Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon is set to retire at the end of this month, and he has spent his entire four-decade career climbing the ranks from the warehouse to the C-suite. Reflecting back on his whirlwind of a run at the $938 billion retail giant, McMillon had three lessons for Gen Zers stepping into the workforce—and the first doesn’t require a fancy degree, only determination.
“Career-wise, the first thing I tell anyone who asks for guidance is to do today’s job well, be present, drive change, deliver results, and do it the right way,” McMillon told graduates during his commencement address at the University of Arkansas in 2024. “Being present in today’s role and earning trust leads to the next job opportunity.”
McMillon knows a thing or two about leveraging loyalty to leapfrog in his career. The retiring CEO got his start at Walmart back in 1984 picking up orders and unloading trailers at a warehouse for just $6.50 an hour. This summer job blossomed into a four-decade journey at the business. After earning his MBA from the University of Tulsa, he transitioned to corporate work at Walmart in 1991 as a fishing-tackle buyer and worked his way up to CEO in 2014.
Dedicating one’s entire career to one employer is no easy feat, but McMillon has said he’s never “been bored one single day”—and advised Gen Zers to find a career they love, too.
“My second piece of advice is to pursue a career that does not feel like work. Life is too short to invest so much time doing something you don’t enjoy,” McMillon continued. “I hope you find your spot quickly like I did, but if you don’t, my advice is that you shouldn’t give up until you do…If you’re in the right place, most days, work won’t even feel like work.”
For the young generation rocked by AI jobs automation, tariff wars, sky-high housing costs, and crushing student loans, McMillon’s last takeaway rings especially true. Be compassionate toward others, even when the going gets tough.
“My third and final piece of advice is to assume positive intent from others and show them some grace. Know that you’ll get more joy from what you give than what you get,” McMillon added. “There’s a lot of conflict in our world today. Lots of worrying and too much suffering. We have a lot of challenges to be solved.”
Fortune reached out to Walmart for comment.
CEOs who say it’s important to love what you do
McMillon isn’t the only business leader who has encouraged Gen Zers to do what will fill their souls, not their bank accounts. Late Apple cofounder and CEO Steve Jobs once advised graduates to not settle for a job they’re dispassionate about; Jobs’ love for his career kept him going through being ousted from the company he built and Apple’s near-bankruptcy. Young workers should find their calling too, he encouraged, even if that means rejecting opportunities that don’t feel right.
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do,” Jobs said during a 2005 Stanford commencement speech. “If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking—and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
One upside of pursuing a fulfilling career is that it makes the hard parts of work a bit more bearable. Hyrox cofounder and CEO Christian Toetzke said the best way to strike the right work-life balance is by loving your job so much that nothing feels like a chore. If anything, it’s a gift to show up to the office every day and comb through hundreds of emails.
“I’m a massive believer in work-life balance, but the question is always how we look at this. And I’m a very privileged person because I don’t consider what I do as work,” Toetzke said on Brian Sozzi’s Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast last year. “I do what I really love. It’s also my hobby. For me, work is not a punishment. It’s almost kind of a reward.”
But CEOs do stipulate that loving what they do doesn’t mean it’s always sunshine and rainbows. Dan Sheridan, the chief executive of shoe company Brooks Running, advised Gen Zers aspiring for the top job that the gig comes with some chaos.
“Brooks isn’t perfect—no organization is,” Sheridan told Fortune’s Leadership Next podcast last year. “We’ve got our warts and bruises and things like that…80% of the time I love what I’m doing.” The other 20% of the time, the CEO admitted, his job is chock-full of “things that drive you nuts and things you can’t solve.”
