How do you take a group of individuals with vast differences that range in age, personality, and interest and turn them into a dream team for running your martial arts school? Understanding, Consistency, and Personal Growth.
Understanding
People will thrive in areas they are most interested in, so start by identifying everyone’s strengths. Once you understand what they are passionate about, you can assign them to those areas and tasks that specifically feed their interests, where they will step up and show greater levels of ownership. This process will also give you an idea of what they dislike, which creates a base for what they should work to improve upon in the future.
When individuals feel truly understood by you, a window for effective communication will open. This creates an atmosphere that encourages people to share their opinion. We all have opinions and ideas, so allowing each team member to express those ideas without feeling like they will be shut down will allow your business to grow and for new innovative systems to flourish. This only happens with a strong sense of mutual understanding.
Consistency
Communication is essential for bringing your team together. Whether you choose to communicate via email, on the phone, or in person, consistency is key. Frequent meetings with a purpose will help all staff members stay on track and on the same page. These frequent updates are also a fantastic way to keep each other accountable for the systems they are responsible for. For us, we meet weekly and discuss students that have started with us in the past 100 days, any issues that may have occurred during classes, and potential student quits. Like clockwork, we use these discussions as a foundation for our meetings. In doing this regularly, our team has learned that they have a reliable opportunity to catch others up on what they’ve been doing, as well as stay informed on what their peers are doing.
On a daily basis, we have a short communication opportunity at the end of the night, too. When classes are done, we take the time to look back at how the day went and share with each other our “best” for the day – the best moment from the day each person is proudest of. This helps to end the night on a positive note. We all have our fair share of rough days, but knowing that a team member had a productive and positive day will help build each other up. Consistency builds trust, and forms another tight bond to bring your team together.
Personal Growth
Most of you are familiar with the mastery mindset of constant and never-ending improvement. This means you are constantly growing and learning. This is the mindset that you want throughout your team. Look for ways to provide opportunities for growth for your team, both personal and professional. Playing an active role in your team’s development will continue the points we’ve already mentioned, and help turn your team into A++ performers.
For us, we encourage our instructors to be consistent with their martial arts training. A couple of our instructors make an effort to attend our BJJ class twice a week. There is nothing that bonds a team closer than pushing each other and holding each other accountable for our training, execution of systems, and personal growth.
The success of a great school comes from the pride that each team member puts into their own individual roles. As you well know, a strong bridge is not built on a single pillar. A stable bridge needs a firm foundation, anchoring beams, and supporting cables all working together to keep the bridge stable. For us, these concepts of Understanding, Consistency, and Personal Growth have been the support structure for the bridge of our team.
Today's blog is authored by one of our eight active, successful school locations in California. The Carmichael team continues to demonstrate amazing performance each month, instructing over 400 students.
Own a thriving martial arts school, be the school in your area that stays open all year round. Our team is ready to set a plan for your business success, make an appointment today to secure your future.
