#JTInTheRaw Show 45: Is All About Your Company Culture

Last week I ran 10k time trial and my legs blew out after 4ks and I just couldn’t hold on at the pace I wanted!  Between the lactic acid pain in my legs – I think that’s what it was – and my very short breathing I got thinking how running a race is like running a business.

Hang in there and I’ll tell you in a few minutes why and with a new mindset you will change the way you run your business.

Welcome to JTInTheRaw show 45 where I chew the thin on business.  Thanks for everyone who share last week’s show on building trust in your company.  Here is the link to show 44.

This week’s show I’m going to share:

• How running a competitive race can shape how you run your business;
• The power of culture in your business;
• Why you don’t want dick heads in your company;
• The power of optimism

It is party time around here!!  We have hit 100,000 downloads of the Fitness Business Podcast overnight! Wahoooo!!! 

It seemed like it took forever to get from 95,000 to 100,000 but we have done it!  Thanks to all the guests, partners and of course Chantal, the amazing host and force behind the show.  First we ticked off 100 shows – 93 more than most podcasts.  Then we ticked off 100,000 downloads.  Next is our 2 birthday – 21 months longer than most podcasts!  There are some great guest lined up this month and for the birthday month, so if you are not listening to The Fitness Business Podcast, head across after #JTInTheRaw to www.FitnessBusinessPodcast.com, you won’t regret it!

Shout outs this week go to:

• Andrew from Belgravia
• Angus from New Zealand
• Annalee from Hobart Fitness Training
• Dave from 38X

For your Filex2017 Insights!  I have enjoyed reading them and I know our blog readers have also loved them.  Thank you for sharing and read them here.

Shout out to Ben Lucas and the Team from Flow Athletic here in Sydney.  Last night I headed along to a spin class in Home Night Club.  And what an experience!  Here is what I learned:

• The Matrix bikes we used were very smooth and I really liked them;
• Every health club needs to have a sound system like a night club, OMG it was amazing!
• Lights create an amazing atmosphere.

I have to admit between the sound and the lights I just drifted off.  I enjoyed the humour of the instructor but I couldn’t tell you if he was good, bad or indifferent as an instructor.  It was a sensory experience.

And finally, a shout out to all the mum’s watching this week in Australia.  I hope you have an amazing Mother’s Day on Sunday and get very spoiled!

This has been a week of learning for me!

My week of learning started at 4ks into my 10k race last Saturday.  Here is the lesson: run your own race!

My trainer wanted me to go hard, so I went hard and forget any strategy!  I was more focussed on the Sydney Striders pacers and the people around me than how I was feeling and my own pace.  In essence, I was more focussed on my competitors and their race than I was on my race.

The result, with 60% of the race to go I had to come up with a new strategy to finish the race.  It was on the run I had to think what would I do.

If we use the race as a metaphor for business, you have to run your own race.  When you concentrate on your competitors you lose focus on your own strategy.  You are not following your plan and you are reacting to your competitor’s moves.  Then when you are stressed, worried and unfocussed you are going to make emotional business decision. I can almost guarantee you wouldn’t make that same decision if you were unemotional.

My suggestion: run the full race.  It’s not about the start, the middle of the end.  It’s about staying focussed on your own strategy.  Just ask Usain Bolt, he doesn’t get rattled but anyone in a race as he supremely confident he will finish first.  I’m not that confident in my running but I am that confident in where Active Management is heading.  We are not worried about the fast multiplying number of consultants as we know we will finish first with our strategy.

What about you?  Rate yourself out of 10, where 1 is focussed on your competitors and 10 is focussed on your own strategy . . . tell me . . . go!

Thanks for sharing.

By the way if you want some help determining your business strategy, reach out to me.

As I mentioned in last week’s show I had 2 tasks this week: work on my presentation for the Retention Conference and begin my training with Ryan Levesque.

I’ll tell you more about my learnings from Ryan in coming weeks.

In my prep for the Retention Conference, I re-discovered a Peter Drucker quote, “Organizational culture eats strategy for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

Culture drives expectations and beliefs;

Expectations and beliefs drive behaviour;

Behaviour drives habits; and

Habits create the future.

It all starts with culture.

My question for you this morning is how much time are you spending on developing your culture?

Culture may well be defined or even created from the top down in an organisation but it comes to life from the bottom up.  This means the people who will live your culture must be the right people.  It is not about the skills they bring to your company it is about the attitude.

A few days before the A League Football Grand Final, I heard an honest interview with Graham Arnold where he said, ““We had a no dick head policy.  We were not interested in the best players, we were interested in the players who wanted to be in the best Team and if that meant them coming from the bench, playing out of position or having a week off, so be it.  I am now raving fan of the no dick head policy in teams if you want success.”

Every week your strategy will be tested with challenging circumstances, even excuses why it is not working.  It is your culture that will be the driving force to create:

• Resilience
• Toughness
• Passion
• And the attitude to keep powering on no matter what is put in front of the team.

Your culture is what will produce you wins over time.

I want to encourage you to not just build your culture. I want you to value it, live it, reinforce it, and at times fight for it.

And while building your culture you need to weed out energy vampires!

To build a positive contagious Team you need contagious leaders in every role – this should be your goal.  You also should weed out any negativity.  One negative team mate will be an energy vampire in your business!  Negativity will breed and grow, so weed out those energy vampires!

Turn your Team’s focus from looking for what is wrong to looking for what is right.  Have them focus on gratitude and appreciation to work in an industry they love and with a company they admire and respect.

Can we talk about optimism for a moment?  You see optimism is a competitive advantage according Duke University studies.  Research shows optimistic people:

• work harder,
• get paid more,
• win more games, and
• even live longer.

Being positive is a great thing for all of us!

I head to the UK on Sunday for next week.  In two and a half days in London I am training at:

• Boom Cycle
• Barry’s Bootcamp London
• Psycle
• Transition Zone
• And the brand-new Ministry of Fitness, which I am really keen to see and experience.

Wednesday I had to Manchester for speaking at The Retention Conference and then the Virtual Roadshow on Friday.  Remember this conference is being streamed, so if you would like a link to the show pop ‘Doug’ in the comments and I’ll send you the link to watch live or get the recordings.

Friday evening I head back to London and will try and sneak another two workouts in next Saturday!

This means, #JTInTheRaw will come to you from Manchester next week.  I’ll share insights from the amazing speakers at the Retention Conference.

I hope you all have an amazing week and thanks for tuning in to show 45.  As always if you know someone who should watch the show, then please tag them in the comments. I’ll be very grateful.

Quote of The Week

Research shows optimistic people; work harder, get paid more, win more games, and even live longer. Being positive is a great thing for all of us.

Do you want to work one on one with JT?

Check out all previous shows here: http://www.activemgmt.com.au/category/jt-in-the-raw/