Pride Creates and Develops Passion

Recently, I wrote about the importance of “pride” in our careers and daily lives.   I was always fortunate to have leaders around me who believed in pride and offered constant inspiration to grow this pride.  

Every day of my career was a learning experience and developing the pride in my work and myself seemed so natural from the very start.  

I mentioned earlier that my first hospitality job was handing out beach towels at the Kahala Hilton, a 5-star hotel in Honolulu.   It was no surprise that I was proud, standing tall, with a huge smile in handing out my first and many more towels to guests by the pool.   Handing out a beach towel was my role and an important role for me and the hotel.  To others, that seemingly little bit of service was trivial but to me, highly important to the guest.  I was very proud to hand out the beach towel.  To see a happy, satisfied guest was the goal and I was proud to accomplish that task.

I learned quickly that pride creates and develops PASSION. 

As my career grew from handing out beach towels to being a salesperson, my pride developed a passion for the job and responsibility.  As I took on more responsibility, my pride and passion grew exponentially.   Passion made me want to go to work, to meet guests, and to be of service.   Success comes from Pride and Passion for without it, we would not go to work.

Here in America, we have a company called COSTCO, which is a homegrown Seattle-based company that has become a phenomenon locally and internationally.   COSTCO began as a no-frills, no thrills, retail experience, with no fancy shelves or displays.  Its business model seemed to be “buy in bulk” and save.   Today, it is highly demanded and a norm in retailing.  The costs saved from decorating fancy shelves and decorating the store were passed onto customers.  COSTCO  is a warehouse experience, well-lit, well-stocked with a variety of products, and well-staffed.   Ask anyone who is a member and shops at COSTCO, going to COSTCO today is an experience and an event.   Everyone wants to go to COSTCO and looks forward to it.  

It is no longer, let’s go shopping, it is let’s go for a COSTCO run.

Why do I introduce COSTCO?  Remember I mentioned much earlier that nothing happens in this world until a sale is made.  Additionally, no product, concept, idea sells by itself, it is sold by a salesperson.   Every employee at COSTCO is a salesperson with tremendous Pride and Passion for their role.   They don’t have fancy designer uniforms, but they have a name tag and a magnificent smile, and tremendous Pride to serve.   Like many, I shop at COSTCO all the time and with each visit, I look forward to not only the products but interacting with the staff in all departments.  They have never disappointed me.  They are always friendly, enthusiastic, optimistic, energetic, and are a reason for shopping there.  I could go on and on describing the COSTCO experience but suffice to say this company builds pride and passion in its employees to be the successful giant that they are today.  Wish I had some of their shares!

COSTCO opened a store in Shenzhen, China recently and the response was beyond overwhelming.  Their problem was crowd control which they managed well.  What a great problem to have, strong acceptance and patronage from the local community.   We should all be that fortunate.  

Put pride and passion on the top of your list for yourself and your team.  Invest in yourself and in them to bring in success.