By Per Mattsson, Certified Two-Brain Fitness Business Mentor
We’ve built our organization with different teams around every revenue stream. This was done to create an organization in which teams can act independently and make their own decisions about how to reach our shared goals.
In order for that to happen, we need great team leaders. Here’s how we build them in gyms.
Step 1: Define
Define what a great team leader is for your business.
That means knowing what qualities and characteristics you want in a great leader, and it also means having a very clear image of the responsibilities, roles and tasks that team leader is going to have.
I look for coaches who perform consistently in their roles from the beginning. Before they can step in to a team-leader role, they need to show me that they can lead themselves. Can they stick to a schedule and deliver with consistency? Do they follow up with their clients? Do they understand the importance of audience building? Are they team players who work well with other staff members? Can they follow instructions? Do they come up with their own ideas and solutions?
When I see someone who checks all those boxes, I know we have a good candidate for team leader.
My role on this level: I coach staff members in biweekly meetings to help them grow and to make sure they are delivering according to standards. They do not have to lead other team members here, they don’t have to track metrics, and they don’t have to take responsibility for marketing or sales (besides producing their share of content).
Step 2: Act
Have the conversation.
Talk to the person and show them the possibilities. If they are interested, start the training process. In addition to everything mentioned above, leaders must also understand teams are essentially “businesses within the business.” So a team leader must learn more about:
- Leading other staff members.
- Budgeting and tracking metrics.
- Measuring and improving operations.
- Marketing and sales.
My role on this level: I offer the same frequency of coaching, but we now dig much deeper into processes. We work a lot on the Growth ToolKit and in the learning modules available through the Two-Brain platform. I put more books into leaders’ hands, and they basically learn everything I would teach a mentee in the Two-Brain RampUp process. They are learning to build a solid foundation under a business—even if that business is within another.
I help them around potential issues with team members, but I do not step in to solve their problems for them. My job is to help them grow as leaders. There are situations where I could step in to benefit our business in the short term, but if I really want to delegate in the future, I need to trust in my team leaders and allow them room to operate.
Team Leaders … and More?
At the moment, we have eight different teams in our gym. Some are led by staff members, and some are still led by owners. Over time, our goal is to have every team led by staff members.
Some of our team leaders are going to excel in their roles, and they are the ones we might want as CEOs or perhaps even partners in new gyms in the future!
What does your process look like? How do you train staff members? If you need help, feel free to reach out to me at per.mattsson@twobrainbusiness.com.
