I’ve talked about Pride many times before and what I really admire about it is that, with a great measure of Pride, one is able to successfully accomplish excellence in most any task or discipline you may conjure up.

Humor me and follow my ancient brain’s rumblings and ramblings for just a few moments; see if you are not tempted to lean toward – and quite possibly agree with – my thought processes. For if you do follow and if you do somewhat agree, couldn’t and wouldn’t this be a key factor in improving the hiring process and, in turn, a store’s performance?

MANAGEMENT: We all know that employee turnover is one of the biggest obstacles we face in running a first-class and profitable business, one that will return a profit commensurate with our investment. You are surely aware that a larger element of Pride can close any existing shortfall.

EMPLOYEES: No doubt your management team is aware, as are you, that you possess and exercise a certain measure of Pride in your daily work – that’s a given. Have you, though, given thought to the fact that exercising the gift of Pride to a fuller extent works greatly in your favor toward getting ahead, further and faster, in your trip on the “Merry Go Round” of success?

Now consider this please – do you really think that a Pride-filled individual would:

• Be habitually late for work several times each pay period? Or that a Pride-filled manager would allow that to continue? Not likely!
• Arrive for work unshaven in a wrinkled or dirty uniform? I don’t think so!
• Take their place in the store, wearing an obvious bad attitude? Get “outta” here!
• Or, how ’bout something as simple as place a “Wet Floor” sign on the store floor without first cleaning it? Don’t even go there!
• Or, checking in a vendor from behind the counter, talk on his or her cell phone, forget to make fresh coffee, fail to check the condition of the restrooms, etc., etc.? Not going to happen!

Perhaps one of the greatest demonstrations of Pride came to me recently after midnight while I was clicking the remote control through the few sports channels that I receive. With no live sports to speak of during the pandemic, I came across the 50th anniversary of the USA’s 1980 Olympic Gold Medal hockey team that on its way to glory had defeated the highly favored Soviet Union team.

It was the same Russian team that had beaten us a few weeks earlier in an exhibition game at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Indeed, a total thrashing by a score of 10 to 3 – they were that much better than us! A veritable team of seasoned professionals against a team made up of young college players.

Somehow, we rose to the occasion during that 1980 Olympic game amidst a patriotic home crowd in the hamlet of Lake Placid, N.Y., and prevailed by a score of 4-3. A game commemorated by the brilliant commentary of announcer Al Michaels, who with five seconds left and the USA leading, asked the rhetorical question, “Do you believe in miracles?”

A few days later, the USA went on to defeat Finland by a score of 4 to 2, clinching the gold medal. A game that yours truly and his family attended, witnessing a fantastic game and, afterward, the greatest show of patriotism and the happiest showering of tears I ever saw.

I would sum it up by encouraging each and every one of you, in the words of the old U.S. Marine Corps ad campaign, to “be all that you can be!”

My point is, folks, that we all have it within us to rise to the occasion and be more than we can be. And, yes, Pride can be the fuel that lifts you there. So, will this be the time that you dig deep to find and use that talent and drive?

Do you believe in miracles?

Jim Callahan has more than 40 years of experience as a convenience store and petroleum marketer. His Convenience Store Solutions blog appears regularly on CStoreDecisions.com. He can be reached at (678) 485-4773 or via e-mail at [email protected].