The Sam Walton Way: What Would Sam Do?©

THE SPEECH: Bergdahl teaches the core strategies and leadership rules that made Sam Walton a success

On July 2, 1962, Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart Store in Rogers, Arkansas and in 2012; Wal-Mart will celebrate its 50th anniversary of that accomplishment.

I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with, and around, Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart. That’s how I learned that “THE SAM WALTON WAY” IS “THE WALMART WAY!” I wrote the book, THE SAM WALTON WAY, as a tribute, and to commemorate Mr. Sam’s 50 year leadership legacy and in it I’ve captured his Best Leadership Practices.

Mr. Sam’s leadership philosophies, values, strategies, and tactics have remained the foundation of the Wal-Mart culture for fifty years! Amazingly, Sam Walton, a small town retailer from Arkansas, transformed the way business is conducted around the world with his paradigm busting leadership strategies and tactics.

To this day, Wal-Mart’s leaders continue to turn to Mr. Sam’s leadership philosophies as a touchstone to guide them as they operate more than 10,000 Wal-Mart Stores and Sam’s Clubs around the world. Interestingly, when faced with a difficult problem today’s company leaders often still find themselves asking, “What Would Sam Do?”

In this speech, THE SAM WALTON WAY: What Would Sam Do?, based on my first hand observations and insights I gained from others who worked with Mr. Sam, I will discuss his best leadership practices that made Wal-Mart the World’s Largest Company.

Wouldn’t it be great to learn Sam Walton’s success strategies? Now you can! In this speech, Michael Bergdahl will review Sam Walton’s best practices, his 7 core strategies, and his 10 self-professed leadership rules. You might say, this speech is “one stop shopping” for everything you ever wanted to know about The Sam Walton Way!

NOTE: This speech is based on the book "The Sam Walton Way: 50 of Mr. Sam’s Best Leadership Practices".

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