 
|
|
Paperback
Publisher: Wiley
Rob Walton
Praise for
The 10 Rules Of Sam Walton
"The 10 Rules of Sam Walton is one of those books that should be read and regularly reread by . . . everyone-business-people, students, teachers, parents, and children. It transcends the limits of a traditional book about lessons in business and makes it a book about life and about successful living!"
-J. K. Knapp III, former Wal-Mart store manager,current manufacturer and supplier to Wal-Mart
As founder of Wal-Mart and its many successful divisions, Sam Walton reinvented the retailing industry through his singularity of focus, high expectations, and never-say-die attitude.
During his successful career, Sam Walton developed a list of what he considered the most important rules for entrepreneurial success. As far as he was concerned, there were ten key result areas that he considered pivotal to his own success.
Now, in The 10 Rules of Sam Walton, author and former Wal-Mart employee Michael Bergdahl reveals these rules-and the stories behind them-to help you achieve success in both your professional and personal lives. Straightforward and to the point, this book offers valuable lessons that Walton himself followed, and taught, throughout his lifetime-from Rule #1: "Be passionately committed to achieving success" to Rule # 10: "Be different and challenge the status quo."
Whether you're an entrepreneur or an hourly paid employee, The 10 Rules of Sam Walton will provide you with a blueprint for success that has proven itself time and again.
| Customer Reviews: |
|
| |
| Nothing New |
| Customer Rating: 1 out of 5 |
 |
|
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.
|
| Dull, repetitive, full of clichés and platitudes |
| Customer Rating: 1 out of 5 |
|
|
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?
|
| Sam Walton's ten pithy rules of success |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
 |
|
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.
|
| Agree with an earlier review |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
 |
|
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.
|
| Verbose and Sophmoric (the book, not Walton) |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
|
|
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.)
|
|
