by Jon Lackman | 24 September 2007 | Uncategorized
From the (Memphis, TN) Commercial Appeal:
Leave it to the art history majors to change the world. That’s what Lynda Ireland did. She graduated from college with an art history degree in the 1960s, taught art for 20 years, then shifted her career to work for a business. In the process, she became a fascinating example of how one person’s work can help shape an entire company. Ireland retired this month after 22 years working for the Memphis-based Fortune 500 company AutoZone. She wasn’t the CEO. She didn’t have hundreds of people working for her. Yet Ireland’s impact on AutoZone culture — and success — would be hard to overestimate. ”I wrote the pledge,” Ireland acknowledged a few days just before 2,000 clapping, screaming, cheering AutoZone managers from around the country rose to their feet at the Cook Convention Center to shout it out. The AutoZone Pledge is recited before the start of every meeting, in every state, at more than 4,000 stores in the United States and Mexico … The four lines read: “AutoZoners always put customers first! We know our parts and products. Our stores look great! We’ve got the best merchandise at the right price.”
