When you look at the Hall of Fame of the business gurus you cannot overlook Sam Walton and the many pearls he left behind for us to glean from.
Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, grew up in a poor farm community of rural Missouri, right in the heart of the dust bowl of the Great Depression. After attending the University of Missouri, Sam Walton joined JCPenney.
World War II service interrupted his career, after which he bought his own variety store, called Ben Franklin, with $5,000 of his own money and $20,000 that he borrowed from his father-in-law.
Five years later, he sold it and opened Walton’s 5&10 in Bentonville, Arkansas. He opened a second five-and-ten in 1952 and introduced the concept of self-service into retail to keep costs down.
Not until 1962 did Walton open his first Wal-Mart. The company went public in 1970, and in 1985, Forbes magazine named Walton the riches man in America. A great motivator, he never ceased playing cheerleader in building his business.
Sam Walton had many rules for building a business. The one I want to look at today is what his outlook was on celebrating successes and having fun at work.
Sam always preach that you needed to find some humor in your failures and don’t take yourself too seriously. Loosen up, and everybody around you will loosen up. Have fun. Show enthusiasm – always.
When all else fails, put on a costume and sing a silly song ( I like this one). Then make everybody else sing with you. Don’t do a hula on Wall Street, it’s been done. Think up your own stunt. All of this is more important, and more fun, than you think, and it really fools the competition. Having fun at work is important. It is easy to find something to celebrate each day.
I couldn’t agree with Sam more when it comes to levity in the workplace. Life is just to short to take ourselves too seriously, and why? No one else does.
Have a happy Wednesday. Find a way to do something fun at work and get others to join in. Make a memory today that is different from yesterday.
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