The Supply Side: Walmart top execs tout benefits of mentoring, financial literacy

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon and Kieran Shanahan, the chief operating officer of Walmart U.S., believe in the importance of mentorship, financial literacy, and the need to be good at receiving bad news.

The two recently participated in a fireside chat in Rogers to discuss the benefits of mentoring in their long retail careers. Shanahan is one of six Walmart executives serving on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary in the region. McMillon said he was happy to participate in the fireside chat when Shanahan asked because he understands the value of mentorship and the difference it can make in helping shape careers and lifelong achievements.

Shanahan has spent 27 years at Walmart, starting in the United Kingdom when he was just 16 years old. Some years later, in 2005, when he was working as a junior manager in the UK, Shanahan spent time with McMillon, then the CEO of Sam’s Club.

“I was tasked with driving this guy around Belfast in Northern Ireland to finish some of his stops,” Shanahan said. “When Doug served as CEO of Walmart International, I was still in the UK, running the online grocery business at Asda. I came to the U.S. in 2014 as vice president of online grocery and over the years have worked in the U.S., in merchandising as well as the chief growth officer at Sam’s Club and oversaw international operations as a regional CEO before becoming chief operating officer at Walmart US in August 2023. It’s fair to say Doug has had an instrumental role in my career.”

As an aside, Shanahan said his wife and three boys have a new puppy named Ruby, and she is the only American in the family.

“You have 1.4 million people reporting to you at Walmart, a wife and three boys and still had time to add a puppy,” McMillon joked. “That’s impressive.”

FINANCIAL LITERACY
Shanahan and McMillon were wearing green socks at the national Operation HOPE Raise Financial Literacy Awareness Day event on April 30. McMillon said later that day he would teach the importance of compound interest to 13-year-old students at Washington Junior High in Bentonville.

“It should be fun,” said McMillon, adding that financial literacy is important to all people, regardless of age.

“In Walmart, we’ve got all these associates that make various levels of income. A store manager makes a lot of money. A starting associate may be working in the cashier area doesn’t. But, my dad taught me, if you’re not making much like mowing yards, put 10% away somewhere off the top.”

And the importance of compounding interest over five years, 10 years, 20 years, will generate wealth, he said.

When asked why McMillon chose retail as a career, he said he was hooked from the get-go. McMillon said his dad made it clear it would be a good idea for him to pay his way through college, noting college was much less expensive at that time than it is now. He began working at Walmart while in high school, and the highest-paying job in Bentonville was at Walmart warehouse No. 2.

“They paid $6.50 per hour,” McMillon said. “McDonald’s paid $3.75. So in the summer of 1984, the Walmart warehouse job paid pretty well. It was unloading trucks in the hot summer, and I was assigned to this guy named Johnny who had experience unloading trucks.”

He said Johnny was a hard worker who had fallen in love with Walmart because of the opportunity to grow and advance.

“On break, Johnny showed me his new truck, a nice truck,” McMillon said. “But what impressed me most was when he said he had $200,000 in profit sharing. I couldn’t believe that a guy loading and unloading trucks could have $200,000 in profit-sharing savings.”

McMillon went to college and continued working at Walmart, taking advantage of the profit sharing along with 475,000 other employees who also participated in the shared purchase plan. Walmart matches up to 15% of contributions, and 81% of participants cap out at a 15% match. He said over 1 million employees also participate in the company’s 401(k).

MENTORSHIP, FEEDBACK
Shanahan asked McMillon to share a story about one of his mentors during his early years as a merchant at Walmart. McMillon said Lee Scott came to mind. Scott was Walmart CEO from 2000 to 2009 and was recently in Bentonville to celebrate the company’s sustainability accomplishments that originated with Scott in 2005.

“Lee’s No. 1 style of leadership involved sarcasm,” McMillon said. “And I like sarcasm a lot. I can tell you a lot of stories, but one comes to mind.”

On the day he was promoted to general merchandise manager at Walmart over toys, sporting goods and electronics, his friend Lois Makita was promoted to merchandise manager of housewares.

“It was a great day,” McMillon said. “They took us to the auditorium, and people clapped for us. We walked back to our office, and a few minutes later Lee sticks his head in the door of my office and says, ‘You know you almost didn’t get that job.’ I was not sure what to say, and when I asked him why, he told me there were people smarter than me. I knew that was true, but then he told me the reason I got the promotion was because I was better at receiving bad news than the other candidates.”

He said there are problems everywhere, so being able to receive open and frank input and not making people feel bad when they are sharing bad news is a characteristic that has served him well. McMillon told the crowd to always be open to the truth and to share unvarnished feedback.

“I have seen too often that some folks have a hard time, shying away from telling the truth,” McMillon said. “When this happens, people don’t get developed.”

Shanahan said the most dangerous place to be is anywhere when the feedback stops. He is in stores each week and said his team welcomes feedback because that is the only way things get fixed.

In his 40 years at Walmart, McMillon said there were lots of mentors, including David Glass, who ran the retailer for 12 years following Sam Walton’s death. He also credits long-time merchant manager Don Harris for his help during McMillon’s early years as a buyer.

He also named Steve Reinemund, CEO of PepsiCo from 2001 to 2006 and a former board member of Walmart, as a mentor. McMillon said he called on Reinemund in 2005 when he was named CEO of Sam’s Club because it was his first CEO role, and he was feeling somewhat overwhelmed.

McMillon’s advice to high school students attending the event was to avoid stressing over the future.

“Figure out what gives you joy, and you won’t have to worry about working because you will find a way to earn a living doing something you love,” McMillon said. “And until you find that, don’t stop searching for it, because it’s entirely possible. And the other tip is to save money when you are young, because compounding interest is magical.”

Editor’s note: The Supply Side section of Talk Business & Politics focuses on the companies, organizations, issues and individuals engaged in providing products and services to retailers. The Supply Side is managed by Talk Business & Politics, and is sponsored by HRG.