Smells Like Team Spirit

Growing up as an only child often meant that I was Mister ‘Fiercely-Independent-I-Don’t-Need-Anyone-To-Help-Me-Thanks’. On the whole, not a great strategy for life. I wouldn’t really recommend it. But I guess I was ten or eleven so what did I know? For a while there, I had that whole Robinson Crusoe thing goin‘ on. Unfortunately for me, I carried some of that psychology with me into adulthood – specifically, my business. In the early years I nearly killed myself trying to grow my company, doing basically everything from training clients to cleaning toilets, because obviously, nobody would care like I did and nobody could clean the mirrors like me!

Okay, I was young and stupid.
Maybe slightly obsessive.

And while I think it’s wise that we are discerning about who we ‘let in’ to our life (or a particular part of that life), I have come to understand and appreciate the value of great ‘team mates’ as we move towards a common goal. In fact, I’ve come to trust and rely on them – a significant step for the once-untrusting only child. In fact, if it wasn’t for my team, I wouldn’t be doing the majority of the fun stuff that now constitutes my day to day life.

For the purpose of this article, I will be referring to your ‘team mates’ as those people that you will surround yourself with, or use as a resource as you move towards achieving your goals, realising your potential and becoming the new and improved version of you. They may be coaches, friends, family, business advisors, health professionals or some other kind of expert or mentor. For some of you, I might even be part of your ‘cyber-team’ (via this site). That’d be cool.
Over the years I have employed hundreds of people, including trainers, cleaners, masseurs, receptionists, personal assistants and managers – with wildly varying degrees of success. And of course I’ve used a range of professionals and specialists (lawyers, accountants, etc.). While many of my team have been fantastic, it’s fair to say that some of them… weren’t. I’ll choose not to expand on that.

However, my experiences have taught me that to be truly effective and productive, and for me to continue to develop and grow, both personally and professionally, I will always need help (feedback, direction, advice, support, blood-sweat-and-tears) – once a tough thing to admit for the self-sufficient-stupid-alpha-male-warrior (a.k.a. idiot). I actually need to be part of a team to fulfill my potential. Even in the last twelve months my businesses have grown and improved amazingly, with very little input from me because I am now part of a great team, as opposed to me trying to be the team.

While my extended team is massive, the people I work closely with and rely on the most day to day are Johnnie, Mikey Boy and Sammy. Let me tell you a little about each of them.

Johnnie (above) is the creator of this site, a tech genius and hates being hugged – he has numerous tactile issues – (that smile is more of a grimace). The site was his idea and he approached me with the original concept. If not for him, you wouldn’t be reading this article right now. So depending on your opinion of craigharper.com, you may love him or hate him. While I do all the writing, he does everything else for the site – which is way more than you might imagine. He probably spends somewhere around forty plus hours every week working on the site and happily takes my late night calls to answer my stupid tech questions. He also manages my speaking and media stuff and is responsible for the administrative and business sides of Harper’s Personal Training. He is reliable, honest, talented, very bald, not nearly as funny as me, totally committed to what we’re about and probably works too many hours. No wonder his wife hates me. Love you Annie. We’re both very excited about what we’re doing with the site because we honestly believe that we’re building something amazing together. He is just as emotionally invested in this project (the site) as I am – and that’s rare. Johnnie is a gun.

Mikey Boy (left) is my young (26 y.o.) business partner for my Brighton centre. He is like a young version of me but better looking and smarter. And has abs. And will do absolutely anything if dared – like let me write on his head or drink a litre of disgusting, putrid, lumpy dishwater for twenty bucks (true story). He is the Personal Training Manager of Harper’s, is about to become a dad (with the lovely Holly), is a great trainer, never has a bad day (at work anyway) and is the Energiser Bunny of the fitness industry. While he has lots of talent, he is on my team because of his amazing people skills, his easy-going nature, his big engine (work ethic), his honesty, his loyalty and total commitment to what we’re about. He is being groomed to run Harper’s solo and will do so in the next few years. He has great leadership skills and will make a great boss in the near future.

*By the way – I offered Mikey and Holly a $5,000 baby-bonus if they would call their first-born Craig. Amazingly, they’re not interested. Hard to believe I know. Craig is such a sexy and contemporary name. Right now I’m working on ‘Harper’ as a first name. I reckon I’m a chance.

Sammy (below) is my business partner in our kid’s gym – GECKO. In fact, he is Gecko. He is Mr Charisma and he runs the day to day business on his own (okay, with help from his own great team of kid’s coaches). From a practical perspective, I am more of an advisor and mentor to Sammy than a ‘worker’ in the business. In the last twelve months he has single-handedly grown the business from zero kids to a current enrolment (kids are enrolled for semesters) of nearly six hundred. He is so good at what he does that we’ve almost outgrown our 6,000 sq. ft. centre. He is talented, loyal, ambitious and I’m glad we’re on the same side. We’re looking to set up centre number two right now, so that’s exciting. Like Mikey and Johnnie, Sam is totally committed, understands the importance of ‘team’ and has chosen to be a success.

Not only are these guys fantastic team mates and valuable allies, but they also happen to be great blokes and I simply love working with them and hanging out with them – always a good thing.

Your team might consist of a whole bunch of people like mine does, or it may be you and one or two trusted allies – it will depend on your specific goal (or goals) and situation. However, do not under estimate the value of being part of a team – it’s crucial for your success over the long term. People who go the Robinson Crusoe path invariably under-achieve and end up frustrated and miserable. While we don’t want to be hopelessly dependant on people for survival (and thereby make ourselves completely vulnerable), we do need to get to a point where we can ‘let go’ of certain things and trust people who have proven themselves. Working along side people who genuinely want to be part of your success is both empowering and liberating.

So who do you want on your team?

1. You want the person who will encourage and support you but also be straight with you. Honesty, advice and meaningful feedback from someone who you can trust and respect is crucial. You don’t need a fan club, you need practical, realistic advice, guidance and feedback. Occasionally a kick in the ass. You want the person who will keep you accountable and keep you doing what needs to be done even when the wheels on your wagon get a little wobbly.

2. You want the person who ‘gets’ what you’re on about. There’s no use having someone on your team who doesn’t really understand or support your vision. This doesn’t mean that you always need to agree on every issue (in fact, sometimes it’s good if you don’t), but in terms of the big picture objectives, you need to be on the same page. I’ve worked with people who just didn’t ‘get’ what I was on about – never worked.

3. You want someone who doesn’t have an agenda. You want team mates who are genuinely there for you and are excited to help you get where you want to go – people who will be genuinely happy for you to achieve and to be part of your success. Sometimes we’ve gotta work our way through the wa-wa-wa people (talk big but don’t deliver) to find the ‘real’ people. Some people talk the ‘I’m-here-to-help-you-talk’, when in reality their motives are far less noble and much more self-centred. I think I’ve met most of them. I’ll send you a list of who to avoid. In recent years I’ve had lots of people who wanted to be on my team because they thought I needed their help. So nice of them. So selfless. And a constant stream of people who approach me with a ‘great business opportunity’. Thanks anyway, I’m pretty happy with my current team and situation.

4. You want the best person available to you. So we’ll assume that Tony Robbins, Doctor Phil, Deepak Chopra and Oprah are all kinda busy. And to be honest the best choice for you probably ain’t gonna be your brother, your girlfriend, your gym buddy Kelvin or your Aunt Sal – nice people though they may be. Don’t recruit team members hastily. Enlisting the wrong people can take you further away from your goals and undo your efforts thus far. Be very wise and selective in your recruiting process. Not every available (or willing) person will be an asset. When you are putting your team together, be more practical and less emotional – you’ll create better results over the long haul.

So if you’ve been suffering from Robin-Crusoe-itis, or perhaps you’ve been part of the wrong team for too long, then maybe it’s time for you to start putting together TEAM YOU.

Go you!

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