Start with why. And work really hard to make sure you're consistent.

Greatness is not born from one success. Greatness is born from persevering through the countless failed attempts that preceded.

Bad leaders care about who is right. Good leaders care about what is right

Any great and inspiring leader or organization that ever existed set out to do something completely unrealistic.

I go into every meeting, into every room and for every speech understanding the standard deviation, the Bell Curve. I know there are about 10-15 percent of people in the room, who say, "I've been trying to say this for years. Finally. I agree. Yes, yes, yes." I know there are about 15 percent of the people in the room who think I'm an idiot, who think I don't know what I'm talking about, who think I'm naive or I have oversimplified everything. The majority who are open to the ideal.

Wal-Mart's size and scale is so vast they literally have the ability to change the face of the entire country. If Wal-Mart were to make a decision tomorrow to refuse to sell a single product made with partially hydrogenated oils, for example, we'd probably see rates from heart disease decline a few years later. That's how powerful Wal-Mart is.

When you start with why, which decision you make becomes very easy. It is so hard to do when you may suffer a short term loss or you may lose out on some short term gain. But in the long run it's way more powerful and way more stable.