What kind of Legacy

The news is full of Election campaigning and debate, one snippet came up yesterday that suggested none of the parties were being particularly clear on what they would do regarding investment in Sport,(by definition I think we can assume a direct link to healthy activity per se) after the election. With 2012 the opportunity to create a legacy, some commentators have dared to suggest that so far uptake in sport has not jumped up simply because of the impending olympics in London. I sensed from the comments I heard a rewind to the age of "build it and they will come", what most ommitted from that great quote was " ...and then they will leave!"

I wonder how the Olympic legacy will deliver lasting habit change for our inactive and dissafected population? The legacy will not be measured in buildings or facilities, it is about the culture of activity and particiaption that we need. For my generation you didn't need a purpose built 5-a-side court floodlit until 2200hrs - the council gave us street lights til 0600hrs and enough cul de sacs,estate walls to play around and a park around the corner. If we are suddenly struggling to get our kids active, dont blame facilities, there are more of them now than we had. The rise of video games, DVD's and fast food outlets, has to be the biggest challenge.

If the rise in participation is to be maintained beyond the Olympic fanfare of the closing ceremony, what will need to be done? Dare I suggest providing an integrated approach to adult health education for the current teenage/under 21's who will be the next generation of parents and role models to their children? If the children go home to a negative environment how will they break the mould set by their parents?

I see some great initiatives, but I dont see much change in the parents in the low income/low education brackets. Will anyone vote on the basis of a Health & Wellbeing agenda?

I have a dilemma, I heavily endorse and work with many suppliers and operators linked to the Health Club & Gym Industry, as a result I am asking everyone to share some thoughts on what our Industry is doing to reach the projected 80+% of the population not active in leisure. (The actual percentage active in gyms is lower of course)
So forgive me a little reminiscing here, while I compare what Health Clubs do to some experiences I have.

Much of my formative adult years, was initially involved in competitive swimming, which came with organised pool time and land training as part of a squad session.It is fair to say the repeated habit of training at 0600 & 1600 5 days a week created some lifelong mental toughness when trying to reach a goal.

During time spent as an Armed Forces PTI, the training of recruits and servicemen was heavily reliant on class based circuit trg, running and swimming, with a healthy supplement of sports games, this 'system and method' proved (and still proves) to be highly efficient from a time perspective and ultimately highly effective in achieving results, turning deconditioned people into active servicemen and women. Yes there is a discipline element involved that doesn't transfer to commercial fitness (although isn't 'Military Fitness in the Park' bringing Military methods to the masses) but underpinning everything a forces PTI does is with consistency and proven processes that has to get people to a set standard, usually within a limited timescale. Typically the tools of the trade for Military PTI's were a court (badminton/basketball depending on group size)medicine balls, benches (like the ones you had at school in PE)and mats, with this the lesson options were endless! Simple stuff capable of delivering anything from lunchtime circuits for office workers to pre-deployment training for Special Forces, the innovation came from the Instructor, it had to and it had to be fun, it had to make the participants get a buzz, build confidence otherwise it could be pretty repetitive stuff.

There are some common issues here with commercial fitness:
New members need to see results in the first 8 weeks.
Forming a new habit is difficult.
They get bored easily.

We fill our gyms with the latest innovations, members quote " your club doesn't have such and such piece of equipment (take your pick here - vibration trg/boxing ring/low row/40kg dumbells etc), I can't train without it" So are we creating a dependency on 'equipment', how far can equipment innovation keep people coming to our doors, more importantly does the machine deliver results? Is this machine led Industry doing it because we have lost faith in our Trainers or just beacause it looks eyecathcing?

This is where I am concerned we may be creating a generation of Gym Instructors who feel they have to programme using every bit of equipment, with little rationale or justification rather than create simple routines using minimal equipment that actually deliver results, because almost every gym now squeezes as much fixed equipment in as possible, on a ratio of at least 25 members per station. What would happen if we just put in a floor space, with a set timetable of gym circuits Military style? A hard marketing and sales project I suspect to change perceptions out there? Now think about marketing 25% VO2 improvement inside 12 weeks! (that's what is typical in recent studies we have conducted with the Armed Force) Of course the tone and discipline would adjust in a commercial setting but the content?

I see lots of clubs all struggling to show results to new members, I see members getting bored, I also see gyms looking like equipment showrooms, where will it lead us?

Maybe

Learn through the Academic system or learn in the trenches........who learns to succeed?

Recently it seems to be that I meet many staff who are bubbling below supervisor/middle management positions and are focusing on being the most technically clued up member of their department, the star Trainer or admired PT. When asked about progressing to Supervisor/Manager the response is invariably 'I am looking to do so and so course and get my level 3 Instructor etc etc.'
Perhaps this focus is perpetuated when we look to promote from within, as we look for the standout performer within the team to move up a notch to supervisor. The issue for me is how important is the course gained academic knowledge vs the practically gained experience in producing the high calibre managers that we need. Does the best Trainer make the best Manager, (or is it easier to justify the appointment to the rest of the team.) By way of comparison how many sports teams make the 'best player' captain/manager/coach? Some of the best coaches were only average players. So how do we justify the investment, whether by the company or the individual, in training courses?
I came up through 'the trenches' and walked every inch of the path to where I wanted to be, no leapfrog/fastracks, hard work, applying every bit of training I received to the role I had at the time. I certainly don't underestimate the value of the training I received but I truly believe that much of the success was due to attitude and application. I think some good people get appointed because they apply knowledge gained, with some not so good people get appointed because they are qualified.

Every job is different and the skills/competencies will vary but are we identifying the right people, are we assessing what we need rather than selecting from what we have?

There are those who believe Education, Education, Education, problem is in my experience not all Education is equal. Business is always concerned about investing in it's employees, training budgets and time are put aside to send it's people on courses that tick boxes. Even the individual sees training as the pre-requisite to progress, (usually) via more 'technical' biased training. So the end result of all the investment in education is...?
The ideal outcome is they apply the new knowledge to be more effective in their work, stay loyal, motivated, become valuable assets to the business and develop to be high calibre managers. Too often they take the training, leave before the new knowledge has been applied to the role they fill. Is the answer just to put training agreements in place to recover costs if they leave?



I really feel that the identification of future management candidates should be more structured, more succession planning rather than reactive once the present manager hands in a resignation! So maybe a skills and attitude review of all staff is in order? Can we show staff there is a path to the top based on attitude and application?

Are we going full circle or have we been standing still?

If like me you have a constant urge to learn, find how other businesses have different ways of achieving success and solve longstanding issues that won't go away, then you may also have a problem finding genuine new ideas out there for your particular business type. I am always looking at businesses in other Industry's, seeing who is in a developed market and how they got there, as well as looking at the new bucks out there who have written a new rule book and who leapfrogged established players to grab market share with something exciting. Along with this is 'thinking time' when I can think without constraints. The growth of Apple, the rise of coffee houses, supermarket chains and Gyms all of these give me food for thought.

The other day I stopped myself saying (for the umpteenth time)we had those 20 years ago! I keep seeing people buying 'retro' clothing, (do they not realise I have a wardrobe of the stuff, only I call it old fashioned). My daughter who raves about the latest King of Leon CD, heard my Hootie and The Blowfish CD and thought it was a new band,just goes to prove keep hold of something long enough something thinks its great. Which is when I stopped and thought how much of the latest trends in gyms are what I call 'old school'. Since finishing my Military career and entering the private sector, I have seen a resurfacing of some great trg tools that we used and produced great results: Body pump (this was Instructor led barbell trg) Kinesis (was cable & band attached to wallbars) isolated body part machines(used to be Multigyms) and Kettlbells (a home made lump of something heavy!!) Ok so the tools now are 'ergonomically designed', the materials more aesthetically pleasing, the price (a lot more!) but when all is said and done it does.............the same thing!!

So what is different about gyms now? Air Conditioning, machine looks, all under one roof, TV screens, ipod docking, a huge range of equipment and gadgetry) but what else? The problem I keep seeing is that the training of our most important asset is left short of innovation, THE GYM STAFF. Basic Instructional technique is there, was there before, REPS is only voluntary and only shows paper trail of the qualifications achieved.It does not prove that the knowledge gained is being applied Do the staff think any differently? Do they open their minds to other ways of working? Perhaps Management should take some responsibility here, assuming that they are the leaders who aim forward and ask staff to follow? Many staff qualify and Instruct, but all too often the knowledge of exercises is all they focus on, who will develop their thinking, ensure they have effective communication skills and improve their ability to conduct thorough needs analysis to set SMART goals?

So how do we create a different focus for 2010 within our gyms, more about individual needs and goals, less about using the latest gadget. More exposure to different training methods and variety for the member, would have the additional benefit of stimulating staff by providing a varied work day. If we focus on the latest gadget/equipment, we are always waiting for the next new thing to move things forward. I think its time to look seriously as what we deliver. I have worked with several gym operators who have introduced a Member Journey or Fitness Menu, in essence a set of contact sessions that the member can opt in to on a fixed bi-monthly basis.The content is where the member really sees the difference. The ability of the Gym team to create exciting and innovative sessions has shown to create value and stimulate both members and the gym team.

For too long the Industry has stood around looking for the new machine/device that will drive our businesses, when the best tool in the world for retaining is at our feet, The Gym Service. We have to establish where we add value to the member relationship.
Perhaps we should be looking for more than basic Instructor qualifications?
If we don't move this forward, we could find ourselves standing still in.Some operators have stood still and still deliver a one off hour and a half induction!Maybe if we refocus on service standards, then I will be able to say "I have never seen that before"

I once saw a cow jump

A cow jumping is not graceful or a thing of beauty, it's impressive, but not in a athletic sense, more of a "how on earth did that huge thing get airbourne". A bit like when my kids at an airshow say "how does that huge plane get off the ground"? with me not being a pupil of aerospace engineering, I just drop my jaw like them and say "awesome".

But once I saw a cow jump, I was near Elvington Airfield (same place as Richard Hammond decided to test the airbag on his jet car)near York and I had just left a meeting of local CEO's and Entrepreneurs and was navigating my way home, when I glanced over the fence next to the road and saw a fully fattended black and white cow leaping and bucking like a bronco across the field! I was on the phone at the time, the person on the other end started laughing as I shouted, "THE COW JUMPED........the cow jumped.......I don't believe it.......it jumped! (Even now as I recall it, it's as though I was just there again.)

Now when was the last time you experienced something that made you shout about it, that actually made you feel good, that really was a head turning moment? In his book Purple Cow Seth Godin, talks about Purple Cows being exactly that: imagine you were walking past a field of cows and in amongst the herd was one purple on? I bet you would say "I saw a purple cow, not a usual Black & White/Brown one, A PURPLE ONE!" it really would stand out.

I travel around the UK and in getting to and from Health Clubs and meeting customers. I am a consumer of Hotels,Restaurants and plenty of coffee shops/cafes and I see lots of the same thing, rarely do I see or experience a Purple Cow moment within Health Club/ Gym/ Restaurant settings. I get some good service, I get lots of poor service but nothing to justify a Purple Cow (not to be confused with the US Forces Purple Heart, although maybe we should ask our members to award Purple Cows to our staff?). Now you may think that every business should be peppering us with these moments, perhaps, but first actually I would settle for some consistency, never mind excellence.

I will share my Purple Cow moment with you. I took up golf 5 years ago, in the unfolding years I have dedicated myself to getting the handicap down. My first milestone was to get to 18 handicap, duly reached,the reward was a new custom fitted set of PING G10 clubs (non golfers stick with me for a moment). Unfortunately after 6 months I had them stolen from my car, I was gutted. I walked into my Golf Club Academy Shop and my face must have given a clue as to my state of mind (especially as the morning I woke up to find them gone I should have been playing at a prestige course in Leeds). Within seconds of me explaining, the Assistant Golf Professional was on the phone to PING,as he dialled he asked his colleague to take me for a Driver & Fairway woods fitting session as my previous models were discontinued. Within 5 mins they had retrieved my original custom fit measurements from the manufacturer, placed the order for the replacements, put together a temporary bag complete with new driver & fairway woods tees/balls/towel etc and ordered replacement waterproofs (they were in the bag too). An hour after walking in, I was walking out smiling with a set to play the weekend competition and feeling pleased that at least my replacement clubs would be with me in a week. Now, the fact they arrived in 3 days, meant minimal disruption in my quest to lower my handicap and win some silverware at the club competitions.
It wasn't; the fact that all the equipment was replaced, it was the feeling that the staff were so in tune with my situation that they made me feel that they were actually doing it for themselves. The outcome of that (and consistent service year round already) is that I have remained loyal to them, I buy all my equipment from them and I recommend them and their tuition to everyone I now in the area (I am now down to 8 Handicap too!). So for me that was a real Purple Cow, must be I'm telling you aren't I - and it's 2 years ago!

So let's strive for some consistent delivery in our businesses, then maybe we create an environment where our staff have a chance to make a Purple Cow moment!

Are you sitting uncomfortably.....When is PT not PT?

Before you read on, do what I do, put your watch on the other wrist until you finish reading! Why? For me its a bit like the pre-match rituals I had in my rugby playing days, I use it to mentally trigger me to focus on the issue in front of me, it's a discipline I have that makes me block out external distractions. I often test people around a group meeting by asking them to change their watch wrists - the reaction can be quiet animated, but try it.

So first here is a description for you
".......... should be, at the least, educated and certified through a reputable fitness organization. This person's job is to assess your fitness level, set up a program for you and keep you motivated. He or she will push you past your comfort level-something difficult to do on your own. He should also provide:

•guidance on reaching your goals
•education about strength training, cardio and basic nutrition
•a reason to show up at the gym each week
•accountability
•ways to help track your progress

To me, all that says Fitness Instructor! Actually its of a Personal Trainer. Now depending on the business model within your facility (that you run or use as a customer) Staff will either be an integral part, or, as we now see with the rise of the budget gym, they will be peripheral in the gym environment merely there to handle admin and meet and greet (I have views on the budget gym vs traditional model that I will save for another blog)either way we often see Personal Trainers working within the gym, sometimes they are a seperate team, but can actually be the same people doing additional hours after shift as a PT. Is this healthy?

There is no hard and fast here, but the whole question of what constitutes PT is not clear to me. There is sometimes a mystique about the content of PT, and here is where I have issue, I still see most of what a PT does as the core role of a Fitness Instructor! It is common to see a market for PT developed as a result of Fitness Instructors not delivering 'Service' that should be in place and was promised at the point of sale. If a club is unable to service its customers beyond the initial sale, rather than bluff and muddle through this, watching member cancel in thier droves after their expectations are not met, why don't clubs and PT's work together to offer appropriate services, not merely PT but perhaps remote/online support in addition to face to face either by PT or Fitness Teams? With so many devices and applications the technology is probably ahead of Fitness Management innovative thinking, so there is no real excuse to take a step into technology.After all face to face contact has a capacity issue, limited by PT hours available and club opening hours/working hours.

Rarely is anything recorded/tracked by PT's, the stock response when tackled is "well every session is different its down to how the individual feel on the day". After looking them in the eye (with the Lee Van Cleef look, if your old enough to remember spaghetti westerns? or alternatively Clint Eastwoods squint)My view on what I have seen this should really be translated to "well I don't record it cos I don't really plan ahead and if I did the client might take it and dispense with my services. Also if I don't write it down the Gym Manager and Club Manager can't audit me or check what I deliver" (Don't throw things my way yet!) Surely tracking/monitoring should be an inherent factor in the output from PT sessions.

By comparison we see a huge effort in making Fitness Teams accountable/measurable and Quality checked (with varying degrees of conviction)Yet PT's are almost bombproof. So where is my thinking here? I firmly believe that as a Club Owner/Manager we must have a way of evaluating their service, not simply looking at the £££ generated and be far more demanding of PT's if we are to let them work with 'our' customer base. There are very professional and valuable PT's out there and they perform a valuable, if not essential provision to a percentage of our customers, unfortunately there is too much unregulated, low quality service masquerading as PT. Technical qualifications are no confirmation of quality, so Level 3 Instructors don't convince me by rite that they are quality as a PT. There is also another issue that has been associated with PT in clubs and that is the pathway to PT by qualified Fitness Instructors. There are diplomas etc that an individual can pursue, but a proactive Instructor will gain additional qualifications and enhance knowldege and experience over time, how long do they have to wait before they will be allowed to PT It would also appear harder to get some agreed standards when the PT's are all independant as opposed to a PT Company that has Brand standard and leadership to ensure quality and value.

As we start this year, I have seen several discussions about Service 'is the new black for this year' that this will be the saviour for all those Operators who are not winning the retention war. It is seen as the key differentiator against the rise of the budget gym model. Having PT in place is seen as a tool to improve retention, yet no data is produced and published to prove this. I would simply like to see PT's and clubs working to identify which members have had PT and how does the survival rate vary to this who have Fitnes team only support or increasingly prefer to support themselves.

This must be the year when we create the equivilant of customer charters that reflect our service plan, backed up with evidence. One last thought, what time is it? did you look at the wrong wrist?

Own the presentation!

It’s the time of year when we are (in theory ) refreshed after a break and the creative juices are flowing and you may be considering the big issue you know needs taking on to get the year going. If you are about to build or launch a project, doing so with conviction really does matter.
When you’re presenting your plan to your boss, or the team,own it. Do your homework, do the grunt work of putting it together, anticipate some questions and prepare answers. But then own it, 100%.
Speak clearly and slowly, Look them in the eye, smile. Take it seriously, but not too seriously. Present yourself as though you know you’ve got the game well in hand, and that you’ve every confidence you’re on the right track. Tom Landy, Dallas Cowboys Head Coach, once said “ Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you're in control, they're in control.” So expect the people around you to reflect what you outwardly display!
If you get questions you don’t know the answers to, say “I hadn’t thought of that. But you know what, I’ll be back to you with an answer within 24 hours.” Say that with confidence. Then, go find the best answer you’ve got. And deliver it. Sure,you may not nail it. (You may have that guy in the room that’s determined to throw water on every fire you light.) But your ideas are worth fighting for.
The ability to walk into a room, put your plan on the table, and let people throw rocks at it takes courage and some humility. Maybe you’ll even learn a thing or two. Quiet confidence and an articulate presentation are rare gems in a business world cluttered with mediocrity. That’s why they work so beautifully.
As you start this year delivering the plans you’ve worked so hard to build and shape in your head and on paper, practice. Own them and give them the presentation they deserve.