Don’t Spin a Better Story. Be a Better Company

by Leslie Dach

Companies frequently hire public relations people when they sense that the tide of opinion is turning against them. They may be facing nasty headlines and want them to go away. “We’re misunderstood,” the company’s CEO will say. “We just need to tell our story better.”

There is often some truth to that. When I joined Walmart, the company was focused on running an efficient business and making customers happy. Even after we became America’s largest company, much of the information the public got came from our detractors. So yes, it was necessary to tell Walmart’s story better.

But it’s a huge mistake to assume that once you’ve explained your perspective, the public will embrace you. Having spent many years in consulting, I know what doesn’t work: thinking you can tell a better story without actually becoming a better company.

For Walmart, the turning point was Hurricane Katrina. When the storm hit, we mobilized to provide meals, emergency supplies, and cash. No internal debate was needed—those were obvious right things to do. But the experience opened our eyes to the broader opportunity to make a difference. Two months later, then-CEO Lee Scott gave a landmark speech in which he asked, “What would it take for Walmart to be at our best all the time? What if we used our size and resources to make this country and this earth an even better place for all of us? And what if we could do that and build a stronger business at the same time?”

We made a strategic decision to go where those questions would lead us. My role was to find the places where being better would make the biggest difference and to create a culture that would enable us to get those things done.

We started by encouraging the organization to get out of its defensive crouch and listen to its critics. It wasn’t easy to open up to the outside, but the learning opportunity was clear. Ten NGO leaders around the table bring you 100 years of experience.

We set big goals in areas such as sustain­ability, women’s economic empowerment, and more-healthful food—even when we couldn’t yet see how to reach them. Then we made sure the goals lived inside the organization. If you want to source $20 billion from companies owned by women, someone with a broad perspective on the business has to identify which merchandising areas have that potential. Someone needs to tend to the metrics. And the CEO has to set the tone, as Mike Duke has done. But ultimately, the challenge isn’t the CEO’s job, or any one person’s job; it’s everyone’s job. Today every merchandise buyer’s annual objectives call for progress in sustainability or in women’s economic empowerment. Finally, in order to have the greatest impact, we took a 360-degree approach to the work, engaging our entire supply chain and our customers, communities, and employees.

These principles are working for us—and we are showing others that taking on large social issues can be compatible with building a stronger business. Increasing the efficiency of our truck fleet and turning our waste stream into recycling income improve our bottom line. Hiring veterans gives us strong leaders. Implementing recently announced energy initiatives will eventually save $1 billion a year. Buying much more from businesses owned by women will yield both stronger communities and more-relevant products for our customers.

Walmart gets its story out better these days. But the reason the story resonates is that it’s a story of real change. So here’s my advice: If a drumbeat of criticism starts up against your company, don’t rush to raise your voice above it. Stop to listen. And commit to getting better.

Leslie Dach wrote this column shortly before stepping down as the executive vice president of corporate affairs at Walmart. He previously served as the vice chairman of Edelman, a global communications firm.