I've had more than one person tell me I'm "mean" or that I "expect too much from myself" and worse I "expect too much from others".
I recently read an email from a studio owner about a spin class that said something like (and I'm paraphrasing) "The worst thing we could do is calculate "power." You might hear that term used as an advanced form of performance tracking, but in reality it alienates the average rider from feeling successful. It focuses on the negative."
False. It focuses on a baseline and once a person has a baseline they can outline measurable goals on how to progress. It's a measurable. It’s not mean, it's not negative, it is a logical way to train the human body. A body that has responded to proper training since the beginning of mankind.
The fact is, a rider is only "average" if they allow themselves to be and worse, if YOU as a coach encourage them to be. As a coach, it’s important for us to encourage, to educate and to expect the best out of our team. Using metrics to define where a person is starting is not a bad gig. As a matter of fact, people who track their success will feel more and more satisfied with their movement and commit at a higher level to their goals. Let’s start focusing on something other than whether or not the scale is fluctuating.
Call it a shift in mindset…measuring performance and success based on something other than how we look. Look, everyone wants to be successful and learning to accept that we all have our own 100% is an important part of actualizing success. Allow people to identify and accept their starting point. If they are ready to move, this will be an empowering moment (for them and you). If they are not ready to move, defining their “power” isn’t going to be a game changer for them either way. Keep working until they’re ready. Educate, encourage and expect the best. It’s that simple.
I'm not sorry for being "mean" or "too hard" or for expecting people to be accountable. The fact is we all have greatness, we all have talent and we all have the RIGHT to identify that in ourselves and even more – to expect it from others.
John Buchan said, "The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there."
Raise your game. Be great. Be a leader in your community, in your gym, in your spin studio, and in your home. Expect more from yourself and don't be ashamed to expect others to do the same. Let's do this.