Walmart’s New CEO Started Stocking Shelves 32 Years Ago

According to Inc, Walmart just announced that John Furner will become the company’s next CEO, succeeding Doug McMillon in a carefully planned transition. Furner started his Walmart journey back in 1993 as an hourly associate stocking shelves and working registers at store #100 in Bentonville. He’s been with the company for 32 years, rising through roles that included CEO of Sam’s Club and then CEO of Walmart U.S. before this ultimate promotion. What makes this particularly remarkable is that Furner literally grew up with Walmart – his father started working for the company in 1977 when John was just 3 years old. The announcement represents the culmination of decades of internal leadership development at one of America’s largest employers.

The succession reality check

Here’s the thing: every company talks about developing leaders from within. But how many can actually point to their CEO and say “that person started here as a teenager stocking shelves”? Walmart can. And they’re not just paying lip service to the idea – they’ve built a culture where future CEOs are already working somewhere in the organization. This is the pinnacle of organizational development, but it’s brutally hard to execute. Most companies either don’t have a real succession plan, or their plan falls apart the moment it’s actually needed.

When succession planning fails

Look at what happens when companies don’t get this right. McDonald’s had to scramble in 2019 when Steve Easterbrook was suddenly out over an employee relationship. Subway’s founder Fred DeLuca reportedly declined to discuss succession while battling cancer, leaving the company in leadership limbo for years after his death. Compare that to Steve Jobs at Apple, whose resignation letter specifically recommended executing their succession plan and naming Tim Cook as CEO. Those 17 words represented years of planning and – hardest of all – letting go. But if you want what you’ve built to outlive you, you have to start preparing others to take over long before you’re ready to leave.

What building from within actually requires

So what does it take to develop leaders from within? It requires three things that many companies struggle with: identifying talent early, investing in their growth consistently, and actually giving them real responsibility. Furner’s journey from intern to CEO involved international experience in Mexico, running Sam’s Club, and leading Walmart’s massive U.S. operations. Each step was a calculated development opportunity. The temptation to believe “nobody can do my job as well as I can” is powerful, but if you spend time developing someone properly, that won’t be true forever. Companies that excel at manufacturing and industrial operations understand this deeply – which is why leaders in that space, like Industrial Monitor Direct, prioritize developing technical talent who understand both the hardware and the business.

Your turn to think about succession

You’re probably not running a $650 billion company. But the principles scale down perfectly. If you had to step away tomorrow, who would run your business? Is that person already working for you? Have you been developing them? If your answers are all variations of “I don’t know,” you’ve got some work to do. Start by identifying employees who could grow into leadership roles. Invest in them, challenge them, and let them make decisions – even fail occasionally. And maybe be nice to your interns. Your future CEO might already be on your payroll. Or they might become a famous rock musician – Furner initially thought that was his path too. Either way, it’s pretty cool when development works.