We all have coaches who work hard, change kids’ lives, invest into their personal growth and training and thereby improve our gyms. At least in a perfect world, that’s what our coaching staff would look like. Right? 

More often than not, we’re instead finding coaches who are pulled in twelve different directions balancing full-time jobs (or multiple part-time jobs), side hustles, family obligations and school. It’s understandable why we, as owners, get frustrated at times. Not only do we know that stellar performance in coaching can produce incredible athletes, but it can also change the lives of kids who need us, but often our coaches are short-sighted and unfocused. This manifests itself as uncommitted and undedicated to the mission of the gym. 

So, where did we go wrong? Did we hire the wrong people right from the start? Should we have reasonably been able to see that these candidates would lack dedication and commitment or is it something that evolved over time. I think both can happen. So, how do we fix this to eliminate those who lack commitment to our programs? I’ve heard some owners chalk it up to pay. When we pay people top dollar for what they’re doing, they’ll be more committed to the program. As you know, that’s not necessarily true either. Fair and adequate compensation is part of being a good employer, but it’s not necessarily the single thing that will keep great coaches at your gym – the same way that offering the cheapest possible tuition won’t keep the most talented athletes at your program. 

  1. Identify where the problem began. Was this person lacking in commitment or dedication from the start? Did you give yourself the opportunity to identify that in the interview and on-boarding process? How long was your hiring process? Did you ask questions about the skills the person could teach or did you really get down to the character of the potential hire? We hire slowly. Sometimes, it’s painfully slow. For a bit there, it was hard to find anyone and we considered speeding up the process. Instead, we built efficiencies in our training, because we established that hiring quickly would ruin our culture and compromise our intentions of learning as much about someone as possible prior to hiring. For that reason, we do multiple interviews with different interviewers and really get to know the person before we hire them. We ask character-driven questions that help us identify the purpose for their interest in our program. We then sit back and talk about our impressions of the person and if there is any hesitation whatsoever, we move on. 
  2. Did the problem of commitment and dedication happen over time? Sometimes this happens due to circumstances. I have a coach who has worked at the gym since day 1. In fact, she worked with us at community centers before day 1. Over time, her commitment to coaching has waivered. Since she began with us, she has graduated high school, received two college degrees, endured the death of friends, taken care of a very sick family member, got a full-time job, got promoted and got engaged. I think it’s pretty reasonable that while coaching is a passion of her’s, it’s not her only passion. Her commitment to the kids has always been there. Her commitment to the job has waivered – and rightfully so. She is a part-time coach. She has full-time responsibilities outside the gym. I need to have realistic expectations. If you struggle with this, get to know your staff a bit more and step in their shoes. Figure out what it is that is causing them to lack that dedication, and then decide if you’re willing to work with them through that or if it’s time to go in a different direction.
  3. Did the problem happen over time as the result of something in the gym? If you feel a little sick about the situation, this is likely what happened. In the first scenario, we lack investment in the staff member that early on. In the second situation, most of us have compassion and can empathize with life changes. In this situation however, we know we failed somewhere along the way. We allowed something to creep in and infiltrate our gym culture. Whether that was unresolved conversations, pent up frustration or a lack of transparency, it festered. Maybe the coach was committed to finishing the season. Maybe he or she even started a new season because they were waiting for something to break. Whatever it is, there is only one way to deal with it: Head on with a listening ear. Be ready to accept responsibility. Your gym. Your culture. Maybe your only fault was a lack of big picture communication. If that’s the case, you can do better. You can work harder to improve communication with your staff thereby improving the culture resulting in a better level of commitment and dedication.

As you can see, there are many reasons we have coaches who disappoint us at times, but it’s all resolvable. Whether it’s adjusting a hiring process, offering compassion or fixing your gym culture, you are responsible for this – and you can absolutely do it.