“So how long does the apprentice program last?”
A coach-in-training asked that question years ago, and I only had a vague answer.
I mumbled some sort of “Mark of Zorro” stuff about the pupil being ready when the master says he is ready.
It was a bad answer, but I didn’t have a good one because I was making up my staff training on the fly.
After starting a gym and filling the coaching staff with a group of talented friends, we needed more coaches, and I was trying to lead them to success with an apprenticeship program that was better than nothing but less than ideal.
The greatest omission: Apprentice coaches had no way to measure progress, gain momentum or feel success.
I was reminded of all this last week when gym owner and Two-Brain mentor Karl Solberg shared a precisely documented coach ascension plan with me. His spreadsheets would have allowed me to say this to coaches:
“The first part of the program lasts about two to four weeks, and you’ll reach the next level if you score 80 percent or better on an evaluation that will happen in 15 days. You’ll spend about six months in the next level, with advancement contingent on my evaluations and acquisition of another external credential. Most people reach the final level in about two years. When you do that, you’ll get a raise.”
So, here’s a question:
Do you have a coach ascension model or are you using a vague, choose-your-own-adventure development plan just like I did?
Make a Plan!
Karl showed me a host of incredible documents that guide new trainers to become master coaches at CrossFit Medis and CrossFit Sickla. His plan is clear and detailed. Yours might not be at the start.
That’s OK. You don’t have to create a masterpiece right away.
All you need to start is a schedule of evaluations at intervals and an evaluation sheet so coaches know what you’re watching for. That alone would have improved my gym.
I evaluated the coaches irregularly because I wore too many hats and didn’t have time to watch their classes. That slowed their progress, and my inability to set up a schedule was likely perceived as disinterest in their development. It wasn’t a good way to light a fire under a new trainer.
Similarly, I didn’t have a concise evaluation form to show apprentice coaches. Evaluations generally came down to a lot of “I would have done it like this,” which is really just a great way to confuse people and kill motivation.
To avoid these two mistakes, create a form and share it with your coaches—or borrow this one. Then tell your coaches exactly when you’ll evaluate them, stick to the schedule, and be sure to go over the form with them after you’ve filled it out.
A great piece of advice: Tell every coach you will always provide a focus for improvement regardless of score. I often felt handcuffed if I gave a coach good grades across the board, and too often I said “everything is great” when I really meant “everything is acceptable at your current stage of development, but we can improve this thing to ensure you keep improving your skills.”
One more piece of advice from Karl: Once you get a basic evaluation form in place, consider creating additional versions of the form that are more applicable to advanced coaches. Karl evaluates new coaches with a basic checklist, but evaluations for upper-level coaches are much more detailed because more is expected of them.
With clear evaluation criteria laid out and a schedule of evaluations in place, your coaches will be motivated to improve, and they’ll know how to “win.”
When that happens, you’re well on your way to creating careers for coaches who add more value to the business by helping clients get results faster.
