went to a store, again, heavily African-American community.
108
00:07:14.983 --> 00:07:17.585
They had tons of pumpkin pie.
109
00:07:17.605 --> 00:07:18.926
They had no sweet potato pie.
110
00:07:19.486 --> 00:07:20.787
And so we did a little litmus test.
111
00:07:20.807 --> 00:07:23.829
We said, hey, let's put 50 of each out, same price, see what sells.
112
00:07:23.889 --> 00:07:27.071
We come back the next day, you still get about 25 or so pumpkin pies.
113
00:07:27.515 --> 00:07:28.677
All the sweet potato pies are gone.
114
00:07:28.997 --> 00:07:41.717
And so it's really just focusing in on the buying habits of the customers and helping those leaders see that at the end of the day, if you take care of the customer, they can shop when they want, where they want, and what they want, they'll come back to you time and time again.
115
00:07:42.877 --> 00:07:49.441
So let's, so no grocery experience, but what the heart of it is, is making sure that it's tailored to people.
116
00:07:50.101 --> 00:07:56.205
And then what you did to move the change forward was allow people to bring that first R, the relevance.
117
00:07:56.245 --> 00:07:57.466
You know, this is relevant.
118
00:07:57.486 --> 00:07:58.426
Here's why you're relevant.
119
00:07:58.626 --> 00:08:00.027
You brought the facts in.
120
00:08:00.387 --> 00:08:08.072
And I think that responsiveness, you know, both on both ends of things, like being a connector to help other people kind of discover it for themselves.
121
00:08:08.652 --> 00:08:09.834
Something you want to add?
122
00:08:09.854 --> 00:08:13.819
Yeah, the other thing that helped is that I looked at everything through the lens of the customer, right?
123
00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:15.261
And let me give you what that looks like.
124
00:08:15.281 --> 00:08:19.927
You know, from the moment I got to the parking lot, was the parking lot clean or was there trash everywhere?
125
00:08:20.928 --> 00:08:22.850
When I went to the vegetable, were there carts there?
126
00:08:22.891 --> 00:08:24.793
Were the carts all scattered over the parking lot?
127
00:08:25.173 --> 00:08:29.059
You know, when I went to the meat department, did the meat look fresh or was there brown meat?
128
00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:31.942
And so I was always looking at it through the lens of a customer.
129
00:08:32.023 --> 00:08:34.206
Is the pricing where I can see it and understand it?
130
00:08:34.326 --> 00:08:35.968
You know, is the product where it needs to be?
131
00:08:35.988 --> 00:08:40.454
And so everything I did was really through the lens of the customer to enhance and improve
132
00:08:40.734 --> 00:08:45.536
The customer shopping experience, even down to self-checkouts versus man checkouts, right?
133
00:08:45.556 --> 00:08:47.596
Doing those things to say, okay, this is a young community.
134
00:08:47.616 --> 00:08:49.097
It's right next to the University of Minnesota.
135
00:08:49.457 --> 00:08:50.597
These kids want to get in and out.
136
00:08:51.577 --> 00:08:54.919
Maybe the predominant would be mostly predominantly self-checkout.
137
00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:57.879
Here's another community in another part of the city.
138
00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:01.461
Elderly people don't really want to weigh their potatoes and their bananas.
139
00:09:01.741 --> 00:09:05.902
And so making sure, again, everything fit that community, but looking through the lens of the customer.
140
00:09:06.706 --> 00:09:07.687
Well, I think that's something.
141
00:09:07.707 --> 00:09:17.376
So, you know, as you're listening, you know, most of you, many of you senior leadership people, you're on board and you have a view of the entire organization.
142
00:09:17.436 --> 00:09:22.160
Your SVPs, your VPs, your other senior leaders, they have a lot of functional things.
143
00:09:22.220 --> 00:09:30.248
But, you know, my invitation coming out of what I'm hearing Keith say is, you know, zoom out on the entire business, but take the lens of your customer to look at that.
144
00:09:30.688 --> 00:09:33.150
Yeah, the other thing is listen to your frontline associates.
145
00:09:33.230 --> 00:09:48.719
Anthony, every time I go into a store, I would ask my frontline associates, not the management team, the hourly workers, tell me three things I'm asking you to do that make no sense at all to you, and tell me three things or three products that if you had this product or if we did this, we could sell more of it or sell it.
146
00:09:49.299 --> 00:09:56.223
And I got more information and knowledge and intelligence out of those conversations of things that we were making them do that added no value.
147
00:09:56.283 --> 00:09:57.504
Maybe it made a report change.
148
00:09:57.784 --> 00:10:00.706
to me looked good, but it was taking time away from them serving the customer.
149
00:10:01.266 --> 00:10:09.712
And so just listening to that frontline associate to say, hey, we have these big oranges, but my customer likes the mini oranges more or whatever that might be.
150
00:10:09.752 --> 00:10:13.655
And so listening to that frontline associate was also part of that equation.
151
00:10:14.321 --> 00:10:17.043
So let's talk associates, you know, no grocery experience.
152
00:10:17.083 --> 00:10:22.046
Then you find yourself in Walmart responsible for 30,000 associates.
153
00:10:22.066 --> 00:10:27.329
You know, the Walmart greeter is, you know, now synonymous with Walmart.
154
00:10:27.349 --> 00:10:29.551
I don't know if you created that or if that's came through.
155
00:10:29.591 --> 00:10:30.291
No, that was there.
156
00:10:30.751 --> 00:10:31.292
Before there.
157
00:10:31.372 --> 00:10:31.572
Okay.
158
00:10:31.792 --> 00:10:34.014
So was it more of the same?
159
00:10:34.054 --> 00:10:40.798
What was the difference moving from the previous organization into Walmart, which was obviously a much, you know, larger scope?
160
00:10:40.958 --> 00:10:44.040
What was it like leading teams in that organization?
161
00:10:44.561 --> 00:10:51.109
You know, what I loved about Walmart was that almost everyone from the CEO down started as an hourly associate.
162
00:10:52.250 --> 00:10:58.638
And so they understood the business from, you know, unloading the truck, stocking the shelves, you know, sweeping the parking lot perspective.
163
00:10:59.179 --> 00:11:04.265
The other thing I did as part of my onboarding for the first 90 days is I actually worked in stores.
164
00:11:04.805 --> 00:11:05.786
I changed oil.
165
00:11:05.846 --> 00:11:06.927
I changed tires.
166
00:11:07.007 --> 00:11:08.468
I fried chicken in the deli.
167
00:11:08.668 --> 00:11:16.734
I stopped trucks because I wanted to understand primarily from a general merchandise perspective, you know, how this is different.
168
00:11:16.994 --> 00:11:19.356
The beautiful thing about Walmart is that they had this book.
169
00:11:19.456 --> 00:11:20.497
It was called One Best Way.
170
00:11:20.517 --> 00:11:21.117
It wasn't a book.
171
00:11:21.137 --> 00:11:21.878
It was a process.
172
00:11:22.218 --> 00:11:23.939
This is just one best way to do everything.
173
00:11:23.999 --> 00:11:29.203
So the way we bake bread in Philadelphia was the exact same way we bake bread in San Francisco.
174
00:11:30.010 --> 00:11:32.412
The way you frost a cake was the same.
175
00:11:32.432 --> 00:11:43.018
And so because we had these standard operating procedures and a long history of tenured people in place, it was very easy to kind of come in and understand how Walmart moves and shakes.
176
00:11:43.418 --> 00:11:46.620
The challenge at Walmart was that they were trying to move from brick and mortar
177
00:11:46.940 --> 00:11:50.981
to e-commerce, which was something that was not their strong suit.
178
00:11:51.021 --> 00:11:55.302
The whole machinery was built around coming into the store brick and mortar.
179
00:11:56.382 --> 00:12:02.584
And so what I had to do, for my team at least, was to create a story to talk about the relevance as why we needed to make that change.
180
00:12:02.964 --> 00:12:05.744
And I dug back in my history, Anthony, to my time at Sears.
181
00:12:05.904 --> 00:12:07.665
I was an intern at Sears in the late 70s.
182
00:12:08.625 --> 00:12:11.089
And I said, guys, who was the number one retailer in 1978?
183
00:12:11.529 --> 00:12:12.250
Very few people knew.
184
00:12:12.270 --> 00:12:12.851
It was Sears.
185
00:12:13.332 --> 00:12:14.834
I said, here's what was unique about Sears.
186
00:12:15.075 --> 00:12:20.442
Sears was both Walmart and Amazon at the same time because they had the brick and mortar like Walmart.
187
00:12:20.943 --> 00:12:22.986
But like Amazon, they had these catalogs.
188
00:12:23.907 --> 00:12:28.330
where you could order from the catalog for Christmas or back to school, what have you.
189
00:12:28.430 --> 00:12:30.351
It could be delivered to your home or you could pick it up.
190
00:12:30.871 --> 00:12:38.275
I said, so if they were able to be basically both companies at once in the late 70s to non-existent today, why?
191
00:12:38.995 --> 00:12:40.836
Because they didn't change with the times.
192
00:12:40.876 --> 00:12:42.917
They didn't change with the customer buying habits.
193
00:12:43.317 --> 00:12:48.720
And once we kind of shared that story, that created the platform for them to say, hey, we need to change.
194
00:12:48.860 --> 00:12:51.702
But we took it one step further because people want to know what's in it for me.
195
00:12:52.760 --> 00:13:05.304
And so we had this story about, hey, we did some research that if a customer had a great shopping experience, Anthony, all the way through the self-checkouts or the checkouts, they liably will come back and they'll add one more item to the basket the next time they shop.
196
00:13:06.165 --> 00:13:16.128
If you say $5 is average unit retail in Walmart times a million customers that come through there, it creates more revenue, but it also creates more hours for that worker.
197
00:13:16.268 --> 00:13:21.790
Because most workers at Walmart and any other retail establishment, the coup de grace is how many hours can I get?
198
00:13:22.310 --> 00:13:22.530
Right.
199
00:13:22.850 --> 00:13:28.174
And so once they saw the connection of, you know, hey, cashier, you're the last line of defense.
200
00:13:28.535 --> 00:13:33.418
If she has a great customer shopping experience and a quick checkout experience, she's going to be happy and come back.
201
00:13:33.558 --> 00:13:37.401
Conversely, she can have a great shopping experience, but the lines are long.
202
00:13:37.441 --> 00:13:38.301
You're mean and nasty.
203
00:13:38.321 --> 00:13:42.865
And so connecting the people to the vision where they could see themselves really made a difference.
204
00:13:43.485 --> 00:13:53.614
And that's why it's interesting because it's the kind of the one best way plus this whole new way and being able to merge those, especially with folks that have been with the organization.
205
00:13:53.914 --> 00:13:57.778
You know, I've been at Walmart for 20, 30 years.
206
00:13:58.038 --> 00:14:03.663
You know, this is a whole new way for them and getting them to connect it to what's important, what their drivers are, I think is important.
207
00:14:03.683 --> 00:14:05.144
Yeah, and you had to work with them.
208
00:14:05.164 --> 00:14:09.748
You know, we had meat department managers who were used to saying, hey, this is how many steaks I need to put out.
209
00:14:09.848 --> 00:14:15.453
Well, we had documents through One Best Way that said, well, given the buying habits and the time of the month, this is how much.
210
00:14:15.493 --> 00:14:20.057
And so it was a trial and error there, but they learned to trust the data, and it was a wonderful experience.
211
00:14:20.157 --> 00:14:21.398
One of the best companies I've ever worked for.
212
00:14:21.958 --> 00:14:22.459
That's amazing.
213
00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:23.339
Okay, so let's talk.
214
00:14:24.797 --> 00:14:28.381
especially with Walmart in this case, everybody has been there.
215
00:14:28.441 --> 00:14:29.582
You got your hands dirty.
216
00:14:29.602 --> 00:14:30.643
You did all that stuff.
217
00:14:31.044 --> 00:14:39.572
Now in your work as an independent director, currently at the time of publishing Internet Sciences, Brinks, and I'm sure more, you're a director.
218
00:14:39.993 --> 00:14:41.915
You're looking at people in the organization.
219
00:14:42.275 --> 00:14:43.717
How do you balance that
220
00:14:44.692 --> 00:14:56.695
getting the right people, the right people on the bus, the balance between kind of new blood and experienced people, and then managing those perspectives as they all come to work together.
221
00:14:56.715 --> 00:14:59.695
I hope my question makes sense, but- Yeah, sure, sure, sure it makes sense.
222
00:14:59.735 --> 00:15:02.376
I mean, you know, the board role is a governance role, right?
223
00:15:02.416 --> 00:15:07.957
You know, and I always have to remind my fellow board members sometimes, you know, we don't run the business, we govern the business, right?
224
00:15:08.637 --> 00:15:10.559
you know, nose in, fingers out.
225
00:15:11.640 --> 00:15:15.664
But I also make sure that we stress that it's all about the top talent and having top talent.
226
00:15:16.344 --> 00:15:24.552
And so working with the CEO and executive leadership teams to make sure that, hey, you know, let's do an assessment and do a regular assessment of the talent we have around us.
227
00:15:24.892 --> 00:15:33.200
And it could be, you know, Keith's in this role as CFO and he's okay, but would he be better suited, you know, being at the comptroller or the treasurer?
228
00:15:33.740 --> 00:15:38.301
and let's go find a global CFO with this type of experience.
229
00:15:38.361 --> 00:15:43.143
We look to say, from a talent standpoint, do we blend young with new?
230
00:15:43.183 --> 00:15:46.304
Right now, AI, cybersecurity, all those things are hot topics.
231
00:15:46.324 --> 00:15:46.844
Well, guess what?
232
00:15:47.184 --> 00:15:51.185
The subject matter experts in those spaces are in their 30s and 40s at best, right?
233
00:15:51.286 --> 00:15:55.787
And so you have to maybe realize, hey, there's going to be a young person on your leadership team
234
00:15:56.607 --> 00:15:58.669
because you need that expertise.
235
00:15:58.829 --> 00:16:07.455
And then making sure that there's healthy conversation where people are free to share their, you know, disagreeable ideas but in a very agreeable manner.
236
00:16:07.475 --> 00:16:10.417
You know, respect for the individual, those types of things.
237
00:16:10.977 --> 00:16:12.058
And we manage that.
238
00:16:12.198 --> 00:16:19.303
And from there we put the best people on the field and we overlook, you know, govern and work with senior leadership to make it happen.
239
00:16:20.574 --> 00:16:29.857
What's clear to me is everything that you do, trust, integrity, focus, performance, and like people, human centered.
240
00:16:29.877 --> 00:16:34.178
It sounds like that's the MO for how you approach leadership and how you approach your roles.
241
00:16:34.258 --> 00:16:35.379
Is it fair to say?
242
00:16:35.399 --> 00:16:36.019
You're spot on.
243
00:16:36.059 --> 00:16:38.319
In fact, I have an equation for trust.
244
00:16:38.800 --> 00:16:40.080
And trust is character.
245
00:16:40.975 --> 00:16:44.377
times competency, times consistency.
246
00:16:44.917 --> 00:16:53.062
And you need all three of those to be an effective leader that develops trust because you can have character and competency, but if you're not consistent, it's problematic.
247
00:16:53.463 --> 00:16:57.665
You can be consistent and have character, but not competency, still problematic.
248
00:16:57.685 --> 00:17:05.710
And so I find if you marry the three of those, again, character times competency, times consistency, you develop trust in organizations and with people.
249
00:17:06.392 --> 00:17:11.336
Okay, so let's talk about, I want to build on that equation, and I want to talk about the book.
250
00:17:11.797 --> 00:17:20.003
Let's say you've got a CEO, they're not going through change, let's say, but they are trying to build their organization for the future.
251
00:17:20.304 --> 00:17:32.094
You know, what are some things, and as a, again, board member experience person, what are some things that you'd have them either think about, consider, whether that's the equation as the place, and then tell us a little bit about the book.
252
00:17:32.114 --> 00:17:33.855
So two questions in one, I'll let you run with it.
253
00:17:33.915 --> 00:17:34.155
Sure.
254
00:17:34.195 --> 00:17:39.437
The first thing I tell any leader, not just a CEO, is don't be afraid to surround yourself with individual talent.
255
00:17:39.457 --> 00:17:41.658
They may know more than you do in a given area.
256
00:17:42.379 --> 00:17:46.440
You know, I want my CFO to know more about the financials of the P&L than I do.
257
00:17:46.580 --> 00:17:51.422
I want my HR leader to be very deeply rooted and grounded in HR.
258
00:17:51.482 --> 00:17:54.644
Don't be afraid to again, because you're the conductor of that orchestra.
259
00:17:54.864 --> 00:17:57.545
You don't have to play the trombone as well as the best trombone player.
260
00:17:58.105 --> 00:17:59.606
And so surround yourself with talent.
261
00:17:59.627 --> 00:18:01.668
Don't be afraid to surround yourself with talent.
262
00:18:02.209 --> 00:18:04.251
That really eclipses your knowledge in certain areas.
263
00:18:04.271 --> 00:18:05.111
So that's the first thing.
264
00:18:05.752 --> 00:18:09.976
The second thing is you can elevate both performance and people at the same time.
265
00:18:10.616 --> 00:18:19.364
One of the things that I think really kind of hurt a lot of businesses and people is the focus on short-term results or that quarterly return.
266
00:18:19.624 --> 00:18:23.748
People make short-term behaviors to get the results without respect to the people.
267
00:18:24.629 --> 00:18:27.372
And whenever you make people the pawns in the equation, it's problematic.
268
00:18:27.512 --> 00:18:33.460
I think the most valuable asset on anybody's balance sheet is the human capital, the people that do the work.
269
00:18:34.422 --> 00:18:39.829
And so the book is really one of those books that says, hey, let's get back to creating environments of trust.
270
00:18:40.537 --> 00:18:45.940
Let's get back to an environment where we have people who are focused on the people.
271
00:18:46.840 --> 00:18:53.404
Because, again, too often we move from servant leadership to self-serving leadership many times.
272
00:18:53.724 --> 00:18:57.186
And I think the movement is, hey, let's get back to what leadership should be.
273
00:18:57.826 --> 00:19:04.930
I don't have to tell you, particularly in the States, you turn on any television any day and you'll see characters acting badly from elected officials to
274
00:19:05.631 --> 00:19:07.453
faith-based leaders to business leaders, right?
275
00:19:08.395 --> 00:19:12.361
And they're setting an example for that next generation of leadership that we need to correct.
276
00:19:12.622 --> 00:19:15.526
I'm trying to...
277
00:19:16.289 --> 00:19:19.990
I praise this because you said it, you know, like self-serving versus self-leadership.
278
00:19:20.410 --> 00:19:26.091
And I think in some cases it's maybe easy to lose your way, assuming it's not malicious, right?
279
00:19:26.111 --> 00:19:28.172
You know, sometimes you're trying to figure it out.
280
00:19:29.032 --> 00:19:38.474
Is there anything you want to like check yourself before you wreck yourself as leaders to say, hey, like just take maybe if you're listening to the episode, just pause and say, hey, am I focused on the people in my organization?
281
00:19:38.874 --> 00:19:40.674
Or am I focused on something else?
282
00:19:40.734 --> 00:19:43.115
Is there anything you've done for yourself if you've ever lost?
283
00:19:43.755 --> 00:19:44.395
You're spot on.
284
00:19:44.415 --> 00:19:50.678
And the first thing I would tell you is to examine yourself, because as a leader, everything about you sends a signal and people will watch you.
285
00:19:50.738 --> 00:19:58.042
Something as simple as this, Anthony, when I go into a grocery store to tour with my team, if I see trash on the floor, I bend down and pick it up and throw it away.
286
00:19:58.442 --> 00:19:58.742
Why?
287
00:19:58.942 --> 00:20:03.184
Because if I don't do that, I've just told all the folks working with me that it's OK to have trash on the floor.
288
00:20:03.524 --> 00:20:05.225
So you'll have to walk the talk yourself.
289
00:20:06.097 --> 00:20:07.177
And just evaluate yourself.
290
00:20:07.217 --> 00:20:14.739
One thing that we don't do, particularly when we get the egos that are big as most leaders, you tend to have no one who wants to tell you that you have no clothes.
291
00:20:14.779 --> 00:20:20.181
And so also have people around you who you give the right to say, hey, have you thought about your behavior this way?
292
00:20:20.201 --> 00:20:21.101
Have you thought about that?
293
00:20:22.142 --> 00:20:27.083
And above all, have your own value system in place of what you will and will not do from an integrity standpoint.
294
00:20:28.497 --> 00:20:31.758
I mean, that's where it starts and ends there.
295
00:20:32.638 --> 00:20:35.058
And so I love that that's a great place to finish.
296
00:20:35.118 --> 00:20:36.979
Keith, where can people connect with you?
297
00:20:36.999 --> 00:20:37.899
Where can they get your book?
298
00:20:37.919 --> 00:20:39.659
Where can they learn more about your work?
299
00:20:39.699 --> 00:20:43.040
And if there's anything else you want to add that I didn't ask you, please share it.
300
00:20:43.060 --> 00:20:45.100
No, you've been a generous and gracious host, Anthony.
301
00:20:45.140 --> 00:20:47.621
I would say reach me at keithweich.com.
302
00:20:47.641 --> 00:20:50.742
That's K-E-I-T-H-W-Y-C-H-E.com.
303
00:20:51.302 --> 00:20:55.442
I'm always on LinkedIn and you can follow me on Instagram at TheRealKeithWeich.
304
00:20:55.863 --> 00:20:58.063
My book is available online at Walmart
305
00:20:58.703 --> 00:21:01.505
Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com and wherever books are sold.
306
00:21:02.206 --> 00:21:02.786
Excellent, Keith.
307
00:21:02.866 --> 00:21:04.067
I super appreciate it.
308
00:21:04.087 --> 00:21:12.632
Thanks for being on the show today and just thanks for being the person that you are for literally tens of thousands of people have benefited from your leadership and I wish you nothing but the best moving forward.
309
00:21:13.193 --> 00:21:14.213
Thank you so much, Anthony.
310
00:21:14.233 --> 00:21:14.714
Same to you.
311
00:21:15.294 --> 00:21:16.775
Folks, my guest today, Keith White.
312
00:21:17.315 --> 00:21:19.577
You know, one of the things I encourage you to do coming out of this episode
313
00:21:19.877 --> 00:21:21.318
You know, just listen to it with your team.
314
00:21:21.459 --> 00:21:23.260
Like, stop, have a meeting, look at this.
315
00:21:23.921 --> 00:21:29.526
And what I get from Keith is just really about the standards, like setting the standards, having those non-negotiables.
316
00:21:29.586 --> 00:21:31.028
You know, I hate this.
317
00:21:31.108 --> 00:21:32.029
I thought I hate this reference.
318
00:21:32.049 --> 00:21:32.809
I use it all the time.
319
00:21:33.030 --> 00:21:34.851
The Migos, you know, you got to walk it like you talk it.
320
00:21:35.132 --> 00:21:38.715
And so if you don't do that, people are going to know and people are going to see it.
321
00:21:38.975 --> 00:21:40.437
And it's a hard enough job.
322
00:21:40.937 --> 00:21:45.618
build a great team around and that's what's really uncommon about great leadership.
323
00:21:45.798 --> 00:21:47.799
So I hope you got a lot from today's episode.
324
00:21:47.819 --> 00:21:54.400
Please share with some folks that'll make a difference because it'll make a difference in the lives of your people and that's obviously what today was all about.
325
00:21:54.460 --> 00:21:57.341
So my guest today, Keith White, you can connect with him online.
326
00:21:57.801 --> 00:21:58.701
My name is Anthony Taylor.
327
00:21:58.721 --> 00:22:02.382
This has been the Strategy and Leadership Podcast and as always, until next time.
