Advice to Newlyweds

At the wedding reception I once attended, the thing that I remember the most is the father of the bride’s toast to the newlyweds.  As he raised his cup, he offered two most important phrases to remember for a successful marriage: "You're right and I am wrong" and "I am sorry".

This was met with some knowing chuckles from the audience.  Wise words and not just for marriage. There is no doubt these are some of the most powerful words exchanged in sustaining relationships. Both at work and at home.

I think about all the times that my pride or stubbornness or fear of losing "face" has prevented me from saying these simple things. And looking back, how much better things would have turned out and how much wasted time and pain would have been avoided had I been able to swallow my pride.

But letting down our defenses is an act of trust and hard to do. I know it is for me.  However, although there is a risk when that happens, I have found it worth it when I gathered the courage to do it

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

What Got Us Here Will Get Us There

During a meeting today we were talking about opportunities and we were reminded of the incredible breadth of talent throughout our company. It made me recall of how I came to join Walgreens almost twenty years ago.

I started out my career in consulting.  During my first twelve years, I got to work in lots of different companies and be exposed to lots of different “corporate cultures”. My last five years in consulting was spent at Walgreens full-time working on SIMS. 

When I arrived at Walgreens, I had never considered working in “industry”; I was a diehard consultant.  I sort of had the attitude of Groucho Marx who once said that he wouldn’t want to join a country club that would accept him as a member.  At that point in my career and life, the ideal model for success against which to judge others was me and others like me.  That is, since I had been successful, other people had to be like me to be successful.

Thank goodness I got to spend those five years here.  During that time I was able to see firsthand how things worked and Walgreen people interacted with each other. I came to see how wrongheaded my preconceptions were.  I came to know that talent takes many forms. I saw people up and down the organization who did wonderfully creative things to make our company better in so many different ways whether it be how we pick a store site or how we pick orders or how to serve our customers.  In just about every area I saw people who did their jobs much better than I did mine. In all my years in consulting, I had never seen a company and culture like Walgreens.

At the end of the project as I prepared to roll off the project and move back to my new office downtown, I was approached about joining Walgreens. Up until that moment, I had never thought about working here but in an instance, I knew that this is where I wanted to be.

What was true twenty years ago is still true today. Certainly there have been challenges and probably none more than we face today. But our roots run deep and we have proven resilient in the toughest of times over the last hundred years. I consider myself fortunate to work with so many fantastic talented and devoted people. Thank you for the opportunity to serve with you.  And thank you for all you do to serve our communities and customers. We cannot say it often enough to each other.

Little Victories

In response to a recent blog, The Pharmacy America Trusts, Teresia Walton asked an interesting question: “Are there any such examples of this sort of thing in today’s Walgreens?” The Canning story is great because it was an “epic” decision that could have affected lots of people and reflects the values and standards we hold ourselves to. It was one of those rare events where the stakes were high, alternatives were clear and a decision had to be made quickly and communicated across the organization.

However, a recent example is more typical. This last winter one of our trucks was delayed in a snowstorm and it was determined after it had made deliveries that some of the Rx might have been exposed to freezing temperatures. Rather than take a chance, all the Rx and OTC product that was delivered was pulled from all six stores and destroyed. There was no fanfare and only those directly involved know anything about it.

I believe there are similar decisions made every day throughout the company.  Maybe the stakes are not so high and maybe not so public. But they are just as important because it is the choice that counts.

I read once that there are no “good” or “evil” countries. Rather, the battle for good and evil is fought in each of their leaders’ hearts.  Just as it is in each of us.

Every time one of us acts in the interests of others rather than ourselves, we achieve as big a victory as Mr. Canning’s. And I suspect if he were alive today, he would agree. 

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.