The second day in the gym isn’t quite as exciting, but it’s
still new. Your trainer is becoming a little more demanding,
and the second workout kicks your butt even worse than the
first. You can barely walk afterward, but you remind yourself
that you’ve made a commitment.
The third day isn’t quite so fun. Your body hurts. And your
trainer? You’ve just about had enough of this individual. On
this day, when you most need it, you least want to be
pushed, prodded and yelled at. About 10 minutes in, you
consider firing her.
“What separates
the professional
from the amateur
is how well you
push yourself to
show up, fully,
on the third day.”
The third day is the day, or any day, when you don’t feel
like putting forth a full effort. Maybe you think you can’t.
Maybe you’ve been working every day for the last month.
Maybe business isn’t going great. Maybe you got some bad
news the day before. Whatever the reason, you have just
cause to take your foot off the gas today.
What separates the professional from the amateur is how
well you push yourself to show up, fully on the third day. The
third day doesn’t need to be a third consecutive day of
anything. You can have a whole week, month or even a year
straight of third days. One phone call or client conversation
can be a third day. What separates the true pros from the
pretenders is how much you bring to the job that day.
P: How can leaders set the tone of discipline for their
teams?
B: Before basketball, I worked 15 different jobs. At the start of
every job, I did what all humans do naturally: looked around at
what other s were doing and how they did it and accepted that
as the standard I had to live up to. Those standards varied
greatly, and thus, so did my effort at each job. If you look
around at the people you work with, you’ll see the same
phenomenon in action. We don’t do what we’re told, but what
we see. The examples being set consistently, good or bad, are
what people pick up on and, for the most part, stick to. As a
leader, you must understand that you’re being watched and
mimicked, even when you think you’re not.
P: Speaking of leaders, how can business leaders
encourage job satisfaction among their employees?
B: Most people who find satisfaction at work aren’t getting it
solely from their paycheck. The most satisfied workers feel
good about their work because they’re contributing; they’re
doing something that matters for people who matter. Great
leaders make sure their people know this. Have you ever been
to a business where an employee was clearly just counting
down the seconds until it was time to leave? Have you ever
been to a business where the staff seemed more annoyed than
excited by the presence of a paying customer? I guarantee that
all those workers looked at their jobs as something to be
endured rather than something they could contribute to. You
must ensure they know the work they’re doing is contributing
to the well-being of everyone: customers and employees—not
just the bottom line.
P: It seems employee retention and engagement are two
of the biggest topics in the business world today. How do
you recommend spa industry leaders find and keep the
best of the best?
B: If you want a staff who follows and raises the standard of
performance at your workplace, a team who doesn’t need to be
watched over and micromanaged, pick the right people to begin
with. Don’t waste time trying to turn frogs into princes. Hire for
the traits most important to you and teach the rest. n
March/April 2018
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