Conviction is Powerful

It comes down to one word: conviction.

It's true, if your team isn't performing, it comes down to conviction.

When the Apollo 13 service module exploded a few days into its journey to the moon in 1970, Gene Kranz—the flight director in Houston—faced a critical choice. He could fully believe his team would bring Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise home… or he could focus on the harsh reality of the situation and let doubt creep in.

Fortunately for those three astronauts, Kranz chose conviction. He believed they could bring them home alive and rallied his team to execute one of the greatest rescue missions in human history. They tackled the problem systematically, one issue at a time.

(And if you somehow haven’t heard the story, go watch Apollo 13. It’s worth it—for both the lesson and the entertainment. Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, and Bill Paxton aren’t a bad trio to spend a couple of hours with.)

So what does this have to do with why your team isn’t performing in sales and operations?

Your results are directly tied to your level of conviction.

We see this across car washes all over the country. On the sales side of the business, operators who truly believe a membership is better for the customer—who are fully convinced of its value—consistently outperform everyone else. They don’t hesitate, they don’t second-guess, and they don’t present it as optional. That belief shows up in how they communicate, how they lead, and how their teams execute.

From an operational standpoint, owners who believe that daily checklists and preventative maintenance are non-negotiable consistently run smoother operations.

This isn’t just about you as the owner. Your manager has to carry that same conviction. If they don’t, they need to develop it (which is absolutely possible)… or you need to find someone who already believes in the vision.

Don’t let a lack of belief or conviction quietly undermine everything you’ve built.

Believe. Act. Improve. Repeat. Be like Gene Kranz.