Entrepreneurs and business owners need a pat on the back. You have had the courage to step outside of the corporate box and start your own business or expand into the fastest growing youth sport!
You have chosen to take on the challenge and responsibilities. You are bringing a vision, a dream and a passion to life. Commend yourself.
You are already a multi-tasker and as solo-entrepreneurs there are a lot more hats to wear. Gym Business owners are in accounting, advertising, managing, coaching, teaching, counseling and so on.
We’re into a new season and we may have exhausted ourselves of ideas, that passion that once used to drive us is fading and our never ending "to do list" is overshadowing our dreams.
... Let’s refocus, refuel and rejuvenate ...
Fuzzy focus.
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e-focus: The team has lost focus on results or members have never been clear of their goals in the first place. Instead, they've become too internally fixated on other team members -- judging what they're doing, making assumptions, speculating, back stabbing, finger pointing, etc. Without a clear focus, team members frequently react to events in their immediate environment. They become distracted by other team members or simply respond to whatever issue lands in their lap. There's no strategic team focus or energy to move forward.
Suggestion: As the leader, you must step in and clarify big picture goals and expectations. In order to do complete this task effectively, you must communicate the goals in a number ways that appeal to a variety of team members. Some may need a visual representation (a past competition videotape, a new training tape); others may need to know the "why" behind the goals. Check for clarity. Ask the team to articulate their understanding of the overall goals in their own words. Then clarify or correct as needed.
Coaches and Leadership.
Leadership is critical to help the team succeed. Without it, team members will resort to their own methods. Some will run as far and fast as they can to prove themselves, pushing boundaries and taking on too much risk. Others will sit idle for as long as they can, performing as little as possible, yet complaining about how much work needs to get done. Some coaches are too busy concentrating on their own career agenda. Build loyalty from your staff. Other leaders just don't understand their role or possess good leadership skills.
Suggestion: Conduct regular strategic focus sessions. Strong leaders will help the team focus on the goal and the strategies. Hold consistent informal one-on-one development meetings with direct reports to gain feedback and to uncover trouble spots. If you need to build leadership skills yourself, make that a priority. In order to develop others - you must first develop yourself. The OACC does customize training for you and your staff and offers on-site individual workshops.
Suggestion: Talent retention - keeping loyal coaches. Your coaches and support staff are the people with the knowledge, expertise, initiative, imagination, and collaborative skills within the organization. Don’t downplay this critical piece. Focus on spreadsheet shifting without regard to the role specific individuals play within the organization is detrimental to you. Golden handshakes and pink slips are given out without regard to the power, knowledge and stakeholder base that a staff person may have.
Foster a loyal and committed staff. Cheer companies tend to experience lower commitment and cooperation from employees, increased turnover among coaches, and ultimately lower financial success if the key people are not identified, included and recognized.
Identify the key managers, leaders, volunteers and coaches who are the glue that hold the organization together and then creatively engage them in your processes and procedures.
- Tie their compensation to benchmarks.
- Involve your key leadership people in all aspects of integration strategy planning.
Avoid lame-duck leadership; keep them current and in power. You are the coach’s coach.
Engage senior leaders in the process of vision and mission creation and implementation.
Your staff may be more proficient in a particular area of your practice. By honing in on their skills in that area, you are creating a competitive edge, an area of expertise. You can position yourself as a leader in your own industry. Opposed to fitting in with a thousand of professionals offering the same service, we are now exposed to clientele as specializing in an all-star elite facility.
Volunteers: Lower your payroll, they are passionate and they have a personal investment if they have a child involved. Student college interns want the experience or are required to have experience as part of their education curriculum. Ohio has a college every 30 miles. Retired coaches from other sports are superb staffers. To help all of them avoid favoritism, require that they obtain basic training or certifications. Parent and volunteer staff training from the OACC network of affiliates will reflect your personalization and professionalism, yet remove you from conducting all of their one-on-one training.
Partnerships and Allies: Wouldn't you agree that we all need support? We need confirmation that we are heading in the right direction, a resource for assistance, or an honest opinion when we need advice. That's why it is essential to group ourselves together with a variety of individuals who are enlisted within a similar profession. It also increases our professional appearance to clients when we can refer them to an associate of ours who specializes in a particular area of expertise. Make an effort to get to know your local rec coaches, high school, church and junior high school coaches. There are many associations and links available to aid us in our endeavors. So make the connections needed as an OACC member or Representative and integrate yourself with allies that unite together as a support system.
Stuck in sameness.
Your teams may be stuck in practices that were established years ago. They've gotten lazy or stopped trying new approaches. Old team members may be frustrated by the apparent lack of openness to new ideas or ways of operating. Veteran team members may also defend the way things have always been done.
Suggestion: Find one aspect that you and the team would be excited to change. Talk with your team to make sure everyone sees and agrees. Adopt a new procedure, try a new approach or do whatever it is you're suggesting. Then call for ideas from the team on how to make it happen. Generating excitement about new possibilities makes it easier for the team to get unstuck.
The most effective teams can maintain best practices while adapting to new environments or organizational changes. They are not content with sameness or status quo. Their best practices include constantly seeking new and better ways to perform their job. They are not content with going through the motions or frivolous exercises that may help increase awareness, but stop there.
Maintaining Passion The word passion is described as: "enthusiasm, excitement, desire for a particular activity, or devotion to a cause". How do we maintain that enthusiastic approach? Focus on your core message. This is the innermost substance of your business. Focus on and think about how you are empowering others to accomplish all that is needed of them by assisting them with your services and/or your products. I
