The Thank You Economy
Gary Vaynerchuk’s book “The Thank You Economy” is a great read for anyone involved in business. There are tons of lessons on how to build relationships with potential customers, how to use social media to help grow and scale your business, networking opportunities, and so much more. However, likely my biggest takeaway from reading it is that through all the work you do in your business, the most important thing is that you are authentic. If you don’t actually care… it will show.
This got me thinking about my own business and my career as a strength and conditioning coach. Yes, it is important to be knowledgeable, to write programs, to show up consistently, etc. etc. but if you don’t really care… does any of the rest of it really matter?
As a coach, I think beyond anything else one of the most important things in your career is how your athletes perceive you. How much do you care about them? Do they know it?
Personally, I strive for every athlete I work with to know 3 things about me.
- I care about you – If you trust me enough to let me help you towards your goals as an athlete, I want to do everything I can do to help you achieve them. If there is something that I am able to help you with, I want to do it. I am grateful every day that I have athletes that want to work with me, and my goal every day is to prove to them that they made the right choice.
- I am always looking to improve – I want to create the best athletes in the world. I feel that if someone is going to dedicate their time to working with me, they deserve nothing less than the best I can give them. The only way I can do that is by constantly looking to improve. I try to do this through not only my base of knowledge by reading research regularly, but through feedback from athletes, as well as experimenting through my own training as well.
- I am approachable – Yes, ideally when I present my athletes with programs, I like them to know why everything is in there. However, I never want an athlete to feel like they are in a position that they are doing a bunch of stuff at the gym and don’t know why. I want everyone I work with to feel like they can come to me with questions, talk to me about things they are struggling with, and they will be met with understanding and a desire to help, NOT with judgment of any kind.
Although this may be what most coaches want their athletes to expect from them, I feel it is important to be genuine. Be honest with yourself and your athletes about your intentions, and I believe your coaching career will start to take off. Remember, there are a countless number of options for your athletes, and they chose you. Personally, I never want to take that for granted.