5 Steps to Championing a Program in Your Facility

This article was composed from the contents of the book, 25 Tips to Becoming a Successful Program Champion, by Laurie Cingle, M.Ed.

There is a difference between great programs and programs that are just OK. The difference is simply the person who is in charge — the Program Champion. Without a champion, a program will usually be just OK — and it might even fail.

Why would any fitness professional want to be a champion of programs? Aside from the fact that heading up a great program makes your job a lot more fun and interesting, having a program or programs that you champion can increase your value to your organization, increase your compensation and provide you with the status of “expert” when your name becomes synonymous with a great program. This may open the door for you to be called upon by leaders of your organization and community to “do more.” And “doing more” may lead to a better position and to more money.

Here are 5 easy steps that you can do to get you started on the path to becoming a champion of programming.

1. Come Up With a Great Program Idea.
This is easier said than done. Many of you reading this right now are saying to yourselves, “But I’m not creative. I can’t think of any ideas for programs.” My only response is a quote from Henry Ford that goes something like,

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right!”

Great program ideas are usually accidents. You may even stumble upon the idea while doing something completely unrelated to your job. You just need to recognize it as a possible program. If you want to come up with great program ideas, here are some tips:

a. Don’t set out initially to think of an idea for a program. This may put too much pressure on you to come up with an idea, thus squashing any creativity that may drift in to your head. Relax.
b. What are you passionate about? Dogs? Container gardening? Snow boarding? Feng shui? Turn your passion or hobby into a great program.
c. Pay attention to what is happening around your club and your community right now. Are there issues or events that have members and residents buzzing?
d. What are people interested in nationally? What topics are Oprah, Good Morning America, The View or Larry King, to name a few, talking about on their shows?
e. What is happening in the news? If there is an issue you wish to tie to a club program, try to select an upbeat topic or a way that your members can help support an issue that is perceived to be troublesome.
f. What movies are coming out that have people excited? In summer 2007, there were many movie themes that could easily have been turned in to program themes: Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Spiderman 3, Harry Potter, Shrek 3, Transformers... If there is a buzz about something, ride the wave.
g. What is hot on television? The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser, Lost and Heroes would all work well as great program themes.
h. Books such as the classic Around the World in Eighty Days or a newer, trendy book like The Secret can also make for great program themes.

Our list can go on and on. In this first step, the sky’s the limit for you to think of any idea at all. The key to being a program champion and making a program great versus just OK is the passion and excitement you bring to the program. If you don’t love the television show Heroes, don’t do a program around that theme. If you love yoga and you love dogs, I would bet that a program that combined the two would be a home run. (Refer to the book Doga: Yoga for Dogs by Brilliant and Berloni to get you started.)

Important: To be a program champion, the program should either be your idea exclusively or a collaborative effort between you and others on your team. It is rare that program champions emerge from being handed a program that is someone else’s idea and passion. In this case, often the program is considered “just one more thing to do” by the individual who is told, “Here. Do this.”

2. Develop Your Program.
Once you have decided on an idea, you can begin brainstorming to focus the idea into a deliverable program. While each program is different, they all have many things in common:

a. Programs of any type must have a beginning, middle and end.
b. Programs should have a goal and/or show results. (See sidebar.)
c. Programs must be developed so everyone clearly knows what the program is, how to do it and why they are doing it. For example,
What? 8 Weeks to Optimum Health
How? Attend a one-hour seminar each Tuesday from 6pm to 7pm for 8 weeks. Receive a checklist outlining tasks to perform outside of the classroom for that week. Topics include vitamin supplements, omega 3’s, water quality, stress reduction and meditation.
Why? To find out how to improve health and wellness choices that will enhance participants’ exercise efforts and lead to a more healthful life.
d. Programs must motivate people to go above and beyond what they would normally do. This doesn’t necessarily mean they will be pushed physically.
e. Programs must provide support and tools. Examples are an instructor, educational handouts, checklists, meetings and record keeping.

Important: Consider every detail when developing your program. Clearly defining every aspect — how to get signed up, what the daily/weekly/monthly requirements are, how to claim the prize — is imperative to your success. It is not enough to simply have a great idea that you are passionate about. You must be very organized, a good communicator and very good at detail administration.

3. Own Your Program.
This is your program — own it. A program champion eats, sleeps and breathes their program. When you are kicking off a program, it should be your top job priority. You are responsible for its success, no one else. Program champions make no excuses because of their passion and enthusiasm for the program.

4. Get Others to Buy In to Your Program.
Just because you own the program doesn’t mean that you can make it successful alone. As a true program champion, you need a great idea that you have developed into a deliverable program and that you are ultra-excited about. AND you absolutely need the support of your supervisor and peers. Without support, you will feel like you are pushing a boulder up a hill.

Unfortunately, in many clubs, program champions are islands unto themselves. They are so passionate about their programs and are constantly coming up with new ideas that they are often misunderstood by their supervisor and by their peers. If you don’t know what I am talking about, you may work in a club where either there are no program champions or you are in one of the very rare situations in our industry where you have a very skilled program champion on your team.

Who is responsible for getting others to buy in to the program? You are — if you are the champion. Again, you have to work hard at developing skills to communicate effectively to the people you work with so they will help you pull off a successful program. They must understand that without them, you cannot succeed.

Important: If you cannot get buy-in for your program, consider tabling it until a later date when you are better prepared to explain the benefits of the program and when your team is better prepared to hear what you are saying. It may mean that your program needs tweaking. If you think it is great and the majority around you does not, put on your ego-armor and start asking for feedback.

5. Deliver Your Program.
If you are truly the program champion, you deliver the program. Don’t go through the time and trouble of all of the above, only to delegate the delivery of the program to someone on your team who doesn’t care about it like you do. To them, it may be just “one more thing” to do. Stay close to your program until you see that it is established. Don’t consider delegating it completely until you have a junior champion waiting in the wings for an opportunity to learn from you.

Championing programs requires skill, practice and mentoring. Use the five steps above to help you begin to discover your strengths and weaknesses where programming is concerned. If you need assistance, seek out resources within your club and within the industry.

[Sidebar] Program goals must be S.M.A.R.T. — Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timed.

Laurie Cingle, MEd, is a fitness business success coach and club consultant. She is recipient of the IHRSA Fitness Director of the Year award. In addition to her 25 years experience in the club industry, Laurie holds a masters degree in Exercise Science from the University of Houston and is certified by ACSM/HFI, NASM and Les Mills International. She served on IDEA’s Board of Advisors, ACSM’s Health and Fitness Journal Advisory Board and is a judge for Fitness Management magazine’s NOVA7 award. Laurie is also a frequent contributor to Club Success, Club Industry’s Fitness Business Pros and Fitness Management magazines. She can be reached at laurie@lauriecingle.com.