Walmart CEO, Doug McMillon - Leading 2.1 Million People - [Glue Guys, EP.16]

How do you lead a team of 2.1 million people? Whether you're managing five people or fifty, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon's leadership principles apply at any scale. He joins Glue Guys to share his journey from unloading trucks at Walmart as a teenager to leading a company that makes $1.7 billion in sales daily, serving 240 million customers weekly across 10,500 stores. Doug shares leadership lessons from Sam Walton and from the weekly basketball game he’s played in for four decades. We learn about leading for the long term, being a servant leader, and leading with humility even as your influence expands. 

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

-----

Glue Guys is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Glue Guys, visit https://joincolossus.com/series/glue-guys/. 

Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here.

Follow us on Twitter: @GlueGuys_Pod | @JoinColossus

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).

Show Notes:

(00:00:00) Welcome to Glue Guys

(00:01:17) Doug's Early Career at Walmart

(00:05:48) Walmart's Culture and Values

(00:08:37) Gratitude and Vulnerability in Leadership

(00:18:13) Balancing Work and Family

(00:19:38) Creating Culture at Scale

(00:22:38) Surprise Visits and Sam Walton's Legacy

(00:23:34) Servant Leadership at Walmart

(00:25:29) Handling Pressure and Focusing on Inputs

(00:28:18) Risk-Taking and Decision-Making

(00:31:53) Leadership Qualities and Team Dynamics

(00:37:33) Balancing Short-Term and Long-Term Goals

(00:41:31) Recognizing the Unsung Heroes