Samuel M. Walton's Leadership Essay

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Many people know Samuel M. Walton as the founder of Walmart, but few step back to examine the traits that helped him to lead such a successful business. Mr. Walton was a visionary leader and an ethical leader. He had an unmatched ability to advance ideas within the company and inspirationally motivate his employees. Until his death, he maintained adherence to his principles and always practiced intellectual humility. These traits aided him in becoming one of the most successful businessmen of the 20th century.
Visionary Leadership
As a visionary leader, Sam Walton inspired his employees to always pursue greatness. Mr. Walton had a vision of lower prices for the American working class. Murray Johannsen states that “visionary leaders live …show more content…

When I first got to the unit, the morale was very low and the people were not excited about doing their job. I began talking to the folks at commander’s calls and one-on-one in efforts to raise morale and inspire them to want to do better. Through the use of language and ensuring they understood their important role in the bigger mission, I was able to help improve the overall morale within the unit and most of the people are now excited about what they do. Using inspirational motivation has helped me to make our unit a friendlier and more productive …show more content…

I do not know it all, and I will never claim to. There are a lot of people in my organization with great minds, and I love hearing their ideas and perspectives. For example, last year I was in search of a way to make the contract review process flow more efficiently. A lot of our contracts have to be reviewed by our lawyers and our headquarters policy office. I had mapped out what I thought would be the perfect solution. But, through intellectual humility, I understood it probably was not a perfect product, because I could not see all the perspectives. I pulled together members from each review office in order to get their ideas and perspectives. In the end, we were able to come to a final product that took into consideration everyone’s input, and ultimately reduced the average contract review time from 11 to 8 days. Practicing intellectual humility in this situation allowed for a solution that made the process better for everyone

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