CHAPTER 23
Are You Enabling a Toxic Culture Without Realizing It?
by Celia Swanson
During my tenure as executive vice president of Walmart, I hired a brilliant strategist to create a marketing strategy for the Sam’s Club division. Her results were powerful; the campaign was simple yet highly relevant. We became friendly, and I considered the hire a success until one of the team members approached me. It turned out the strategist had been incredibly hostile with her colleagues, making them feel marginalized and worthless. This had gone on for more than a year, and many on the team were considering leaving. After being unaware of the problem for so long, I took immediate action and fired her.
The crisis didn’t end there. Though I was able to convince ...
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