Introduction
Leadership is a unique institution influencing our society and all spheres of human activity. The ability to organize the work of a team and attain specific goals is fundamental for further evolution. At the same time, it requires unique skills and competencies that should be used to manage organizations and create the basis for successful collaboration. Today, leadership preserves its significance and transforms into one of the central forces influencing market evolution. Successful leaders can contribute to the companies’ rise and their transformation into influential actors. William White, one of Walmart’s CEOs, is an example of an influential leader who fared in the most important functions of management and whose career can offer lessons on how a good leader should act, strategies, decisions, and methods that can be used to attain the desired outcome.
Background
Walmart is one of the leading corporations in the retail sphere, with a significant net income and numerous opportunities for further evolution. For this reason, its department leaders, starting from small teams’ heads and ending with top managers, face the challenging task of organizing the work of various departments and ensuring the company can meet clients’ demands. Thus, William White is one of Walmart’s top managers, Senior Vice President, and Chief Marketing Officer (“William White,” n.d.). His position means that White is responsible for marketing, including strategy, program development, and branding for physical stores and e-commerce (“William White,” n.d.). For this reason, William White’s leadership qualities directly impact the company’s performance and its ability to meet existing goals and succeed.
Holding CEO and Senior manager positions implies a significant level of background knowledge and experience. Thus, William White has undergraduate and business degrees from Duke University (Bloomberg, n.d.). He is also a member of the Association of National Advertisers, explained by his significant experience in the sphere (Bloomberg, n.d). Before joining Walmart, William worked as the senior vice president for Target and was responsible for marketing (“William White,” n.d.). Managing teams there, he established comprehensive marketing strategies and plans to boost company sales, create a brand image and equity, and acquire new loyal clients (“William White,” n.d.). Moreover, before 2013, William worked at the Coca-Cola Company, with a broad range of responsibilities (“William White,” n.d.). At the beginning of this career, White worked as a planner for Starcom MediaVest in New York (“William White,” n.d.). In such a way, he made significant progress to become a top manager at Walmart.
White’s Achievements in Major Functions of Management
The successful career of William White means he possesses outstanding skills and competencies in the leadership sphere. For this reason, analyzing his career, it is possible to focus on the most significant achievements and knowledge related to the major functions of management. In such a way, White’s abilities in organizing, planning, and leading teams and positive change can be assessed and discussed. It will help to understand White’s effectiveness as a leader and how he promotes the better work of organizations.
Thus, organizing the work of teams is one of the central functions of any leader. It helps to achieve existing goals and increase performance. White demonstrates positive results in the given sphere as he focuses on building and nurturing effective teams (Redman, 2020). He acknowledges the necessity to consider employees’ peculiarities and organize their functioning to create the most effective patterns of cooperation (Redman, 2020). Furthermore, White emphasizes the critical role of flexibility and adaptivity in the modern world as organizations should be ready to meet new requirements and alter. For this reason, organizing the work of the company and marketing departments, White considers the external and internal conditions and the fast-evolving nature of the market (Hein, 2021). It helps to attain existing goals and ensure the company continues to evolve.
William White is also a strong leader who can motivate people and create the necessary corporate culture. First of all, he focuses on the company’s values as a core motivator and facilitator of positive change. White emphasizes that Walmart is the largest US retailer, and 90% of citizens use its services (Hein, 2021). For this reason, teams should focus on improving their performance to ensure the company has a positive image and clients are satisfied with the quality of provided services. Appealing to pride, a feeling of belongingness, and shared values, White enhances cooperation within teams (Hein, 2021). At the same time, the marketing strategy offered by the leader rests on the idea of Walmart’s dominance in the region and the necessity to support its further evolution by overcoming rivals and introducing new practices (Hein, 2021). As a result, the company’s image remains attractive, and it grows because of the high number of loyal clients.
Finally, White is effective in executing the planning function of leadership. He has always been wired for progress and continuous improvement through innovation and change (Hein, 2021). For this reason, White plans a set of new projects affecting various spheres of the company’s work. For instance, he planned the marketing campaign “Here We Go,” which increased the number of loyal clients and their readiness to cooperate with the brand (Hein, 2021). It demanded the current understanding of the market’s state and the analysis of possible opportunities to employ the existing tendencies and succeed. As a result, White managed to launch a powerful marketing strategy helping to improve Walmart’s position in the region. It is proof of the effective strategies and the ability to succeed in the most important fields.
Lessons
At the same time, by analyzing the work of influential leaders and the ways they manage teams, it is possible to outline important takeaways and use them in various settings to improve outcomes. Thus, William White’s methods and career offer essential lessons for would-be specialists. First of all, his vision of innovation can be analyzed and learned by colleagues. White views technology and creative practices as the future of the industry (Redman, 2020). For this reason, he is one of the vigorous supporters of the company’s transformation and adoption of digital and online practices (Hein, 2021). His incentives resulted in the improvement of Walmart’s online sector and its work with clients (Hein, 2021). These changes became especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic as they helped the company to survive and continue cooperation with their customers online (Hein, 2021). In such a way, White’s view of innovation can be considered an important lesson.
Another essential feature of the discussed leader is the persistence and readiness to achieve the existing goals. First of all, the career of any successful manager is an example of how to set goals and achieve them. White started at a local company, but his ability to organize the process and select strategies to attain goals created the basis for his future personal and professional development and his transformation into one of the recognized leaders (Redman, 2020). At the same time, working for Walmart, he insists on promoting positive change by shifting priorities towards online shopping experiences (Redman, 2020). The incentive can be resisted by some employees and leaders who have the experience of working within the traditional framework (Hein, 2021). However, White attains success by demonstrating the benefits of the strategy offered by him and its importance to the company (Hein, 2021). It leads to better results and the brand’s further rise.
Vision is another crucial aspect of all successful leaders as it leads to better goal setting and achievement. Thus, White’s ability to see new opportunities and steps to achieve ambitious goals is an integral part of his success and should be learned. For instance, working as the leader of marketing in Walmart, White correctly realizes the inevitability of change and the growing role of technologies (Hein, 2021). For this reason, he is one of the advocates of the company’s renovation and its focus on online activities (Redman, 2020). White views e-commerce and social media marketing as the core components of Walmart’s future (Hein, 2021). The importance of this vision is evidenced by the strategies used to overcome the COVID-19 crisis, as technology became central for companies working in the industry. For this reason, White’s vision of change helped the company to evolve and should be analyzed by would-be leaders.
Finally, it is vital to address the leader’s ability to promote the positive shifts within a company. In general, the change process is a core component of any firm as it ensures the brand’s ability to change in responding to external stressors. White is one of the leaders who is engaged in these processes and realizes the importance of continuous change. Since his appointment to the position, he has been focusing on updating Walmart’s processes by using technologies and innovations (Redman, 2020). It can be evidenced by new programs resting on the growing online presence and cooperation with clients online (Hein, 2021). Additionally, as a client-centered leader, he recognizes the necessity of positive alterations and change. For this reason, White cultivates a new culture characterized by a more friendly attitude to individuals cooperating with Walmart and contributing to its further evolution. At the same time, he successfully finds resources necessary for the positive change and motivates sponsors to support the incentive. As a result, Walmart continues to evolve and adapt to new challenges and diversified clients’ demands.
Conclusion
Altogether, William White can be viewed as a successful modern leader who can offer several important lessons for would-be managers. He has a solid background and education, helping him to succeed in the selected area and become one of the respected specialists. Prior to working for Walmart, White has passed a long way to prove his competency and knowledge. As a result, he grew into one of the most required top managers with the opportunity to help companies to evolve. He is effective in organizing the work of teams and building effective collaboration between employees. Moreover, White possesses a clear vision of how Walmart should be changed to ensure it remains competitive and can struggle against its closest rivals. For this reason, White’s example can be used for learning about effective leadership and analyzed to understand the role of leaders in the development of a particular company. His career offers several essential takeaways that can be useful for colleagues.
References
Bloomberg. (n.d.). William White.
Hein, K. (2021). Walmart CMO William White on navigating shifting shopping behaviors. The Drum.
Redman, R. (2020). Walmart hires Target exec William White as chief marketing officer.Supermarket News.
William White. (n.d.).