【Exclusive interview with leader】John F. Baugh

Founder and Senior Chairman of the Board of Directors of SYSCO Corporation

John Bao uses his life experience to let us learn how to combine Christian faith with professionalism to build a large enterprise blessed by God.

"Many people are in awe when talking about John Bao, saying that the success of this company is mainly due to his integrity, intelligence, and perseverance. In addition, he has set a standard for suppliers, customers, and employees to treat each other fairly. example.

"We salute the gentleman who set the standard for Hisco, raised it and upheld it in every aspect of his life."

I was baptized when I was sixteen. I once had an interesting and overwhelming experience. When I was about twelve or thirteen years old, Mr. Gebufa was my Sunday school teacher. I sat in the front row of the class because I wanted nothing more than to let him know that when baseball season came, I was going to be the third baseman in every game.

One day during a discussion, he and a child were exchanging opinions and ideas. When talking about something, the young man said, "Mr. Ge, if Jesus Christ were standing behind you right now, I would say the same thing."

Mr. Ge said, "Ah, kid, I don't know if you understand this fact, but Christ is with us in this classroom right now."

I stood up, turned around, and looked behind me. This shocked me. Then, it dawned on me and I finally understood what he meant. That was a great experience for me. Since then, I have never tried and never been able to get rid of the thought that Jesus is near me. That was an extraordinary experience.

Can you briefly describe your corporate career?

When I was a kid in Waco, Texas, I held an executive position at an A&P grocery store. I was the "spokesperson," telling people to move their toes so I could mop the floor. I started working when my father died when I was twelve. I learned many lessons about human nature and worked until I graduated from high school in 1932. I originally planned to attend Baylor University, but I couldn't get in because we didn't have the money. This was during the Great Depression.

At that time, there were originally seven A&P stores in the city, but they were closed one after another, leaving only one with former managers as employees. Finally, I was out of work. However, the director of the Dallas District A&P is a very nice person. He called his supervisor in Houston and said, "This is a good kid, and he really wants to stay with the company." So Mr. Day from Houston sent me a message saying that if I could get to Houston by a certain date , he was willing to give me a job. I walked for three days and two nights to Houston and got a job at an A&P food store.

You probably feel lucky to have gotten this job, right?

Yes, we had a very strange experience. My supervisor at Houston A&P, a man named Mr. Martin who has passed away now, was a very good Christian. In 1932, thousands of people were unemployed, but Mr. Martin treated me well. He asked me to come to the warehouse office Thursday night to meet with people. Even though there are no job opportunities, people still queue up four blocks away. Mr. Martin sat there weeping and listening, and tried to encourage everyone. He ordered boxes of bread from the Dallas bakery, twenty loaves each, and piled them behind his desk. I, the young man, was there to help him. He would ask people, "How many people are in your family?" After they told him, he would give them bread, and that was all he could do.

There are also people who come into my store very hungry. For five cents I could feed a man, for five cents could buy two loaves of bread, five cents could buy two cans of canned pork and sweet beans, and five cents could buy two cans of canned meat. So for five cents I could give a man a loaf of bread and another can of whatever he wanted. We have countless poor people.

One day a man came in and said he would work or do anything in exchange for food. I gave him the same answer: There is no job. However, I told him he could get five cents worth of food - a loaf of bread and a can of other food. "I really don't know that my wife would like that," he said.

I asked: "Are you married?"

He replied, "Yes, we have two children." After saying this, he said worriedly, "My children have not had anything to eat for two days."

So I went to meet the store manager, his name was Roland Holland, who is still alive and has remained a good friend. I said, "Mr. Luo, I would like to borrow some money."

He said, "Why?" I told him about the family. He said: "I understand how you feel, but if you keep lending money to people and hope that one day they will pay you back, that is impossible. If you want to borrow money, I can lend you some, but you must know that you cannot Keep doing this forever."

So, in those days when a four-pound can of strawberry jam cost only twenty-nine cents, the man and I filled him with two dollars' worth of groceries to take home, enough to last them for a while. . The next day, he came in with his wife, who stood there with a very serious expression on her face, thanked me for the food for her children, burst into tears, and then reached out and touched my cheek. I will never forget this.

This man later became the president of a company in Houston, and we remained friends throughout his lifetime. It was an incredible time.

How long did you stay at A&P?

until the end of World War II. After the war, my wife and I started what would become Sisko. Let me tell you, she started it with another guy who was illiterate and me, and we started a little food distribution business. The office is in the back bedroom of my house. My wife, Yuna Mei, doesn't leave the office during the day. It's not that she has to answer so many phone calls. I guess she is praying that the phone will ring.

After a few years, she was able to return to her job as a full-time housewife and take care of her children. Let me just say, by the way, that I have been married to my sweet wife for sixty-five years, and I am the luckiest man alive.

However, having my wife leave the company and go home to take care of the children is a huge drain on the company because I have to hire someone to work in the office. My administrative costs skyrocketed! But we got through it. Sisko was established in 1969 and at the same time merged with several other companies scattered across the country, some in the West Coast, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest. Today we have 122 distribution centers in the United States and Canada, and we also have many businesses overseas.

Why is Hisco so successful?

Sisko has been quite lucky. We have two advantages. One is that we have a very favorable market to develop. Most women would rather have a kitchen at home than use it (even if they haven't done so yet). And our customers serve food to people who are not eating at home, such as restaurants, hospitals, airlines, ships, schools, and other places that serve meals "outside of the home."

Another advantage is that we have a fantastic staff. Before we even started this public company, I spent a total of six months in New York meeting with investment banking institutions. They provided me with some cases of large companies for reference, some of which were doing well and some of which were not so good. They coincided with what I already felt from earlier experiences. Some of those reflections are very simple: try to do what is right in the eyes of God.

For example, unethical shortcuts often bring long-term retribution. This lesson can be learned from lying to your mother as a child. Thus, in our current company of approximately 50,000 employees, being famous is not the purpose of life, nor is arrogance. In our company, we are committed to promoting our talent within the company, not outside the company, and we have been very successful in doing so. We have 1,300 senior managers, all of whom are trained by the company. We strive to match their wishes and talents so that they can fill different positions. At the same time, after we find a suitable position for them, they must learn the eight or nine basic requirements required for company operation so that they can effectively take responsibility. So, we're lucky to get great talent.

Some come from the wrong management I observed on the spot, and some come from my experience in participating in management. I've seen people arrogantly claim to be the boss and say, "Just do whatever I tell you." Of course, anyone in the company knows who is the boss, but if it's someone in charge or someone else with a responsibilities, If responsible people can exercise self-discipline, be courteous to everyone, and ensure that everyone is treated with respect, it will be a great encouragement to build a sound institution. On the other hand, being impolite, being impatient, and embarrassing your colleagues just because you have the authority to do so without complaint is a waste of one's time and energy.

Those feelings come from my experience working in A&P when I was a child, as well as the experience I gained in the development of the company. Also, I have a very bad memory, so I have to tell the truth because if I lied, I wouldn't be able to remember what I said earlier!

Hisco is so big now that you can no longer remember every employee's name. As a Christian, do you manage it differently?

When the company grew to seven or eight thousand employees, I thought I knew everyone. Any more than that and there's nothing I can do. Of course, when I say I know everyone, I mean when I walk into a warehouse, like the one in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and a burly Dutchman in a jumpsuit approaches me. , said: "Ah, do you think we have done a good job in this company?" That is definitely a happy thing. We're like good buddies. The same is true in the shipping room.

Some people view delivery people as the bottom of the totem pole, but my view is that there are only three types of people my customers know: the salesman, the operator's voice, and the delivery person. The more enthusiastic these three types of people are about the work they do, and the more they are encouraged to come up with creative ideas, the better we will become. That's how we operate, and it obviously works.

Is there any difference between managing a business with 7,000 employees and a business with 50,000 employees?

We try not to be different. There is a disease that I don't like, which is "big company inflammation." Everyone in our company knows that I have always been afraid of "big company inflammation." Not only does it cause the business to fail or not get the benefits it could, it's not even fun at all.

How do you avoid it?

By perseverance. We are now under the leadership of our fourth CEO. As you can imagine the company is run by younger and smarter people. The CEO is the kind of young man who starts from the bottom. For example, we have a subsidiary whose CEO, David Dekoch, started out as a delivery boy. His boss is a very good man who fully believes in the principles we stand for. He was treated as a friend and treated with the respect a delivery person deserves. Even now, after many years as CEO, David has not forgotten those things. He remembered that he had benefited from enjoying his work in the past, and he also enjoyed seeing other people and his business succeed.

The progress of science and technology in the past fifty years has been dizzying. In managing business or certain aspects of business, we must learn to make some changes in certain procedural steps. We are also aware of changes in professional discipline. However, how people treat each other has not changed. I am convinced, without a doubt, that it will be easier for us if we can build the right relationships with our co-workers by telling the truth, acting fairly and honestly, treating others well and being considerate of others as we would like them to treat us. to pass the test of these technological changes. You can also think more clearly about any operating procedures or adjustments that can improve the company's current situation. In this way, we can effectively cultivate our personnel and demonstrate all professional disciplines. Plus, it’s more fun that way!

How does being a Christian affect your interactions with your employees?

Let me start by saying that almost everyone in the company knows that I am a Christian. They knew what kind of Christian I was and what church I belonged to. They knew those things, but they didn't know them from me. I am not forcing Christianity on anyone in this building. However, I am not unwilling to let them know that I believe Christian principles are practical, workable, and rewarding—not necessarily in terms of money, but in relationships. Therefore, we do not impose Christianity on anyone.

I don't walk around with a big red-backed Bible under my arm, there's no need for that. Asking me to direct others to pay special attention to Christianity is no more comfortable than asking me to force others to switch to another technology with which they feel uncomfortable. I know a guy who declared bankruptcy on three different companies, all major public companies. He is the most arrogant person I have ever met. It was his attitude that made him incompatible with his subordinates and others.

As you know, relationships are actually very sensitive and fragile. Even with my children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren, I face the same challenges. If I speak appropriately, I can be their encourager and they will be willing to be taught. However, if I use threats or forceful tactics to control people, it will not be effective and I will not be able to help them in any way.

Speaking of young people, what advice would you give someone who wants to go into business?

First, I would advise them to avoid being in embarrassing or unethical situations. It will be in their own interest to avoid unethical or unethical situations. This advice seems a bit negative, doesn’t it?

But if you want others to be honest with you, cooperative with you, and eager to follow your lead, you have to pay a price. This cost is not only related to ethics and morality, but also to treating others politely and maintaining human dignity. There are many people who do not believe this, or have not thought about it, or have never tried to treat others in this way.

Finally, I would say that no matter what their profession or business is, no one can ever seize every possible business opportunity. However, you can develop a specific area of your business and do it better than anyone else, and it's worth pursuing with enthusiasm. Our company now has over $20 billion in annual revenue, we feel comfortable and our mission is to make our customers successful. We don't want to do business with all customers, only those customers we know we can treat fairly with each other. That's the customer we want. We can't always agree to every customer request, but we can look them in the face, clearly state what we can do for them, and then deliver on our word on time.

This way, you can sleep well at night.

Yes, and I don't have to remember what lies I told!

*Excerpted from "Corporate Giants: Personal Stories of Faith and Finance, by Bob Darden, Robert Darden, and PJ Richardson, published by FH Revell, 2002", Chinese version, translated by Mo Zhuoyijuan, which will be published by the United States in the near future Published by Soaring Eagle Press. This article is published with permission from Flying Eagle Publishing House.

[Excerpted from a speech of commendation to John Bao in 1998]

It all started with one room and three employees, only one of whom was salaried. (“We started with no money, no capital, and no goods.”) But in the days after World War II, John Bao had the idea: Families working outside the home would eat out in restaurants more than before.

Today, SYSCO (full name Systems and Services Company Systems and Services Company) is the world's largest food service distributor. Founder John Pao - who was not a salaried employee at the time - now oversees the entire kingdom, which has:

★Nearly 50,000 employees.
★Supply 356,000 restaurants, schools, hotels, and medical institutions.
★One hundred and twenty-two locations throughout North America.
★More than 275,000 types of products.
★In 2001, sales exceeded US$20 billion (US$20 Billion).

In 1976, Mr. Bao was the first person to be inducted into the U.S. Food Service Industry Hall of Fame. His distinguished resume includes the Texas Business Hall of Fame, the Bank of Houston (director), Houston Baptist University (founding trustee), Baylor University (emeritus trustee), and participation in the Texas Baptist Foundation Twenty-five years (including one term as Chairman).

But when you talk to Mr. Bao and his wife of sixty-five years, Una Mae, another unpaid founding employee, you would never know that Hisco is one of the 100 largest companies in the United States. One of the companies. "We did this because we desperately wanted to avoid what we experienced during the Great Depression," he said modestly.

He continually attributes Sisko's amazing achievements to his employees: "This company has the most awesome people I've ever seen, and that's why I still love coming to work."

With his low-key attitude, naturally funny nature, and deep religious faith, Mr. Bao is a role model for aspiring Christian entrepreneurs wherever he goes. His character was formed early in his family and church.