Why Salon & Spa Owners Must Be Relentlessly Persistent
Leading a salon or spa business to extraordinary success is no different than working out.
If you have not done it in a while, that first effort is going to hurt. But after a couple of workouts, your body adapts to the effort and you push harder.
You've gotta push hard, recover and push hard again.
Getting to that elusive next level is the process of persistently applying positive stress in ways that inspire your team to adapt to higher and more refined levels of performance. If you’re afraid to apply positive stress for fear of push back from staff - you, your business and your staff are stuck.
- Applying positive stress only works when the goal is worthy of the extra effort. When a leader’s relentless persistence detaches from the goal … it devolves into just doing the work.
A leader is like a throttle and your team is the engine. The leader instinctively knows how hard to push the engine based on current conditions. Just like an engine needs a throttle … a team needs its leader to set the pace and direction.
Here are my No-Compromise Leadership thoughts on relentless persistence and how it incrementally inspires a salon/spa team to adapt to higher levels of performance:
Stretch, push and adapt:
- Gotta feel the burn, adapt … and feel the burn again … adapt. Persistence requires exertion and breaking a sweat. For salon/spa teams, this means shared focus, shared accountability and everyone stepping up.
- Leaders set the goals and act much like the conductor of an orchestra to keep the team in sync and on task.
- The team pushes hard to achieve incremental gains (next-level growth) then takes time to adapt to the higher levels of performance.
- It’s the stretch/push/achieve/adapt combination that makes a team evolve from ordinary to extraordinary.
- Leaders that don’t engage and manage the stretch/push/achieve/adapt process remain stuck in their comfort zone. Nothing inspiring or dynamic happens while stuck in a comfort zone.
Win … don’t whine:
- Being the leader of a labor-intensive business like a salon/spa is not for the timid or faint of heart.
- To deliver consistent excellent service, teams of stylists, estheticians, massage and nail techs absolutely require ongoing, full-on leadership attention.
- Contrary to popular belief, there is no “set it and forget it” or autopilot setting for salons and spas.
- The moment a leader says, “Why can’t they just do their job,” he or she has devolved from leading to whining. It's a leadership issue - not a team issue.
Engines require maintenance:
- Employees and teams thrive on shared energy. Leaders nurture and fuel that energy.
- Employees require daily inspiration and guidance. Daily huddles and scoreboards are non-negotiable. Don’t like doing daily huddles and scoreboards? Then don’t complain when your team drifts and goals become more important to you than them.
- Employees need constant reminders of what they’re fighting for. Vision isn’t a cute saying on a plaque or card. Vision is a daily affirmation of what delivering the best can achieve.
Keep your own engine tuned:
- Leaders get distracted, tired, worn down and beaten down. It happens. Learn to recognize when you fall into a leadership funk. Why? Because when you’re in a funk … your team and your company is in a funk.
- The most effective way to keep your engine and your attitude tuned up is to have a business coach.
Be a relentless coach:
- Being a leader is about daily engagement with your team and individuals. There are employees on your team right now that need your help, guidance, encouragement, skill development, confidence building … and some simple and highly affordable "Hey … good job" affirmations.
- If my favorite Neilism, "Do you do quarterly performance reviews at least once a year?", makes you laugh a little but squirm more … you're not practicing relentless persistence effort. It's time to get out of your comfort zone so your team and business can get out of its comfort zone. Got it?
- The worst assumption that a salon/spa leader can make is that once the doors open, and clients start checking in, that everything will be okay. It won't. Opening the doors is the equivalent of the curtain going up on a Broadway play. It's show time and you're the director/coach. Does everyone know their lines and places?
- RELATED: Want some tips on leading more effective salon/spa performance reviews? Check out this article I wrote on "Making Peace with Salon/Spa Performance Reviews".
All ships rise with the tide:
- Teamwork means everyone pushing and pulling in the same direction.
- Column vision is a teamwork killer. Column vision is when a service provider sees their work as the clients on "his or her book" for the day and nothing else. The work for all team members is the entire appointment book and any and all clients in or in contact with the salon/spa. "My client" thinking is anti-teamwork. Got it?
- Think about this … Geese fly in formation to be efficient and go farther faster by working together as a team. What would that beautiful formation look like if geese were on commission?
Now it's your turn...
Are you ready to inspire yourself and your salon/spa team to higher levels of performance? Learn our proven systems to get you there at the Strategies Incubator Seminar...the most advanced four-day business event in the industry for over 26 years. You'll learn how to run your business by the numbers...not by chance. You'll learn to motivate your team to grow the bottom line...not just their followings. You'll learn how to pay everyone more money (including yourself) while also becoming more profitable. And you'll learn how to create consistency and excellence in service that will turn your clients into raving fans.
Comments
No comments found. Start the conversation!
Leave a Comment