Whether you’re a club owner, a current manager, or an aspiring manager, there are many things to think about when considering your management team.
Managers, and what they bring to your club, come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences—and a successful, cohesive management team should consist of personalities that complement each other.
Managers Should Have Qualities that Align with Your Club’s Values
Considering the size and type of health club business you are running, you may have department managers or “general” managers. Do you run a small club with two or three “Jack-of-all-trade” managers, or a larger facility with a dozen managers, each specifically responsible for a department?
No matter what kind of management structure you have, you want to ensure that each manager has qualities that are in line with your club’s mission and values.
One of the key ingredients for great health club leadership is visionary thinking and brokering ideas, says Molly Kemmer of EXOS/MediFit and former IHRSA board chair.
“View the organization not just as it is today, but also as it needs to be in the future,” she says. “Foster a culture of speaking up, as well as of listening intently, to facilitate this approach.”
Many departmental mangers will require more specific skills, but all managers should have some level of inherent “people” skills—as general of a term as that may be.