The Retail Observer
  • Home
  • Magazine
    • Features
    • Writers
    • Issues
  • News
    • Industry News
    • Heart of the Industry
  • Partners
    • Partner Directory
    • Buying Groups
    • Distributors
    • Manufacturers
    • Trade Associations
  • Blog
  • Events
    • 2023 Year at a Glance
  • Subscribe
  • Home
  • Magazine
    • Features
    • Writers
    • Issues
  • News
    • Industry News
    • Heart of the Industry
  • Partners
    • Partner Directory
    • Buying Groups
    • Distributors
    • Manufacturers
    • Trade Associations
  • Blog
  • Events
    • 2023 Year at a Glance
  • Subscribe

NOBODY BELIEVES BILL ARIS

6/1/2019

0 Comments

 
By Eliana Barriga
Publisher and Managing Editor for The Retail Observer

PictureEliana Barriga
People 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.

Here's to investing in your dreams!
Eliana Barriga
eliana@retailobserver.com

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Elle's View
    Moe's Musings

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

Features
Writers
Events
Partners
Blog
Magazine
Subscribe
Advertise
Media Kit
Ad Specs
Heart of the Industry
Privacy Policy
Contact Us
Copyright@ 2014-2022 The Retail Observer, Inc.