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| I've always had a love affair with Frozen Drinks |
For reelz, folks.
With all my heart, I... really... love... Icees—and slurpees and slushies and shaved ice and candy and soda pop and... well, a lot of things that can be found lining the walls and shelves of your local convenience store.
Throughout my travels to all 50 U.S. States over the years, my love of convenience stores has of course accompanied me. Consequently, I have become a fairly knowledgeable and credible Convenient Store Connoisseur, at least in the United States.
Laugh if you must, but I am not joking. I'm a pretty good authority on the best places around the country to quickly and easily satiate those persistent sugar cravings.
To wit: Buc-ees of Texas, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida is by far the best. Indeed, without any question or debate, Buc-ees is the perennial GOLD MEDALIST at the Convenience Store Olympics—held about every other day in the arena of my mouth. And the good news is that they are in the process of expanding into Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, and South Carolina.
God Bless the South!
Click HERE to learn more about Dr. JJ's lifelong love affair with the Southern States.
While less grandiose and expansive than Buc-ees, QuikTrip crosses the finish line in a strong second place finish (more on QuikTrip later in this article). RaceTrac brings home the bronze, and Maverick and 7-11 merit honorable mentions. Everyone else is just an "also ran" albeit with some glowing individual exceptions here-and-there. As for the bottom of the pack, I'll just leave it at: "If I can't say something nice, I won't say anything at all!"
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| A new Buc-ees near Daytona Beach, Florida. Notice the halo of sunlight just above the beaver's head? Coincidence? Uh, I don't think so! |
Indeed, it can be devilishly difficult to find a frozen beverage confection that is "Just Right," especially at anywhere other than Buc-ees—which is uncannily consistent at everything they do, wherever they exist. That is one of the reasons Buc-ees is, hands-down, the consistent gold medalist at the convenient store olympics.
Why can't everybody else get it as right (and as often) as Buc-ees does?
For example, why do I keep visiting my local RaceTrac only to find that most of the eight Icee machines are either malfunctioning or not functioning at all?
How is that serving the customer?
Does the manager have any idea how much money she is losing from people like me because most of her Icee machines are down seemingly most of the time? Does he even care about how his staff's poor service is hurting his store's bottom line? Doesn't she know that "The Customer is Always Right" and I (the customer) say they are seriously screwing up their Icee sales potential. And for what?
Inattention?
Apathy?
Laziness?
A personal vendetta against Icee lovers?
Whatever the reason[s], the bottom line is that some vendors simply care more about the customer (and their own bottom line) than others. Buc-ees, for example, has better LEADERSHIP and really cares about its customers. And that is precisely why they have about a bazillion customers visit their stores every day of the year.
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| Broken things were not meant to stay broken. They were meant to be FIXED! |
At Freedom Focused, our vision is to be the Buc-ees of professional education, character development, and self-help. Aside from our aim of being the very best and biggest in the industry, we (more importantly) genuinely CARE about our customers, clients, and students. As such, we never settle for mediocrity—or even above average. We never let things stay broken, and we are continually working to improve everything we do as leaders, trainers, producers, and customer-service experts.
For me personally, a primary motivator for building Freedom Focused from the ground up has been the mediocrity and poor customer service I continually see all around me. While there are a variety of noticeable and noble exceptions to this trend—which always inspires me—it seems as though the prevailing cultural winds blowing through American Corporations and other organizations of all kinds are perpetually lacking in both the kind and degree of EXCELLENCE of which their agents are capable. It's not that they couldn't be stellar; it's that they choose—by virtue of their thoughts, speech, behaviors, habits, and cultures—to be less than their capabilities and potential.
And it always begins with the small things—with the broken "Icee machines" that go unfixed.
The ignominious Enrons and WorldComs of our society do not implode overnight. It always begins with small acts of apathy, laziness, duplicity, and vice. Then it multiplies and builds until one day: KaBoom!
And while most companies don't completely atrophy from the inside-out, many organizations do fail to reach their fullest potential—not because they can't, but because they simply don't know how, or don't care enough to try hard enough. For far too many people and organizations, "Good Enough" is, too often, well, good enough.
At Freedom Focused, we think this is sad.
We also think it is avoidable.
Is that too much to ask for?
Unfortunately, for far too many organizations, it apparently is too much to ask. Indeed, I could go on for days about all the negative experiences I have had with companies that were performing far below their potential, but I think you get my drift.
Since we can only control ourselves as self-action leaders, we at Freedom Focused aim to persistently and consistently direct that control where it belongs—on making our own selves, groups, teams, and organization the very best they can be. That means when things break, we fix them; when things need upgrading, we upgrade them; and when things need changing, we change them. And we always begin, continue, and end with an indefatigable quest after the most important kind of change in the world. What kind of change is that, you ask?
The answer is: SELF-CHANGE.
It also means we are prepared to release (aka FIRE) anyone who fails to live up to the stirringly high expectations set forth in our corporate Declaration of Independence and Constitution. After all, no one—including myself as the Founder and CEO—is above the law; and at Freedom Focused, our corporate DoI and Constitution are THE LAW.
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| Convenient Store Olympics Podium Winners Gold Medal: Buc-ees of Texas. Silver Medal: QuikTrip of Oklahoma. Bronze Medal: RaceTrac of Georgia. |
Years ago, I had the opportunity to facilitate a training seminar at QuikTrip corporate headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was impressed with what I experienced and observed there. My time there, in concert with my countless visits to actual QuikTrip convenient stores throughout Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, and Texas over the years, further instilled within my mind and heart a VISION for the kind of EXCELLENCE that Freedom Focused expects of its leaders, trainers, and other agent-employees.
Human beings are admittedly imperfect. However, this reality should never lead us to cower beneath our inspiring—even sky-high—potential for EXCELLENCE and GROWTH. Despite how far we have come in the history of this world, we can still go so much faster and farther, do so much better, and become so much more.
Freedom Focused will lead this effort throughout the first half of the twenty-first century—and beyond. To learn more about how we aim to accomplish this, visit our website at www.freedomfocused.com.
Despite this fact, I would argue that we still have so much to accomplish and look forward to in the next 42 years. These uplifting and spectacular changes and developments will mirror the micro and macro character improvements and infusions of integrity that Freedom Focused will influence and lead throughout the United States and World in coming decades.
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| Think the world has changed in a LOT in the last 6,000 years? Or even the last 40? Just wait until the next 40! |
On August 21, 2063—my 84th birthday—I'm looking forward to reflecting back once again on what we've accomplished together. When that distant, yet certain-to-come day arrives, I am confident we will all look back and be even more amazed looking back than we are now. As hard as that may be to imagine, that's my prediction—and I'm sticking to it!
As such, I invite you to buckle your seatbelt, hold on tight, and prepare yourself for the ride of your life because the next four decades are going to be an exciting, fulfilling, and growth-filled adventure the likes of which this world has never before seen in its approximately six-millennial span of recorded history.
Get ready my colleagues and friends; the world is about to change in ways never before imagined. And YOU have the unprecedented opportunity to be a part of it.
Let's get moving!
-Dr. JJ
Author's Note: This is the 226th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013.
Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 225 FF Blog Articles.
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Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.
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