Leading a successful team in your spa business

Spa Owner’s Guide To Successfully Leading a Team

So, you’re ready to take the leap from being a solo practitioner to leading a team of employees. You are excited, yet nervous. You want to do it right, but you’re not sure how to do it.

You might be thinking….how do I lead? Am I a leader?

Once you cross that threshold of hiring employees, your business is no longer just about you. You now have a responsibility to coach, mentor, and inspire your team. You are now in the business of what I call, “growing people”.

Back when I opened my full-service day spa, I got a bit of advice from my parents who owned a very successful business that employed over 80 people.

“Don’t get close to your employees. Don’t get too personal,” my mom said. “You have to keep things separate.”

Honestly, that approach never felt right to me. It turns out, this is an old-school way of leadership in business and it no longer works in today’s environment.

People want to be seen as people. As human. And, they want to know you care. After all, your employees are giving up a slice of their life to make your dream a reality so it’s important to have a vested interest in your team members.

Your employees are the face of your brand and your business. But they are also people who want to get to know you. You want to be likable, so your team members are inspired to carry out your vision.

It’s important to hire people who believe in your mission and who will always have the greater good of the company in mind.

To establish this – new team members want to know who you are and what you stand for.

What can you do to groom your team to ensure everyone has the company’s best interest in mind?

Follow these 7 tips to be the spa owner that everyone wants to work for:

1. Establish a Clear Leadership Philosophy

As a spa owner, when you have a clear leadership philosophy your team will be more engaged. I find that it’s helpful to establish clear expectations during the interview process.
As a business owner, I recommend defining your leadership philosophy so you can set clear expectations when growing your team.

Clear expectations helps your team understand how they should do their job. It encourages them to take on responsibilities, which increases their engagement with other team members and with clients.

Setting expectations is a two-way street. When you communicate what you expect from your employees, you also need to share what they can expect from you as a spa owner and leader.

Clear expectations helps your team understand how they should do their job. Click To Tweet

Communicate your philosophies with candidates during the interview process to ensure you’re hiring people who share your same values. It’s much easier to have the right people on board from the get-go.

2. Instill Commitments In Your Company Mission

Imagine a stranger walks into your spa and asks all your team members what the company mission is. Are you confident this stranger will get the same answer from everyone?

When you onboard new team members, go beyond the day-to-day operations of the business to make sure they understand and believe in the company mission.

All your employees should have a clear understanding of what your spa stands for and the core values from which they should operate.

This will allow you to delegate effectively and empower team members to make decisions that’d best serve your clients.

3. Care About Your Team

People want to be treated as people. Your employees are human beings.

They want to be acknowledged since they’re contributing a slice of their lives to help you make your vision a reality.

Your interactions with your team should communicate that you care – not only how they do their job but also how they grow as a professional and a person.

4. Inspire and Motivate

Effective leaders motivate people into taking action by inspiring and empowering them. Motivated and inspired team members are more willing to be more productive and feel fulfilled in the workplace.

Get to know your employees as individuals and motivate them to do their best work by listening to what they have to say.

Understand each team member’s needs so you know how to inspire them individually.

Encourage self growth and advanced education to improve their skills. Somel or a portion of advanced education since this benefits the business.

Encourage education in your team to promote self-growth. Click To Tweet

Encouraging self growth can dramatically affect a team members productivity levels and increase sales with your spa.

Sending yo spa owners will pay for alur team members to a conference, product knowledge class, or business building summit can have a major effect on your bottom line in the long run.

5. Grant Autonomy

Empower your team members to take action by giving them a high level of autonomy to spark creativity and new ideas to help grow your spa.

When team member presents an idea to help with business growth – remain open and inviting. Don’t be quick to shut this new idea down. Listen. Show gratitude.

 

Let your team member know how much you appreciate them for caring enough about your business to share ideas.  This thankful attitude will create a more harmonious environment and potentially increase profits.

6. Take Responsibility

Taking responsibility sometimes means we have to put aside our own self interests. The most inspiring leaders are those who put their team first.

If service or retail goals aren’t being met – it’s your responsibility to find out what’s going on in your team member’s life. Ask questions. Find out why their numbers are down instead of evoking fear that if they don’t shape up they will lose their job.

This doesn’t mean you don’t hold a team member accountable. It just means you are willing to understand the whole story so that you can coach and mentor them accordingly.

7. Be Likable Without Having the Need To Be Liked

This is a biggie, especially for many women entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders.

I have coached and developed close relationships with many accomplished spa owners over the years.

I noticed that the most successful spa owners are likable. Their employees know that they care about and appreciate them.

While these successful spa owners are likable, they don’t feel the need to be liked.

These owners aren’t looking for permission or validation from their team members which allows them to make tough decisions when necessary for the greater good of the business.

Are You Ready To Become a Well-Respected and Effective Leader?

Leading a team is part mindset and part skillset. It’s important that you do your homework and walk the talk. Seek a coach. Partner with a consultant whose values align with yours.

If you are considering expansion in your spa business, I highly recommend setting up a complementary strategy call to see if the VIP Elite Coaching Package is the right fit for you.

Together, we can explore the many possibilities to help you grow your team. Book your call here.

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