Winning Ways
For franchisee Alex Choquette, becoming involved
in community sports organizations didn’t start with a
love of sports, but rather because of the opportunity it
provided him to spend quality time with his son. From baseball
and basketball to soccer and football, Choquette never missed
an opportunity to get involved with the local Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, rec sports teams.
“I didn’t have much knowledge in any of these sports, but
since I was traveling away from home quite a bit building our
franchises, it gave me more time to spend with my son and his
friends. It gave me an opportunity to learn more about him in a
team environment,” said Choquette.
But coaching his son and other kids, who are now 15 and
16 years old, didn’t just teach Choquette about his family, he also
learned many valuable business lessons along the way.
“In some ways, coaching the young kids has a lot to do with
basic common sense, human nature and running a business. There
are a lot of similarities,” explained Choquette. “You’re dealing with
multiple personalities, different levels of experience, and mostly
trying to get people to see a vision. I don’t know much about any
of these sports. I just know how to motivate people, so for me
personally, it’s fun.”
When Choquette isn’t coaching on the field or court, he’s
doing it inside his clubs. Another common denominator between
coaching sports and coaching his PF® team is the notion that you
shouldn’t take things so seriously.
“Winning isn’t everything, but that’s the main goal. Let’s be
respectful when we do win and equally respectful when we don’t.
Let’s also have a common sense understanding that winning is
important, but it’s not to be taken too seriously,” said Choquette.
“You’re here to have fun, support your team every step of the
way, establish goals and incentives, and continue building better
relationships with your team.”
Choquette notes that he constantly makes a point to instill the
same values in his 300-person team.
“Everybody wants to be on a winning team. Everyone wants to
be respected, so you have to empower them to want to win and be
supportive when they don’t. Encourage the team to practice their
skills enough to allow them to be in a position where you do more
winning than losing,” explained Choquette. “So, the ultimate goal
as an employer is to bring a culture to the team where each person
has a role to fulfill. Each teammate is encouraged to protect the
team beyond their own personal interests and have each other’s best
interests at heart.”
Choquette strives to make being on a team, especially a
winning one, fun for everybody. Throughout his years of coaching
baseball, every time there was a game, all of the coaches would sign
the game ball and award it to one of the players that went above
and beyond. Throughout his years of managing Planet Fitness
employees, he’s kept morale high by offering employees the chance
to participate in contests, group outings and team ceremonies. For
Choquette, everything comes full circle.
“I think it’s a great idea to get involved with children because
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Macrolease Corporation
A Bank Rhode Island Company
Planet Fitness
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