What if...Things still keep going wrong?
Ok after yesterday's games, I thought I've done my mucking about bit for the week.
Lucy dropped me off this morning early so I could put the battery back in my car, thankfully I'd parked under a street lamp.
Great session with my early morning group, pretty much par for the course with those guys. Actually I'm going to extend it and say ALL my sessions today were good!
An interesting thing happened to me today on a number of levels. First of all I sat down with a young trainer and had breakfast and he initiated a conversation about personal training asking me if I felt the fitness team should be allowed to personal train.
It's funny I have pretty strong feelings about this. On one side I have always believed in helping everyone I meet in any way I can. Some choose to repay this, most don't. Some over the years some have even chosen to actively repay help or kindness in a very derogatory manner. That's their karma. But I am going to pick up that thread in a second.
So off goes my Spidey sense. Why would he be asking this question? Is there an ulterior motive? Is something already in the pipeline?
It's been no secret that in our gym for a long time the managing company have wanted to personal train but haven't been allowed.
So I was prickly.
I made the same suggestion that I have over many years. Promote the existing team till they are busy. Cross mentor and build a business together and learn together.
I say this from experience.
I started training people in 1987, spent two years in a hard core bodybuilding / powerlifting gym, then two years in a fitness centre with some of the best trainers in the world, then I moved to Espree fo two years, before starting at Goldmans in 1993. So I spent 6 years as a gym instructor (although 4 of these were as a specialist strength and conditioning coach, and a free weight specialist. Only in the last 2 years did I start personal training.
When I came to Goldmans, Chris Wardrop and I cross mentored. We both built our businesses, swapped ideas, developed training programs. Openly swapped clients, trained each others clients while on holiday, and I'm not going to lie, this was probably the greatest growth curve I have ever had career wise. Most certainly our clients benefited, the center benefited and our businesses grew to the point that over 20 trainers were working in GS by 1999.
So this morning I discussed my concerns with Chris, who was completely unfazed.
Rightly so.
He said he welcomed it because it would force us to raise our game again and show just how good we are.
Interesting.
What about the impact on our client base?
It won't, and if it does, you have the wrong clients.
I thought about this for a second. Chris and I both pride ourselves on having a great set of clients, mine literally make my job a total pleasure.
How do you get the best clients? By asking the best clients to bring friends or colleagues just like them. Then you only get good clients.
The first 6 months is about building trust and a working relationship, that for me have lasted anything up to 15 years (my longest ever client).
I already knew all this but it doesn't help to be reminded once in a while.
Now that thread. I was reading a very interesting book about relationships, and one of the subjects raised is where people grade themselves 1-10, and their subsequent behavior. I am not going to go into 5 and below, just 6-10.
6s seek to be accepted so they want you to like them, almost to a desperate level they need to be accepted. The best way to help them is give them acceptance, this instantly bumps them up to a 7.
7s want to prove they are no longer 6s, so then like conflict, usually outspoken and unusually combatant. By acknowledging their 'confidence' and telling them how much you admire their views you can help them to become an 8.
8s are competitive. This is a hard one. They will want to beat you, if you win, they get knocked back to a 7, but if you lose they see it that you're below them, which can also be problematic. Look at a way to get win-win situations helping them up to a 9.
9 is the best number to be because they know they're not a 10, but they also want to help everyone around them and aren't threatened by doing so.
10s a re the kind of people that see themselves as above everyone and because they are already there they don't require any work. Very seldomly have they 'worked' their way up. Somewhere along the line they were a 'natural' (this usually just means they had the right role models at home socially so their skills became inherent), the problem is they don't understand how this works, so they are naturally good in a situation but don't know how to change those situation that go pear shaped.
I found this interesting... hope you do as well.
Lucy dropped me off this morning early so I could put the battery back in my car, thankfully I'd parked under a street lamp.
Great session with my early morning group, pretty much par for the course with those guys. Actually I'm going to extend it and say ALL my sessions today were good!
An interesting thing happened to me today on a number of levels. First of all I sat down with a young trainer and had breakfast and he initiated a conversation about personal training asking me if I felt the fitness team should be allowed to personal train.
It's funny I have pretty strong feelings about this. On one side I have always believed in helping everyone I meet in any way I can. Some choose to repay this, most don't. Some over the years some have even chosen to actively repay help or kindness in a very derogatory manner. That's their karma. But I am going to pick up that thread in a second.
So off goes my Spidey sense. Why would he be asking this question? Is there an ulterior motive? Is something already in the pipeline?
It's been no secret that in our gym for a long time the managing company have wanted to personal train but haven't been allowed.
So I was prickly.
I made the same suggestion that I have over many years. Promote the existing team till they are busy. Cross mentor and build a business together and learn together.
I say this from experience.
I started training people in 1987, spent two years in a hard core bodybuilding / powerlifting gym, then two years in a fitness centre with some of the best trainers in the world, then I moved to Espree fo two years, before starting at Goldmans in 1993. So I spent 6 years as a gym instructor (although 4 of these were as a specialist strength and conditioning coach, and a free weight specialist. Only in the last 2 years did I start personal training.
When I came to Goldmans, Chris Wardrop and I cross mentored. We both built our businesses, swapped ideas, developed training programs. Openly swapped clients, trained each others clients while on holiday, and I'm not going to lie, this was probably the greatest growth curve I have ever had career wise. Most certainly our clients benefited, the center benefited and our businesses grew to the point that over 20 trainers were working in GS by 1999.
So this morning I discussed my concerns with Chris, who was completely unfazed.
Rightly so.
He said he welcomed it because it would force us to raise our game again and show just how good we are.
Interesting.
What about the impact on our client base?
It won't, and if it does, you have the wrong clients.
I thought about this for a second. Chris and I both pride ourselves on having a great set of clients, mine literally make my job a total pleasure.
How do you get the best clients? By asking the best clients to bring friends or colleagues just like them. Then you only get good clients.
The first 6 months is about building trust and a working relationship, that for me have lasted anything up to 15 years (my longest ever client).
I already knew all this but it doesn't help to be reminded once in a while.
Now that thread. I was reading a very interesting book about relationships, and one of the subjects raised is where people grade themselves 1-10, and their subsequent behavior. I am not going to go into 5 and below, just 6-10.
6s seek to be accepted so they want you to like them, almost to a desperate level they need to be accepted. The best way to help them is give them acceptance, this instantly bumps them up to a 7.
7s want to prove they are no longer 6s, so then like conflict, usually outspoken and unusually combatant. By acknowledging their 'confidence' and telling them how much you admire their views you can help them to become an 8.
8s are competitive. This is a hard one. They will want to beat you, if you win, they get knocked back to a 7, but if you lose they see it that you're below them, which can also be problematic. Look at a way to get win-win situations helping them up to a 9.
9 is the best number to be because they know they're not a 10, but they also want to help everyone around them and aren't threatened by doing so.
10s a re the kind of people that see themselves as above everyone and because they are already there they don't require any work. Very seldomly have they 'worked' their way up. Somewhere along the line they were a 'natural' (this usually just means they had the right role models at home socially so their skills became inherent), the problem is they don't understand how this works, so they are naturally good in a situation but don't know how to change those situation that go pear shaped.
I found this interesting... hope you do as well.
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