Leading with Noble Purpose

Chapter 16Give Yourself Space to Say No

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.

The second best time is now.

—Chinese proverb

When CVS stores kicked their cigarette habit in October of 2014, they were making $2 billion a year selling tobacco. But they quit, cold turkey. They gave up $2 billion a year because selling tobacco was out of alignment with their true purpose. Their announcement read:

Ending the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products at CVS/pharmacy is simply the right thing to do for the good of our customers and our company. The sale of tobacco products is inconsistent with our purpose—helping people on their path to better health.

In conjunction with the initiative, CVS renamed themselves CVS Health. They launched Let's Quit Together, a comprehensive personalized smoking cessation program to help their customers kick the habit as well. CVS President and CEO Larry Merlo said, “In quitting tobacco, we announced our plans to help the 18 percent of Americans who smoke. We know that 7 in 10 smokers want to quit, so we've built a comprehensive national smoking cessation program that will help them do so.”

How is CVS faring after giving up $2 billion in revenue?

Pretty well. They made headlines in every newspaper in the country. They've been lauded by medical professionals and business journals alike. Taking what seemed like a huge (short-term) hit to profits is actually going to help them make more money. Industry analysts believe that CVS will quickly replace ...