Woman: Today we have the honour to invite Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart, to our programme. Welcome, Sam.
Man: Thank you.
Woman: Sam, many people admire your success, and they care more about your growing up. What made you so successful?
Man: In fact, I grew up poor in a farm community in rural Missouri during the Great Depression. The poverty I experienced while growing up taught me the value of money and perseverance. After attending the University of Missouri, I immediately worked for J. C. Penny where I got my first taste of retailing. Then I served in World War II, after which I became a franchiser of Ben Franklin five-and-dime stores. In 1962, I got the idea of opening bigger stores through sticking to rural areas, keeping costs low and discounting heavily. That was my concept running stores. I pursued it and founded Wal-Mart.
Woman: Today. Wal-Mart is the world’s No.1 retailer, with more than 4,150 stores,  including discount stores, grocery stores,  and membership-only warehouse stores.  What is your winning formula for business?
Man: I have several rules. The first is "commit to your business". I think I overcame every single one of my personal shortcomings by the sheer passion I brought to my work. I don’t know if you’re born with this kind of passion, or if you can learn it. But I do know you need it.
Woman: I agree. If you love your work, you’ll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can, and pretty soon everybody a round will catch the passion from you. How about the second rule?
Man: Share your profits with all your associates, and treat them as partners. In turn, they will treat you as a partner, and together you will all perform beyond your wildest expectations. Remain a corporation and retain control if you like, but behave as a servant leader in your partnership. Encourage your associates to hold a stake in the company. Offer discounted stock, and grant them stock for their retirement. It’s the single good thing we ever did.
Woman: I see. You are so kind to your partners and cooperate with them very well. How do you motivate them to work as hard as you do?
Man: Money and ownership alone aren’t enough. Constantly, day by day, think of new and more interesting ways to motivate and challenge your partners. Set high goals,  encourage competition, and then keep scores. Make bets with outrageous payoffs.  If things get stale, have managers switch jobs with one another to stay challenged.
Woman: That is to say you keep everybody  guessing what your next trick is going to be.  Don’t become too predictable.
Man: What’s more, communicate everything you possibly can to your partners. The more they know, the more they’ll understand. The more they understand, the more they’ll care. Once they care, there’s no stopping them. If you don’t trust your associates to know what’s going on, they’ll know you don’t really consider them partners.
Woman: Do you always reward your partners?
Man: Yes, of course. I give them both material and spiritual reward. A paycheck and stocks will buy one kind of loyalty. But all of us like to be told how much somebody appreciates what we do for them. We like to hear it often, and especially when we have done something we’re really proud of. Nothing
else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free and worth a fortune.
Woman: What other rules of success do you want to share with us?
Man: Well, the third rule, listen to everyone in your company and figure out ways to get them talking. The folks on the front lines are the only ones who really know what’s going on out there. You’d better find out what they know.
Woman: To be a good boss, you’d better be a good listener.
Man: Right, to push responsibility down in your organisation, and to force good ideas to bubble up within it, you must listen to what your associates are trying to tell you.
Woman: I hear you always control your expenses better than your competitors. Is it true?
Man: Yes, this is where we can always find the competitive advantage. For twenty-five years running long before Wal-Mart was known as the nation’s largest retailer, we’ve ranked No.1 in our industry for the lowest ratio of expenses to sales. You can make a lot of different mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you’re too inefficient.
Woman: We really benefit a lot from your rules. Thank you very much for talking to us, and now let’s…