Knowledge, Fun, and People

Passion Driven Product Knowledge, Purpose Driven Fun and a Heart for people…
g. simonsen

In October of 1995, I with several others was hired to be a part of the Christian Supply team at our Beaverton location. Quite frankly, back then there were absolutely no job training or job descriptions. There wasn’t even good POS training. So, there we were a whole new store that just relocated from across the parking lot filled with a whole lot of new team members. What a crew we were…

With that said, we came onto the scene like a meteorite armed with three critical desires…

1. We were passionate about the product
2. We loved to have fun
3. We loved people

1989, I sold cars. That’s right, I said it…I sold cars and after 3 months of 6 days per week and 16 hours per day…I quit. In retrospect, I found that I was missing one of these three desires…

1. I loved to have fun
2. I loved people
3. I wasn’t passionate about cars

In this, I realized that I could only have so much fun. But, without having a passion for the product or the mission of the company, it certainly made my job a whole lot harder; it also probably made the work for my employers a little more difficult too as I wasn’t performing at the levels I was expected to. However, before I left, I did have a day where I sold three cars.

Yahoo!

Of course, when I speak of having fun, please know that I do not mean having fun at the expense of the company. I mean fun as in we loved life, we loved working with each other, and we loved to laugh. With this, it made a huge impact on the environment of the store. People just liked to be there. And, if our employees just like to be here…then chances are, this will rub off on the guests too.

Sure, we were all responsible people and though there was lack of clarity on expectations and training, we also had a keen awareness of stewardship. So, it wasn’t just a big laugh-fest. We did our jobs. We kept the store clean, we kept the shelves stocked, we greeted every guest, sought to help every guest, we read all the trade magazines for the latest book reviews and listened to all the new music, we answered the phone with a smile, we held each other accountable, and the best part was…we had fun doing it. Even though there were no job descriptions to be seen and no one specifically told us to do so. We just did it and loved it!

If we saw a need we filled it, fixed it, picked it up and threw it away, or asked the manager about it. We had initiative and we loved it! This coupled with a manager that modeled it was like pouring gas on a fire.

As we head into the critically important Christmas season, let us please be mindful of the importance of these three critically important desires. As leaders, how are we fanning the flames of these desires to create a wild fire that will ABSOLUTELY impact our communities?
For me, 11 years have past and I have found that after all this time…

1. I STILL am passionate about the product
2. I STILL love to have fun
3. I STILL love people

Where do see yourself in these areas? What does your staff see in you in these three different areas?

Fan the flames…

Christmas is coming soon…what will people see when they walk into your store? Will it be Passion Driven Product Knowledge, Purpose Driven Fun, and a Heart for people? What do you see?

Let’s make a difference this Holiday Season! I believe in you and thanks for all you do!

Gunnar