Rodden Selected as Wal-Mart Pharmacy District Manager of the Year

Wal-Mart Stores Inc proudly presented the Pharmacy District Manager of the Year award to John L. Rodden, DPh, pharmacy district manager of District 240, Region 42, located in northeastern Oklahoma. Rodden was awarded this honor in January 2007 at Wal-Mart's Year Beginning meeting in Kansas City, Mo. After being nominated by his immediate supervisor, Regional Manager David Reitnauer, DPh, Rodden was selected from a nationwide pool of exceptional candidates because of his extraordinary leadership and selfless dedication to his position and his associates.

Rodden began his career with Wal-Mart in McAlester, Okla, after graduating from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in 1994. Through dedication and hard work over the years, he earned several promotions and currently serves as the pharmacy district manager for northeastern Oklahoma. Throughout his career, Rodden has been recognized as a strong leader by his pharmacy teams, peers, and leaders. It is because of this strong leadership that he was selected as Wal-Mart Pharmacy District Manager of the year.

At the beginning of 2006, 2 other district managers in the surrounding area moved on to other positions, so Rodden stepped up to fill the void. He started out managing 11 stores in 2006, and by the end of the year he was managing 26 stores (an average territory for a district manager is 12 or 13 stores). Although he finished the year with twice the normal number of stores to lead, he demonstrated a high level of performance throughout the year, trained other district managers, and had one of the top financial achievements in the company. "He really did a great job of individually maximizing the performance of each store and providing great leadership," said Reitnauer.

According to Reitnauer, "he not only accepted everything that was put in front of him, but excelled in each one of those things as well, showing great leadership and capacity." One defining moment of greatness did not catapult his success - Rodden worked steadily and efficiently and had a strong performance all year long. Rodden continually promotes the profession of pharmacy and trains and develops his team in innovative ways to continuously exceed customers' expectations through quality customer service. Reitnauer emphasized that Rodden puts his employees first: "He's very humble. Everything relates back to his people and their accomplishments - he really is a servant leader."

Rodden had few words when accepting his award. "It is with great honor that I accept this award for the stores, pharmacists, and associates of northeastern Oklahoma," he said. "They are truly deserving of this award. They are the hardest working group I have ever been associated with. They get all the recognition for this achievement."

When asked of his personal achievement, he replied, "for nearly 13 years, I have had the privilege of working for Wal-Mart Pharmacy. My supervisors have always seen me as someone who needs a challenge, and I have always looked forward to growing with those opportunities."

Rodden and his wife, Heather, live in Owasso, Okla. They have 2 children - Bryson, 5, and Baylor, 1. In his spare time, Rodden enjoys traveling throughout Oklahoma, piloting his hot-air balloon in numerous events, and participating in the world's largest gathering of hot-air balloons, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.