This podcast explores the importance of integrity in business. Jelahn Stewart, Walmart's Global Ethics Officer, shares her journey and insights on making ethical decisions. The podcast also emphasizes Walmart's commitment to integrity and features stories of second chances and misconduct reporting.
Jelon Stewart highlights the importance of exploring different paths and not being pressured to decide one's entire future at a young age.
Jelon emphasizes the importance of doing the right thing and defines it based on Walmart's integrity equation: legality, alignment with the company's code of conduct, and putting Walmart's interests first.
Deep dives
Jelon's Journey in Law and Government
Jelon Stewart, the global ethics officer, shares her diverse background, having worked in government and law. She explains that her decision to become an attorney came from a desire for intellectual challenge after working in television. Despite initially moving away from criminal law, she found herself drawn to being a federal prosecutor. Jelon highlights the importance of exploring different paths and not being pressured to decide one's entire future at a young age.
The Rewards of Prosecution
Jelon discusses the rewarding moments in her career as a prosecutor. Rather than focusing solely on convictions, she values the cases where she chose not to prosecute individuals who didn't necessarily need punishment. Jelon shares an example of a young man involved in marijuana sales, whom she allowed to serve his sentence in a job training program. Years later, he started a successful business, providing guidance and employment opportunities for others caught up in the system.
Principles, Purpose, and Integrity
Jelon emphasizes the importance of doing the right thing and defines it based on Walmart's integrity equation: legality, alignment with the company's code of conduct, and putting Walmart's interests first. She encourages individuals to define their own set of principles, suggesting they ask themselves what decision they will be most proud of in the long run. Jelon also mentions the significance of applying personal values to decision-making, considering how their actions would be perceived by loved ones and the wider public.
HOW we do business matters, and we’re dedicated to doing it the right way. That’s why integrity is one of our core values at Walmart, and it’s essential to our culture. Our associates, customers, investors, suppliers, and business partners choose Walmart because they know we are a business they can trust.
In this special edition of The Huddle, I talk with Walmart’s Global Ethics Officer, Jelahn Stewart, about how our culture of integrity brought her to Walmart after two decades in government. From overseeing the U.S. Witness Protection Program, prosecuting felony cases, serving as Special Counsel in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and more – Jelahn embodies living with integrity, and she has great insight on how we can all do the same. I hope you’ll listen to this important conversation, and I hope you commit to ALWAYS doing the right thing.
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