With more than 30 years of experience, earning bottom-line results for some of America’s best known corporations including Walmart, Ameritech, Convergys, AT&T, IBM, Pitney Bowes and SuperValue, Keith Wyche has risen to become a successful corporate president and one of the highest-ranking African-American executives in the U.S. Keith understands the rules for success, rules he now shares as an author, speaker, and thought leader.
Keith Wyche knows first-hand how to lead an organization through change and with intentional DEI development. As President of Cub Foods (a division of SuperValu), a $3 billion grocery chain with more than 8,000 employees, Keith led the division to double-digit sales growth in his first year. After successfully turning around Cub Foods, SuperValu needed Keith to turn around Acme Markets (a larger division of SuperValu with 113 grocery and pharmacy stores and 11,000 associates) that had been on a downward spiral as sales and profits had declined for the prior five years. Within a year as President, Keith had reversed that trend and led the chain to growth for the first time in a half a decade. Before joining Supervalu, Keith was President of U.S. Operations for Pitney Bowes. There he turned around an organization that was losing clients, seeing its competition eat its market share, and suffering from a demoralized workforce.
Keith began his career in sales, marketing and management with AT&T and IBM. Currently, he is Vice President of Community Engagement and Support at Walmart, responsible for developing the operational strategy to support the overall plans to leverage business, government and community organizations in major metropolitan areas in which the company serves. Previously, he served on the Corporate Board of Directors of WMS Industries (a gaming company) and the National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) and is currently serves on the Board of Directors for Brinks Company.
Keith is the bestselling author of four books on how to supercharge your performance and reach the top of the corporate world. Corner Office Rules: The 10 Realities of Executive Life, (Kandelle Enterprises) opens the door to the often hidden world of the C-suite. Keith’s first book, Good Is Not Enough: And Other Unwritten Rules for Minority Professionals (Portfolio, a division of Penguin Random House), was an Amazon bestseller and was nominated for the 2009 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work. His book, Swag Is Not Enough: Career Advice for the Serious Millennial was co-authored with his daughter Alana. Keith’s newest book, Diversity is Not Enough, is a 2022 NAACP Image Award nominated book.
Keith was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He received his BBA from Cleveland State University and his MBA from Baldwin-Wallace College.
Keith has been recognized for his achievements, both in the corner office and outside. His awards and honors include:
Named one of the top 100 African American executives by both Black Enterprise and Savoy Magazine.
Honored as a Man of Distinction by the National Urban League.
2010 Executive of the Year by the Executive 50 Organization.
2008 Inductee into the Martin Luther King Jr. International Board of Renaissance Leaders at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.
2007 Diversity MBA Magazine Top 50 Under 50 African-American MBAs.
Speaking Topics:
Leveraging Change: “How to WIN During Times of Uncertainty”: Insights for Leading Successful Transformations
Over his career, Keith Wyche has built a reputation as the ultimate “Transformation Leader." Keith has taken the learnings, challenges, and best practices from these and other organizations undergoing significant change and transformation and shares them in this presentation. After hearing Keith speak on this subject, audiences will learn about the challenges and difficulties in leading change, and how to WIN in spite of them.
Navigating Your Career: Keys to Climbing to the Top: How to Leverage your Performance, Exposure, and Brand
Many diverse professionals already understand that “good is not enough” for advancement. You still must be better at your job than your majority peers to gain the same rewards and recognition. However, even exemplary performance alone is not enough to advance in your career. In this session, Keith explains the importance of public perceptions, personal branding, and visibility, networking, mentoring, developing a long-term career plan, and identifying potential career killers. His tips are valuable not only to his targeted readers – diverse mid-level managers– but also to their majority counterparts.
Jumpstarting Your DEI Initiatives: Diversity is NOT Enough: The Importance of Inclusion and Equity in Creating Systems Change
As a DEI consultant and thought leader for over twenty years, Keith has been hired by numerous Fortune 500 companies and organizations to help them evaluate, re-imagine, and improve the outcomes of their DEI initiatives. In this presentation, Keith shares the missteps, challenges, and best practices from these engagements to provide insights into how your organization can jumpstart your DEI efforts.
"Participants appreciated hearing from an executive outside the firm that demonstrated awareness of how change has impacted organizations in different industries. Participants felt that Keith was 'dynamic' and appreciated his 'straight talk' in terms of how leaders should manage those that don't adapt well to change."
"Participants appreciated hearing from an executive outside the firm that demonstrated awareness of how change has impacted organizations in different industries. Participants felt that Keith was 'dynamic' and appreciated his 'straight talk' in terms of how leaders should manage those that don't adapt well to change."