These 10 characteristics define great health club managers

IN HIS BEST-SELLING book, Good to Great, Jim
Collins states, “Good is the enemy of great.” Collin’s
statement refers to the fact that organizations too
often settle for being good and, as a result, never take
the steps needed to achieve greatness. Furthermore,
Collins believes that most great companies produce amazing
financial results that far exceed the performance of companies
in the same line of business, which, by most measurable
criteria, are considered good. Interestingly enough, the first
component of organizational greatness Collins addresses in
his book is outstanding leadership, a component he refers to
as “level 5 leadership.”
Identifying the characteristics of great managers can help
fitness center professionals in a number of ways. First, just as
with other industries and organizations, great fitness centers
must have great managers; otherwise, they will never achieve
the level of excellence to which they aspire. Excellence, in any
field, does not occur by accident; rather, it is the byproduct
of effort, commitment and discipline. Second, knowing the
characteristics of great managers establishes a benchmark
that industry professionals can aspire to achieve.
Ten characteristics of great managers
The following 10 characteristics can be observed in great
managers. Each attribute is an integral element in a mosaic
of excellence.
1. They plan for success. Robert Dedman Sr., founder
and former chairman of ClubCorp, Dallas, Texas, often said,
“Plan your work and work your plan.”With this single sentence,
he summarized a characteristic that exists in all great
managers: the ability to create a realistic, yet challenging plan
for the organization, and then execute the plan with discipline.
Planning for success involves creating and executing
both a long-term strategic plan for the business, as well as an
annual short-term business plan.Great managers view planning
as an ongoing interactive process that sets clear expectations
for both the process and outcome. Just as important,
good managers require every department head in their facility
to have a plan. To these managers, planning is the foundation
for their organization’s success.
2. They know their numbers. Renowned financier J.
Paul Getty once opined that for business leaders to reach the
top, they must know all that is possible about their business.
This refers to leaders who pay attention to the details, who
understand the metrics of their business and how those
metrics are achieved.Ask a great manager for their membership
sales for the week or the percentage of new members
who have enrolled in personal training, and they will have
the answer. These managers go so far as to require each department
head to understand their numbers — not just
what they are, but how they are derived.At ClubCorp, for example,
managers who did not want to be embarrassed had to
know their numbers. Dedman Sr. walked into the facility already
knowing the numbers, and was prepared to find out if
his managers knew them, also.
3. They are coaches and educators. Henry Kissinger
once said, “The task of a leader is to get people from where
they are to where they have never been.
Facility Manager?
who want to foster change in others, both their attitude and
behavior,must be able to educate and coach. Coaches establish
and communicate expectations, and then provide an environment
that positively reinforces the achievement of
those expectations. Educators see themselves as providing
the resources and environment for personal and professional
development of their employees. Great managers are
leaders who are able to establish clear expectations of the individuals
for whom they are responsible, then make sure to
provide the necessary tools for those expectations to be
achieved. Great managers spend a considerable portion of
their day coaching and educating the individuals who work
for them, thus providing an environment that empowers
their teams to perform with a sense of ownership.
4. They get their hands dirty. Oliver Goldsmith stated,
“You can preach a better sermon with your life than you can
with your lips.”What he meant was that leaders and managers
who have the greatest effect on their team’s performance
are those who model the attitudes and behavior that is
desired. More often than not, these managers have performed
most of the jobs in the fitness center and, when required
or needed, are ready to step in and perform whatever
job has to be done. Great managers never walk by a towel
that is on the floor, never ask someone else to answer the
phone if they are nearby, and never refer a member issue to
another staff person when they can handle it themselves.No
one reasonably believes that great
managers spend a lot of their time in
task-oriented endeavors. On the other
hand, they are leaders who understand
that engaging in task-oriented
endeavors at certain times is one of
the most effective and appropriate
practices for establishing a framework
for excellence in their employees.
5. They have great relationships
with members. “Win hearts, and you
have hands and purses,” advises Lord
Burleigh. Great managers understand
that if they can form trusting relationships
with their members, they
will soon have their unconditional

support — and, eventually, their discretionary spending.We once
observed a manager who, upon entering the fitness center each
morning, went around and greeted each member. At the facility’s
busiest hours, he could be found talking with members on the fitness
floor. On occasion, he even took a class with the members.
This manager, like all great managers, understood it was critical
that he got to know each member and what made each person feel
special.
6. They keep an open door. One of our former managers was
always accessible when any staff member had a problem. At one
point he even took the door off his office — a symbol of his willingness
to be available. This reflects both a willingness to open
themselves to the needs of others and a desire to truly serve. Lao
Tzu, the renowned Chinese philosopher, was once quoted as saying,
“One who is a guardian of people and does nothing for his
own life knows how to value all lives well.”Keeping an open door
is about valuing your employees and members before yourself.
7. They are information sponges. Why do certain industry
leaders continue to attend conferences each year, even though they
have probably heard the various presentations numerous times?
When asked why she attended, one notable industry professional
responded simply,“Each year I attend, I learn something new that
can help my business; sometimes it’s from a presenter and sometimes
it’s the result of talking with my peers.” The moral of this
point is straightforward: Learning is a continuous process, and
when you fail to pursue learning, you fail to grow.Great managers
in this industry get involved in learning, whether it’s attending national
conventions, reading books and magazines, or benchmarking
competitors. Dedman Sr. was fond of saying, “The more you
learn, the more you earn.”
8. They are sales people first. Dedman Sr., in his book, King
of Clubs, wrote, “Selling is a noble profession … everything begins
with a sale.”He clearly understood that managers are salespeople.
Great managers are constantly selling themselves, their employees
and their fitness center. Stating that managers are salespeople
first does not mean that they are focused on making sales calls or
giving facility tours. As a salesperson, managers are selling themselves
and the fitness center to the community. These individuals
are establishing important relationships with members and staff,
and they are making sure that they are creating a positive impression
of the club in the eyes of the community, the employees and
members. A great manger is a storyteller who engages the minds
of audiences in such a way that everyone wants to get involved.
This individual is the ultimate salesperson.
9. They are passionate about their profession. Someone
once said, “No man is a success in business unless he loves his
work.” Such an observation reinforces the fact that one of the essential
ingredients to greatness is having a passion for what you do.
In the club industry, passion can show itself in many ways, including
being an advocate of health and wellness, taking joy in seeing
members achieve their fitness goals or taking substantial pride in
every aspect of the fitness center. The passion of great managers is
contagious; it tends to infect the entire staff and even the membership.
The industry is full of managers who, as a result of their passion,
are able to influence employees to levels of achievement that
they never thought were possible. In fact, many industry leaders
even claim that they would do this job even without pay. It is this
type of passion that allows them and their employees to achieve
extraordinary results.
10. They know the competition.Most facility managers tend

to avoid personally knowing the competition, other than the occasional
unannounced visit to another club. A manager once
wisely observed that the better your relationship with your
competitors, the more likely both of you are to be successful.We
took this lesson to heart, and have always made a concerted effort
to form a trusting and respected relationship with the leaders
of competitive organizations. Fortunately, we discovered
from attending numerous social and educational events in the
industry that our highest degree of learning came when we
openly shared what we did with competitors. They, in turn,
opened up about what they did. Great managers don’t avoid
competitors; they embrace and accept them with open arms. In
his book, The Art of War, Sun Tzu says, “Keep your allies close
and your enemies closer.” It is an attribute that all great managers
tend to exhibit.
The first step of the journey to becoming a great manager is
developing a knowledge of and an appreciation for the traits
that are required to make such a journey.With this information
in hand, managers can set forth on the path to greatness, and
can expect to reach their ultimate goal.