Bruce Peterson never dreamed he’d have a 17-year career at the nation’s largest retailer. His plans were to go into the field of engineering, but a job bagging groceries in a Detroit supermarket changed the trajectory of his professional life. It was there he became enamored with the produce business, encouraging him to pursue a general business degree instead.

Peterson worked for a number of supermarket chains, but it was an interview with Sam Walton that led him to become the produce director at Wal-Mart, spurring a long-spanning career with the company.

“When I joined Wal-Mart they had six supercenters and when I left they had 24,048 and 42 distribution centers,” he said. “During my career I got exposed to a variety of things in merchandising and procurement however what most people in the industry know me for is my reputation for nurturing.”

Nurturing and mentoring is part of Wal-Mart’s corporate culture. Peterson participated in a formalized program that required associates to mentor three people that didn’t reflect the same gender or background. Peterson recognized the influence others had on his career and wanted to “give back” and help others.

“I don’t know any successful person in any field that doesn’t recognize that he or she had some very fortunate things happen in their life,” said Peterson. “Because of my title and job responsibilities I got to interact with presidents of companies and people that were extremely influential in terms of business, politics and academia. Many of them weren’t necessarily mentors in the formal sense of the word, but they helped me progress and grow in my career.”

At the Detroit supermarket, Peterson encountered his first mentor who influenced his presentation style and views on people, much the same as Sam Walton.

“When you talk to many people, you can tell they have something on their mind other than their conversation with you,” he said. “Sam made me feel as if there was nothing more important than spending time talking to me – as if the fate of the company depended on what I said. I know that wasn’t the case, but that’s how he made me feel.”

This ability to focus on people was something Peterson carried throughout his career. Peterson learned from Walton how he thought about business and customers. A contemporary at Wal-Mart who went on to hold the CEO post at Starbucks was also influential in how Peterson approached professional and interpersonal interactions as was his last manager with the company, Doug Degn.

“Doug’s philosophy of business was those who do, teach,” said Peterson. “He had a tremendous influence on my leadership style. He once said to me ‘your peers are your peers for a reason.’ It helped me look for the good in people. Sam was great about that, too. If he went into a competitor’s store he never spent a moment looking at a dirty floor or what was out of stock on the store shelves. Instead, he looked for what they were doing right and what he could learn from it.”

When it comes to mentoring others, Peterson often shares this advice: find something you love and pursue it.

“I don’t know many people that achieved high degrees of success that hate what they do,” he said. “The other thing is be open to going where there is opportunity. Rarely do people have the job they want, making the money they want in the location they want. When I went to work for Wal-Mart there weren’t a whole lot of people who wanted to move to Bentonville, but lucky for me, I was willing to do that.”

Today, Peterson manages his own consulting company, Peterson Insights, and works with executives at organizations in the produce and perishables industry. As part of his practice, he instills the value of creating a culture rich with mentoring.

“When I ask people ‘what differentiates you from your competition,’ invariably the response is ‘our people’,” said Peterson. “But when I ask them if they set aside budget for development and mentoring, the answer is typically no. I don’t understand how organizations can take this approach. If you say your greatest asset is the people that work inside your organization, you need to invest in developing that group.

If business were static, I wouldn’t worry much about mentorship. But business is anything but that; regardless of what business you’re in, your business is different today than it was yesterday and is going to be more difficult and complex tomorrow than it is today. You need to invest in your people. One of the greatest ways to do that is by taking people that are growing or that you’ve identified as future leaders in your organization and connect them with people who are already successful. If you want to inspire better performance, you need to pass that along.”

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