Customer Reviews

The 10 Rules of Sam Walton: Success Secrets for Remarkable Results

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Bergdahl's book contains the "10 Rules" posted in the company headquarters that Sam Walton viewed as key to success. Unfortunately, Bergdahl's accompanying explanation adds little, so I have chosen to add my own instead - acquired from other sources.

The 10 Rules are as follows:

1)Commit to achieving success and always be passionate. (High goals.)

2)Share success with those who have helped you. (Wal-Mart's stock plan was an important driver in the beginning; lately, the stock price has flattened and declined.)

3)Motivate yourself and others to achieve your dreams.

4)Communicate with people and show you care. (Sam continually visited his stores, reviewed achievements, and complimented his people for their ideas and accomplishments.)

5)Appreciate and recognize people for their effort and results. (See #4)

6)Celebrate your own and other's accomplishments. (See #4)

7)Listen to others and learn from their ideas. (Walton always asked his people for their ideas, and gave them the freedom to innovate to match local preferences. He was also famous for studying his competitors, and loved to copy their good ideas.)

8)Exceed expectations of customers and others.

9)Control expenses and save your way to prosperity. (Wal-Mart has become well known for its weekly expense reports that include key ratios (eg. labor) vs. sales; woe to the store manager that is not on top of the situation.)

10)Swim upstream, be different, and challenge the status quo. (Wal-Mart blazed new directions in store re-supply, use of information technology, initial store location strategy, creating the "Super-Store" concept, and always low pricing - each were key to his success.)

I agree with the earlier review that describes this book as "verbose." This is not as good as Bergdahl's earlier book. Read the other book he wrote instead. It is much better.

It is amazing to me how San Walton's 10 rules are different depending on who wrote the book! For a good read, read Walton's own book, MADE IN AMERICA, and then read the books written by some of his former employees.

Don't waste your time with this book. It's a half-hearted attempt to profit from readers' interest in Wal-Mart and the success of Sam Walton. The author struggles to find SOMETHING significant to add but falls short. Lacking anything substantive, he instead fills the pages with a few, uninteresting anecdotes (which he recycles throughout the book) and with generic, empty motivational clichés (also recycled).

Some examples:

"Believe in yourself and believe in your dreams."

"If you want to achieve your full potential, live each and every day with enthusiasm and purpose."

I mean, really?

I have a big admiration for Sam Walton and WalMart but I think the book came short in bringing to life what made things work for the giant retailer. Thou examples were given, I feel that they don't capture the essence of the title.

I didn't feel that I learned anything new in the area of success and in getting remarkable results as the title suggests.

This is a must read for every business tyro and professional. The book reveals the secrets of successful marketing that built the world's largest retail chain. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to succeed in business.

This book is clearly an endearing, uncritical testimonial about Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart. Author Michael Bergdahl, a former employee, has written two books on Walton and Wal-Mart. He was a favorite of Sam Walton, who gave him the nickname "Bird Dawg," because Bergdahl drove a pickup truck. Walton was an avid hunter who also had an old truck and owned several bird dogs - appropriately the book's cover shows him patting one. S. Robson Walton, Sam Walton's son and the chairman of the board of Wal-Mart, wrote the foreword, and the author remains close to the Walton family. Thus, it is not a surprise that this content-approved book is effusive in its praise for Walton. Still, the advice is solid, and we suggest it to anyone who enjoys learning about successful companies and their leaders.