Executive Rewind: Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott
He's under fire, but you wouldn't know it talking to him.
Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott does not do many interviews. But he's doing more today, strategically, thanks to the controversies that swirl around the biggest retailer in America.
Employee pay and health care coverage, sex discrimination claims in promotions and pay levels, the pinch the Wal-Mart gorilla puts on suppliers and vendors and their prices, and the mom and pop stores that say they can't compete. These are among the major issues you've likely read and heard about. When you're the biggest player, you are also the biggest target.
Scott understands that he and his peers are under a very fine media microscope, and they ignore that fact at their own peril.
Recently, Lee Scott sat down for a lengthy interview with Neil Cavuto on Fox News Channel's Your World w/Cavuto. Many of Neil's interrogatives cut to the chase. Scott's demeanor is consistently calm, and it serves him well. His laid back style is an effective contrast to the sound bites he delivers.
For instance, talking about Wal-Mart's critics, Cavuto flatly charged they want Wal-Mart unionized. Scott, speaking softly, agreed. And his response, unlike his decibel level, was loud and clear: "This is about politics and power, not about right and wrong."
Cavuto probed for information on a sex scandal in Wal-Mart's C-suite that has become a fairly high profile case. It was clear Lee Scott was not willing (no doubt at the advice of his lawyers) to talk about it publicly. But, as Cavuto pressed him, he repeatedly referred Neil to the court filings. Interestingly, Scott never said "No comment," but he also did not comment.
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