Mercedes Walton and
Hannibal have a lot in
common.
Although Walton is a modern-day executive and Hannibal is a
historic military leader, Walton
is inspired by Hannibal’s famous
quote: “We will either find a way
or make one.”
As a child, Walton adopted it
as her lifelong motto, and it continues to serve her well as chairman and CEO of Cryo-Cell
International Inc., a 55-employee family cord blood bank that
posted fiscal 2007 revenue of
$17.5 million.
“Everything I’ve done in my
life is reflective of a spirit that
will not be defeated by the
odds,” Walton says.
Smart Business spoke with
Walton about how she provides
the strategic vision for her innovative organization.
Q. How can CEOs establish a
corporate vision?
The key is having the vision of
the organization in the context
of its industry. You have to know
what position and differentiations
you’re attempting to achieve in
a particular industry. Where do
you want to take the business in
terms of industry leadership?
You really have to be at the
helm of the ship and have a comprehensive understanding of the
environment. That includes
understanding the direction of the
industry, the strengths and weaknesses of your company, what the
company is setting out to achieve
for its shareholders, and how the
company intends to achieve that.
A vision is the foundation.
Underlying that would be the
strategic underpinning, and then
underneath that would be the
tactical plan.
Q. What is the first step?
Take an honest and candid
assessment of where your business is. Once you have a complete understanding of that and
you’re able to envision where
you can take the business from
the current place, you have to
have imagination. You have to
have the ability to think innovatively, imagine how the world is
moving and how the markets
are evolving.
Then, you have to set benchmarks as to where you want to
be, how you’re going to
get there and when.
In 2003, we had $7.5
million of revenues and
losses of about $7.5 million, so we were literally
bleeding, and we were
also faced with two
major and formidable
competitors. We stepped
back and took a critical
examination of ourselves
and of the industry.
We determined that for
us to stabilize, to become
profitable and to ultimately grow the business, we
would have to make
numerous changes and
reposition ourselves.
