Most of us grew up thinking that heroes are found in the colorful pages of comic books, the fast-paced scenes of action films and in the starting lineups of professional sports teams. Most of us would be wrong.

That’s because true heroic acts rarely involve saving someone’s life or hitting a game-winning home run in Game Seven of the World Series. Our day-to-day heroic acts—particularly for those in the c-store industry—mostly involve showing up at work each day, even during the pandemic, and not only greeting customers with a smile but also finding small ways to make each store visit somehow memorable. And for convenience retailers in particular, it’s about adopting that same heroic philosophy with every employee to make them feel as if they truly matter, too.

“Convenience stores rank among the most competitive businesses on the planet,” said Kevin Brown, a general session speaker at this year’s NACS Show virtual experience. “The way we differentiate in this space is how we lead and the environment that we create. We should never treat the people on the outside better than those on the inside.”

His topic, “The Hero Effect,” could not be more relevant to a NACS audience urgently seeking guidance in this most challenging time. If ever there was a time for c-store heroes to step up—and that can be any and all of us—it is right now, amid a pandemic that just won’t seem to let go and a social justice moment that is touching America at its core. In a confusing era of face masks, hand sanitizers, social distancing and social protests, c-store customers are simply seeking moments of comfort. Each one of the nation’s 152,720 c-stores represents a potential beacon of hope—and harbor of heroism—to the millions of customers who walk through the doors daily.

Brown, who is a self-professed expert on heroism, said American culture needs to totally flip its definition of heroes. Heroes are not ordinary people who do extraordinary things, he said. Instead, he insists, it’s the opposite: Heroes are extraordinary people who—by their own actions—choose not to be ordinary. “Everyone has special talents and gifts and abilities as unique as their own fingerprints,” he said. It’s just a matter of using them.

Heroes serve people at a very high level with no strings attached.

What makes a hero? According to Brown:

Heroes help. They serve people at a very high level with no strings attached. In the c-store world, that means keeping an eye on every customer who walks in the door. Do they have a disability and need extra help? Are they regular customers who should be greeted by name? Are they a bit older and might need help getting something down from a shelf? “This isn’t about going the extra mile but taking just one extra step to help someone else.”

Heroes create a special experience. From the minute customers walk into the store, their experience must be “world class” or they have zero reason to return. What does the store look like and smell like? Is it clean? What’s the music like? Is it pleasing to walk into the store—or do customers want to get out as soon as they can? “In the absence of a special experience, you’re only competing on price.”

Heroes take responsibility. Heroic bosses, in particular, take 100% responsibility for everything that happens with their companies and their stores. Instead of blaming the weather, the government or your employees, look in the mirror. “As an owner I have to look at what I can do to create the very best experience for my customer. Heroes never show up and start blaming. Superman never blames Batman.”

Heroes are optimistic. Heroes see life not as it is, but as it should be. They go through life looking for possibilities. For heroic bosses, that means providing career paths for employees and helping them get there. For heroic c-store employees, that means recognizing that every customer who walks in the door is carrying a burden of some sort. “Everyone walks in dragging baggage. I can add to the baggage, or I can lighten the load with a little bit of kindness. Coming to the c-store doesn’t have to be yet one more hassle they have to face today.”

How can a c-store employee making minimum wage even begin to relate to being a hero?

It’s all about the team culture, said Brown. It’s a culture that fast food’s Chick-fil-A tries to ingrain in each employee. “It’s all about the leader creating an environment where you feel respected and you get recognized when things work out well,” said Brown. “Whatever behavior you are modeling is what you’ll get back from your employees.”

In a COVID-19 era, the need for heroes becomes even more critical.

“The crisis does not create heroes, it reveals them,” said Brown. “The c-store clerks are everyday heroes who have always been there.” But it’s not just showing up to work daily that makes them heroes in this era—but the actions they take once they’re there. “The time that a clerk takes to make me feel like this moment in time matters means everything to me,” said Brown. “It’s about taking it beyond the notion that we’re just blowing through each other’s space exchanging dollars.”

Everyone walks in dragging baggage. I can add to the baggage or I can lighten the load with a little bit of kindness.

Why does the world need more heroes right now?

We need them because heroes bring a sense of calm and hope in a world so lacking in both, said Brown. For a c-store clerk, the very first step toward showing a sense of calm, and even hope, is to smile at each patron who walks in the door. “Better for your smile to pull them up, then for their frown to pull you down,” said Brown. A smile, after all, is not some random act of kindness—it’s intentional. That requires showing up at work with a sense of joy—and kindness.

Beyond the smile, it can simply be a greeting. When Brown walks into his favorite c-store in central Florida, where he lives, the clerk, Billy, not only knows Brown’s name, but has nicknamed him Mr. B. “Nobody else calls me that, but I love it. He knows I’m coming in to get a coffee and a Power Bar, and he remembers it,” said Brown. It’s all about validation. Each of us likes to feel needed, wanted and remembered. “Would Billy lay down in front of a train for me? No. But at least he gives me the perception that he sees me, he hears me and that I matter.”

Most of the time, the small acts of being heroic cost nothing, but the return on investment is extraordinary. That, for example, is why Brown will go out of his way to stop at the c-store where Billy works.

Heroic acts don’t require headline-grabbing feats, such as the 2009 “Miracle on the Hudson,” when US Airways pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger lost all engine power on his flight and still managed to glide the plane to a soft landing on the Hudson River, with all 155 people on board rescued. “Everyone has the capacity to land on the Hudson every day, but it just doesn’t look like you’ve landed on the Hudson. When you help someone take the stress out of their lives, you just landed on the Hudson,” said Brown.

Ah, but how to retain these heroic employees?

Brown, who particularly admires the work habits of Chick-fil-A employees, makes references to a study the chain did on how to retain the best workers. It advises:

• Be a great boss. People want to work for bosses who will mentor them. And if you’re a boss who is not training your employees enough or paying them too little, you must find a way to improve on both counts.
• Offer a career path. Every employee wants to know: What does the future look like for me here? Show them the possibility of that path early on and make it attainable.
• Make them feel important. Most people want to be a part of something bigger than themselves that helps to contribute to the greater good of the world. Through philanthropy or community service, make that path possible for all employees at your stores.

Being heroic is about not buying into stereotypes. You can be a stereotypically unclean c-store that focuses on selling cigarettes and beer, or you can decide that you are something bigger and better than that stereotype and be known, instead, for all the positive things you do for the community, Brown said. “Instead of living down to stereotypes, be the one to set a new standard.”

Who was Brown’s c-store hero?

Way back when he was a kid growing up in Muskegon, Michigan, Brown made money cutting grass, then headed straight to the local c-store, where owner Mr. Lack would not only sell him Red Hot Dollars penny candy and a Coke, but he always tossed some extra Eucalyptus candies in the bag, at no extra charge.

“That was my reward for going to a place where they knew me,” Brown said. “Mr. Lack was a hero.”

You can be one, too.