I'm going to attempt an ongoing series of articles related to my brief but successful experience in managing a commercial gym.  Team members like JL, Murph, Alwyn, and David Allen have been doing this for MUCH longer than myself. However, my experience in corporate America is invaluable in adding to my leadership style and makes my approach somewhat unique. *For those that haven't followed my story, I was the youngest account manager in US Land and throughout the world for a Fortune 500 company- from the age of 24-28.

My aim is to provide an honest and transparent insight into what  I have learned through my successes and failures in my time at Union Fitness. So read on nerds...

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"I taught you everything you know, not everything I know." -Louie Simmons

I've heard Lou say this enough times that it stuck. And while it's true that the Master shouldn't give away all of his secrets, knowledge is power, and I want my team to POWERFUL. Before being summoned  to start Union Fitness, I was plugging away in books about how to become an entrepreneur- similar to the scene from Office Space where they're looking up money laundering in the dictionary so they don't get sent to "federal pound me in the ass prison." Most people think they have what it takes to start their own business- and while Union Fitness is not mine per sei- I know better than to think I know it all.

So I read the E Myth by Michael Gerber. Then I read it again. And then I went through and highlighted it. This book, among others, set the stage for a better than average understanding of what it would take to run a successful business.

A quick highlight from the book, put in the context of a gym or gym owner...

What does ALMOST EVERY SINGLE meathead think at one point or another in their life- "Man I'd really like to own my own gym." And what Dave Tate will tell you is no, you don't want to own your own gym, you want to have your own place to train. And that's the goddamn truth ladies and gentlemen.

The Fatal Assumption that all technicians make (technicians being the carpenter that thinks he wants to own his own wood working business or coach that wants to own their own gym) is: if you understand the technical work of a business, you understand the business that does that technical work.

Fuck yeah you can train people. So you're going to open the best damn training facility in your hometown. You know exactly what these people NEED. You're going to show them how it's done. 

Knowing the technical work of the business will be your single biggest liability. Why? Because your sole focus will be on doing, not building, and you'll become mired in the day to day. And instead of building a business, you'll have become a slave to the technical work you set out to use to free yourself. Don't believe me? Go for it.

In every entrepreneur there are three personalities that need to find a way to coexist- the entrepreneur, the manager, and the technician.

The Entrepreneur being the dreamer, the visionary, (the FUTURE). The Manager bringing order and keeping the business on track,  (the PAST). And the Technician, the doer, that can't be managed by the manger or doesn't want to deal with the lofty goals of the enterpreneur because he needs to do the work of today (the PRESENT).

So again, if you are a personal trainer (technician) that wants to open your own gym, the trap becomes personal training. How will you ever build a business if all you do is personal training all day? You have to build the business to run without you there.

I digress. I want my staff to read this book so that they can see the bigger picture. I want them to understand the roles of the entrepreneur, the technician, and the manager. And as a result I want them to have a better understanding of their roles at Union Fitness and how they can balance these three personalities within themselves.

If everyone that works for me can see themselves in an entrepreneurial light, then that means they are making this business their own- and that will solve the majority of the problems, past/present/future, that I can think of.

As technicians they get to DO. They can teach, program, personal train- all the things that we love to do in the industry that directly help our clients.

As managers they get to manage (literally). They all have managerial responsibilities, to varying degrees. I want my employees to be responsible for at least one other person on staff- trainers, coaches, massage therapists, front desk staff. Anyone that has been with us full time for over a year is managing somebody else. Not everyone manages well. They fuck up all the time- but so do I. And I'm honest when I do because we're all in this together.

As entrepreneurs, they get to dream. We meet every Friday to go over what we're doing well, where we're shitting the bed, and what we're going to do about it. I'm proud because they all take ownership and they all try to think outside of the box. If there's an idea we can try, good or bad, we talk through it and come to an agreement on whether we implement it or not. I want them to feel heard and I want them to continue to mold the gym into something they're proud of.

What would be the perfect scenario? If all of them could run their own gyms. I know they don't want to, and I highly doubt any of them will. But if I give them enough knowledge and experience that they could, how successful would our little gym be?

You might be thinking- "What happens if you train them and they leave?"

My response- "What happens if I don't and they stay?"

I'll leave you with a story. At Baker Hughes we were known for having the best training in the industry. At Hughes Tool Company, the division I was in, we were known for having the best culture as well.  Everyone in our division started in the same field position, including the CEO. So to say our management had rapport is an understatement. Regularly, our employees would get poached after a few years from competitors coming in and flashing high salaries- they wanted our employees because of the value that our training brought to the industry. Frustrated, I asked our district manager about this one day- "why do we spend so much time and money on training our guys when other companies come in and try to snatch them up?"

He came back with- "It's better than the alternative. Besides, we usually end up with the smarter and more loyal ones." Which was true for corporate America- we had some really strong team-oriented individuals that were loyal to our goals.

So I'm attempting to build better employees and better humans. And if they leave to pursue other ambitions, good. They will hopefully be more successful as a result and in turn make the world a better place, even if it's just in business.