Turtle on a Fencepost

Bruce Bryant is a corporate operations vice president. At his 25th service anniversary, he spent most of the time thanking and acknowledging all those who had helped him along in his career. He likened it to a saying from his childhood: “If you see a turtle on a fencepost, you can be sure it didn’t get there by itself.”

I think most turtles are treated better these days, but it remains true that each of us owes a lot to others in getting where we are. My thanks is to John Gleeson, whose parents spent their whole careers in our stores. John began his career at Walgreens in the stores as a 14-year-old bottle boy, became the youngest person promoted to a director position in our corporate offices, and ultimately retired in 2007 as senior vice president and Chief Strategy Officer. John taught me how the retail business works and what makes our company successful and different from others.  Most importantly, I came to see Walgreens through his eyes and why he loved it so.

It’s easy to forget about people like John, though, in the busyness of our lives. So today, take a few moments and think of someone who has helped you climb a “fencepost” along the way.  If that person is still with us, find him or her and tell them. Two things I guarantee: It will make his or her day. And it will make yours, too

The Pharmacy America Trusts

Until a few years ago “The Pharmacy America Trusts” was part of our Walgreens logo for almost twenty years. Although it was a pretty lofty claim to make, it spoke of our scale and what we like to think that sets us apart.

  Back in the late 80’s, an incident occurred in one of our San Francisco stores that illustrates this. One of the folks in the pharmacy discovered that one of the automated pill dispensers had been previously replenished with the wrong drug and we had possibly been dispensing it to our patients.  The key principle of all medical ethics is “Do no harm”. So the first questions werewhich patients, how many, what was possible medical impact on their condition.  At the same time, corporate leadership was alerted and corporate resources sprang into action, too. 

     The president of the company at the time was Fred Canning.  He assembled pharmacy officers, experts and executive leadership in the Board Room to sort through alternatives and any additional response we should make.  The good news came back that the wrong drug would not have resulted in any material health impact.  The relief was visible.

     Now the issue became: what do we do?  The publicity of the error might be horrendous. Regulatory authorities might close us down. An easy way out might have been to replace the drug, notify the affected patients and downplay the error.  Fred Canning, without missing a beat, said, “Here’s what we are going to do: we’re going to pull in all the pharmacy supervisors and pharmacists we have to and we’re are going to call every patient that we might have mis-dispensed to and let them know what happened.  If we have to, we’ll go to their homes to let them know.  And before the sun is down, we’re going to have our pharmacy execs on a plane to California to meet with Board of Pharmacy and tell them what we have done.”

   And in a defining moment, he concluded with a simple and powerful statement: “This may break our company but it is the right thing to do.”

     In the end it is not what we say about ourselves that defines us, it is what we do.

The spirit of this place

(Pictured above: The empty baptismal site at Yardenit before it's filled with people) 

My wife and I recently visited Israel on vacation. Overall we found it interesting and surprising. As we were traveling from the Sea of Galilee to Jerusalem, we stopped along the Jordan River at Yardenit, a popular baptismal site for pilgrim groups visiting Israel. We happened to arrive early and had the place to ourselves. The entrance led us through souvenir shops with knickknacks such as bottled Jordan River water. You could also rent a baptismal gown or choose from the many framing and photo options should you choose to be baptized there. We thought we had entered “Baptisms ‘R’ Us” and prepared to leave.

As we did a cursory walk around the place, we noticed various pilgrim groups had arrived and were gathering at the baptismal locations along the river. We were drawn to the singing as they began to perform baptisms. Pausing to watch, we were struck by the moment – people from different parts of the world acting out their faith surrounded by all the voices lifted in song. We realized that the “magic” of the moment was not where we were, but who we were with: it was the pilgrims’ acts that made the place special, not the place itself.

It reminded me of this place we call Walgreens. If you walk through a store before it opens, stroll down one of the giant aisles at a DC on a Sunday, or sit in one of the empty cubicles at our corporate offices after hours, they are empty and dead places. They only come to life when we show up.

We have a great history of success. Walgreens has provided jobs and careers for hundreds of thousands of people and served millions of customers over the years. However, it’s what we do each day that determines what Walgreens is or what it’s not.

If it’s where our customers count on us or where we make a difference in our communities, it’s because of what we do today and going forward. If this place is known for integrity and trust, it’s not because of slogans or programs – but it’s because we act with integrity and trust. If this is a great (or a bad) place to work, it’s because we make it that way. Whatever we are is the sum of each of our individual efforts each day – good or bad – or whether working alone or as part of a team.

Never doubt, you ARE the Walgreen Co.