RETAILOBSERVER.COM JUNE 2019
4
Eliana Barriga
eliana@retailobserver.com
Here's to investing in your dreams!
JUNE 2019, VOLUME 30, ISSUE 6
CELEBRATING OUR 30
TH
YEAR
AS THE RETAIL OBSERVER
PUBLISHER/MANAGING EDITOR
E LIANA BARRIGA
DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING
MOE LASTFOGEL
ART DIRECTOR
TERRY PRICE
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
RENÉE GALIOTO
KEVIN JOHNSON
MARIO JUAREZ
JOHN LAING
BRUCE MANNING
STEVEN MORRIS
JOHN TSCHOHL
VALERIE VILLARREAL
LIBBY WAGNER
MIKE WHITAKER
ALAN WOLF
RALPH E. WOLFF
DAVE WORKMAN
DEADLINE FOR AUGUST 2019 ISSUE:
JULY 1, 2019
THE RETAIL OBSERVER
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THE RETAIL
P
eople ask Bill Aris, over and over, how his Fayetteville-Manlius
High School (NY) girls' cross country teams have managed to win
the Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) an amazing ten times. (NXN,
where the nation's forty best teams compete, is the de facto national high
school cross country championship.)
Bill graciously shares his methods. He patiently explains how he trains
his runners. And other coaches suspect he's signifyin', as they say in
the Ozarks.
Coaches fall off their chairs when Bill explains that he spends relatively
little time designing his runners' workouts.
"I spend 80 percent of my time on psychological and emotional
considerations of each kid," Aris says. "I put 20 percent of my time into
designing the training. I spend most of my time thinking about and trying to
get to the heart and soul of each kid, to both inspire them and to understand
them. I'm always trying to figure out what keys unlock what doors to get
them to maximize their potential."
Other coaches believe there's no way Aris can produce national
champions without huge numbers of kids trying out for the team, and
without recruiting.
In fact, Fayetteville-Manlius High School has 1,500-2,000 students, yet
just 25 runners turn out each fall for cross country. And Aris doesn't need
to recruit, because his methods turn talented kids into champions.
Aris's boys' teams consistently place in the top five at NXN. To put this
in perspective, it's a tremendous honor to be among the forty teams invited
to compete at NXN. Scoring in the top five puts the F-M boys in the
absolute stratosphere of high school cross country.
The lessons for retailers are clear: if you want to be a champion, it might
be a good idea to start investing a significant portion of your time in getting
to know your employees' and customers' dreams – then do all you can to
help them realize them.
NOBODY
BELIEVES
BILL ARIS
Elle's View As I See It