Do you ever feel like you exhaust tons of energy trying to motivate your coaches and/or staff? Do your people seem like they just don’t get it? Ever have coaches consistently show up late or not show up at all? Do you feel like you’ve tried every “trick” in the book to inject enthusiasm and passion? If you answered YES to any of these questions – you need to look deeper and see if you’ve got the right people on the bus.

You shouldn’t need to constantly motivate your staff and remind them what they are here to do. When you have the right people in place, your job is to lead them and guide them – they have to come to the table with passion, drive, and determination.

In the book, Good to Great Jim Collins says, “Spending time and energy trying to “motivate” people is a waste of effort. The real question is not, “How do we motivate our people?” If you have the right people, they will be self-motivated. The key is to not de-motivate them.“

So how do you find the right people who are self-motivated?

1. Identify who the right people are. At CrossFit Central we look for someone who is enthusiastic, has great character, has good communication skills, and is living the code. We can teach them how to instruct CrossFit movements, but they need to come with passion in heart and fire in their belly.

2. Sit down with your partner or head coach and brainstorm about what it means to you to be a Level 10 CrossFit coach trainer, their characteristics and traits and create your own benchmark of the right person for each position.

3. Make sure the right people are in the right seats: At CrossFit Central we have a stellar female coach. All of the clients adore her, her classes are always full, she is always on time and willing to help wherever needed, and she has helped change hundreds of lives. BUT she isn’t a Level 10 in systems, management, or paperwork. In addition to coaching she also took on an admin. type of position in the gym. The staff would get frustrated when she missed deadlines, didn’t turn things in properly, didn’t create proper management systems, etc. The point – she is crucial to the team and success of CrossFit Central, but did not need to be in a position where she would be set up to fail.

If you have the right people on the bus, it’s your job to make sure you set your them up for success.