Success Quote by Lee Scott

Power trying to sound humble is always a little revealing. Lee Scott, speaking as Walmart’s CEO, frames corporate power as “size” - a neutral, almost accidental condition - and then turns that into an “obligation” to listen. It’s a deft bit of reputational jiu-jitsu: the company isn’t being dragged by critics; it’s responsibly engaging stakeholders. The language is managerial, not moral. “Open to what people have to say” keeps the demands safely in the realm of feedback, not accountability.

The most telling move is the softening clause: “they’re not all mean-spirited.” That’s less magnanimity than triage. Walmart, in Scott’s era, was a magnet for complaints about wages, small-town business collapse, supplier pressure, and labor practices. Labeling critics “mean-spirited” was the unspoken default in corporate defensiveness; admitting some aren’t is a way to separate “legitimate concerns” from “ideological attacks” without naming either. It invites dialogue on terms the company can manage, while leaving room to dismiss the rest as bad faith.

The intent is pragmatic: de-escalate conflict, signal modern corporate citizenship, and keep the brand from being defined by its loudest detractors. The subtext is that scale creates scrutiny, and scrutiny threatens license to operate. Listening becomes risk management, a way to convert public anger into a process - meetings, panels, statements - where urgency gets smoothed into procedure. It’s not cynicism so much as corporate survival instinct dressed as openness.