Dean Reinemund Discusses His Military Service

Bobbie Shrivastav (MBA ‘11) recently attended an event at work where Steve Reinemund, the retired chairman and CEO at PepsiCo and current dean of the Wake Forest University Schools of Business, discussed his military experience. Thank you to Bobbie for letting us repost a blog that originally appeared here.

 

*****

 

On April 21, at the Customer Service Center for Pepsi Beverages Co., we had an opportunity to invite Dean Reinemund as a key note speaker for the newest Employee Resource Group, VALOR. VALOR is an employee led group that recognizes, appreciates and supports PepsiCo’s veterans, military members, their families, and the communities in which they live and work.

Dean shared various stories and his learnings from his military experience. He served nine years in the military, in which four were in the Naval academy and five in the Marines. In his discussion, he covered four main areas on how the military has helped him succeed:

• Military introduced the principal of servant leadership
• Helped defined a moral compass
• Allowed him to see the role and the criticalness of culture
• Allowed him to see a difference between training and education

Below are the highlights from the discussion:

Servant Leadership

A great leader is one that shares the notion of service to others. In his military experience, leaders always eat last. It is critical to take care or serve others first. He gave a story of a platoon leader. The platoon team that wins is when the leader of the group cares for the team.

Moral Compass

A difference between great v. ineffective leaders is the notion of having a good moral compass. Dean shared his moral compass in which faith is at the core with family, friends, and country being surrounded by the core.

Role of Power

Power is a two edge sword. Leaders that use power for good leads to greatness while the opposite leads to devastation. Dean reminded us to stand up for what is right and not to go along with leaders that abuse powers out of loyalty and fear.

Role of Diversity

Military was one of the first institutions that were the most diverse. Everyone was at a level playing field. It taught Dean the importance of diversity and how it is crucial to success in the organization.