Building a Winning Team for Your Fitness Business

Michael Jordan. You may or may not be familiar with the man.Michael_Jordan_and_Barack_Obama_at_the_White_House

He’s the most accomplished basketball player to ever grace this planet. You might even own a pair of his sneakers – boy those things aren’t cheap!

Let me ask you a question: How did Michael Jordan become the world’s premier basketball star?

Sure, he had talent. But lots of people have talent.  I mean, his freshman basketball team famously cut him in high school.

Yea, he worked hard. But guess what? Every pro basketball player works hard.

That’s why they’re pros!

So, how then did he win six NBA championships? I’ll let you think….

Oh, yeah. He had the right team around him.

See, Jordan had the right coach to call the right plays for him.

He had teammates that passed him the ball. They made shots to take pressure off his shoulders.

There were trainers who rehabbed his injuries and watched over his nutrition. They added energy (and years) to his career.

Yeah, Jordan got the spotlight, but the people around him played just as important roles in the Bulls’ journey to six titles…

Guys, your team will determine the state of your fitness business. You have to surround yourself with positive people, who operate within their zones of genius.

Because your zone of genius is leading, selling, motivating, and delegating, right? So to get excellent results from all the other parts of your business, you need people who consider each of those other roles their own zone of genius.

In fitness, this boils down to how you select your trainers, accountants, secretaries, etc.

Look, everyone has a gift. I know you excel in at least one area of your life.

So the key is to scout for employees – I prefer to call them “team members” or even “family” – that dominate in their zone of genius.

You might be wondering, “Bedros, why can’t I just hire a bunch of well-rounded people to fill each role on my team? They have a better skillset than most.”

Whoa, whoa, hang on man—are you “well-rounded”?

Are you moderate or okay at a bunch of different little things?

Are you mediocre, replaceable, and forgettable?

Obviously not. You’re a badass, take no prisoners, unreasonable, passionate, driven, determined fitness entrepreneur, you know exactly what your gift is, and you won’t be satisfied until you deliver the best possible version of it to the world.

So why would you want mediocre, sorta-good people on your team? You deserve better than that. You deserve people who are just as unreasonable and badass in their roles as you are in yours.

When I look for new hires, I just take a quick glance at their resumes for red flags or cool experiences we can chat about.

Because there’s one thing I look for more than any flashy accolade or achievement…

Purpose.

Whether I’m hiring sales people, operations people, writers, designers, or anything else, I look for people who are obsessed with what they do. I want people who are still thinking about their skill or their craft even when they go home at night.

Heck, if I see someone with that same level of passion for anything, even if it’s not strictly job related, I’ll seriously consider them.

The one thing I will not accept are people who drift through life apathetic, non-committed, and letting their circumstances what they do and what they focus on.

And my favorite thing, my must-have thing, is people who are coachable.

Oftentimes, someone will interview with me for one position. But when I get to know their strengths, I carve out another role for them that better matches their purpose.

Think about this in terms of your fitness business…

Do you really want someone who’s pretty good at training, money-management, and sales as your accountant?

Or would you rather hire someone who knows nothing about training or sales but who balances your books like a pro?

I’d take the second case every time.

I see a lot of smaller fitness businesses fall into this same trap. One owner will train clients, negotiate business deals, handle accounting, and keep attendance.

How much can you get done when your energy is spread so thin?

Bite the bullet, man. Hire some fresh faces to take the load off, and trust that your business can run without the need for you to intervene.

As the boss of your business, you have the responsibility to operate within your zone of genius too.

People who busy their schedules just to feel productive do a disservice to their businesses.

When you set up your business, it’s less about how hard you work. That should be a given…

It’s all about how you direct your time and energy most efficiently.

5 PercentOperate in the 5% of your expertise. Channel your energy toward the growth of your business and profits. Not on minor tasks or tasks you can outsource.

The truth is, if you take the time to handpick a roster of all-stars, you won’t have to worry about the minor details that keep most fitness pros up at night…

See, you want everyone you hire to one day shatter expectations for themselves and the team by over-delivering.

If the success of any company were only based on individual talent, no one would compete with big firms that hire overqualified candidates.

But that’s the magic of teamwork; a bunch of out-of-sync employees can’t hold a candle to a team that works together.  

I witness this all the time at our Fit Body Boot Camp HQ. Our team covers up each other’s weak spots, and they collaborate to bring our owners some truly amazing resources.

Each one of my team members thinks differently than I do. When they feel welcome to bring their ideas to the table, our business can evolve at a rapid pace.

When you are in sync with your team, when everyone is like-minded, you breed a winning culture.

That winning culture translates to results. Plain and simple.

At the end of the day, I want the people I work with to go beyond what I require of them. They should put their teammates and the team before themselves.

It’s just as important to recognize when someone you believed in enough to hire falls short of expectations.

Maybe one of your trainers constantly offends your clients. Maybe your social media manager misses deadlines because you cut them too much slack.

You need to understand that everyone makes mistakes. Including you.

So what if you hired the wrong guy or gal for the job? Your priority is to preserve your team’s chemistry, not cater to one person.

The longer you let that person slide, the more they’ll drain your team’s morale and success.

Come on. You owe your hard-working team members more than that.

The main point I want you guys to grasp is that you are only as good as the men and women that work beside you. Whether it’s you, the entrepreneur or the janitor you bring in to keep the place clean, each team member helps make your clients’ experience better in their own unique way.

A team that stays together, grows together, and dominates together.

Committed to your success,

Bedros