Delegation, Adaptability, and Communication in Leadership
Welcome
Episode Narration:to Racquet Fuel, where we launch into great conversations and share powerful tools to help you become a stronger rackets leader. Your hosts are Kim Bastable, a former All American tennis player and now the director of tennis management at the University of Florida. And Simon Gale, the USTA senior director of Racquet Sports Development. Today on Racquet Fuel, Kim and Simon reflect on their leadership roles and the challenges involved with a special focus on the frequent need to flex and change direction. Coasting is not an option in leadership and life happens, which adds to the challenge.
Episode Narration:Here's Kim and Simon.
Kim Bastable:Welcome back to Racquet Fuel. Here we are again. We're getting ready to record for season four. Today, Simon and I are gonna have some fun talking about the obstacles that might be in front of us or maybe the challenges and juggling of leadership and life. Through the summer, we've been, having busy summer seasons, both of us.
Kim Bastable:We thought we would reflect upon that and and how we've adapted and and, dealt with the challenges. So here we go, Simon. Are you excited for this?
Simon Gale:Can't wait. This is a little unique for us, but, as we go along here, I think we see opportunities to reflect a little bit on on where we are and what's going on in our own lives as leaders. So looking forward to it.
Kim Bastable:Yeah. I think as we've spoken, we just feel that there's a lot of change happening in both of our roles, and just growth, I would say, more than anything. Not not change because change feels like it's going a different direction, but growth and and new things added to the old responsibilities in in a really good way. And you have the Racquet Sports Management Apprentice that's been gearing up this summer. What's the status and how is that more than that, how has that changed your role at the campus?
Simon Gale:Yeah. It's interesting because January, I I was promoted into a senior director role for the campus and focused a lot more on on development, but still overseeing some of what I used to do before. And it's a fantastic opportunity for me, but, you know, it came with with some additional responsibilities. And any time you're in a new role, you're adapting and and spending time getting used to what that new role looks like while trying to let go of what you used to do and develop or empower that person who's filling backfilling your old role. So there's a transition period.
Simon Gale:So that that's always a busy time. And we're seven months in now, eight months in, so I feel comfortable with where where we are with that in terms of transition. And now, at the same time though, you've been trying to get this apprenticeship program, the two year program off the off the ground. So sometimes you're a victim of your own motivation and you say, well, how about this is an idea and let's let's do this at the campus. And then once you start it, you say, oh my god.
Simon Gale:What have I done to myself? What what have we created here? I'm sure you know what that means with the with the the UF course. But the it's been a heavy lift, so to speak, with hiring staff. I've been lucky to get Jason in in in this director's role for the apprenticeship program, and that's been a huge help.
Simon Gale:But building a team to to get this thing off the ground, it doesn't start till January, but going through the process of hiring a team and hoping I got the right team members. And then sitting down and saying, alright. What are the steps involved? And you start to say, wow. This is this is very heavy what we've gotta get done here.
Simon Gale:We've gotta build curriculum for two years. We need to engage external experts and bring them in and get this thing universally signed off on by the industry so that we feel like it's been a buy in from the industry and not just a product we're rolling out. Just the time and effort that goes into all of that, and then you work with all the different departments, marketing, legal, HR to get things in place to be able to say, right. Let's click go. And June 17 was was launch date.
Simon Gale:Website's up and running, and now you've got applicants and you've gone from building something to it's now live to, gee, I hope we get good enough candidates that this thing actually resonates with people and we have good enough candidates that our first graduating class come out with some sort of reputation that that that this is a successful program and has a meaningful impact from a leadership point of view. So I've definitely lost more hair. I'm glad this is an audio recording. It's not video, and it's much, much grayer. So I used to blame that on my girls, but now I could call the apprenticeship program a big part of that.
Simon Gale:But we're in the interviewing phase right now. We're screening a lot of people. We've had a lot of applicants. We had more than 200, but only about 40 or 50 of those had the relevant experience to to move forward with. And now we're starting to do on court interviews, which is a full day experience to really drill down and see if these are people that, a, we wanna have work here, but also are people with enough potential that they could go out and have an impact after two years with us.
Simon Gale:So it's tremendously exciting, but it's brand new. It's you're trying to create something new, and that that's got a lot of challenges to it. And you embrace those, and at times, they make you nervous. But it's it's exciting, and and we're really looking forward to being able to say by the October, we've got eight in our first cohort who will start in January. So it's been a really interesting summer and learned a lot about myself taking on something new that really took me out of my comfort zone.
Simon Gale:And then learning about I think too, and we'll talk about this a bit is the importance of of delegation is really understanding that, hey. I'm not the expert in the room on this. I have a lot to add to what I think we should do, but Jason's the expert, and he's the curriculum writer. And I'm there to lend a hand versus I've spent thirty years kind of being the leader who drives where we're going. This, I'm a little more backseat, but jump in the driver's seat from time to time.
Simon Gale:So that's that's been an interesting thing for me, and I've really enjoyed learning about myself and and what it takes to make Jason as successful as possible. So I said a lot to you, Kim, but that's
Kim Bastable:a lot. That's a lot.
Simon Gale:That's this summer.
Kim Bastable:Yeah. That's that's a summer. A couple comments would be one. Yes. There's a whole entire episode of the Racquet Sports Management Apprenticeship Program in our podcast feed for anyone who's slightly unfamiliar with exactly what Simon's talking about.
Kim Bastable:But the second thing is is that you just went through the blueprint of how challenging any leadership project is and really leadership in general because I often marvel. And when I had to start the University of Florida's, you know, program from scratch in 2021, you know, you are not working with any blueprint. There is no guide. You are writing the blueprint. You are writing the program.
Kim Bastable:You are figuring out from zero what something looks like, and that's that's super scary. You know, it's it's takes a lot of asking a lot of questions of people getting people on board, you know, picking their brains, making sure you're making sense. As you said, you want people in the industry to to understand and think it's viable as well. And then, you know, you you have to sell the idea, and that's the sales that people don't necessarily think of a leader as being a salesperson. Maybe they're more reflected upon as being the one who's the task manager, but it's often innovation and change, and so there's those selling of ideas.
Kim Bastable:Then it's the measuring success thing. How do you measure? Like, kind of frankly, I think you get to define your own measure of success. You get to decide what that looks like. Is it gonna be retention?
Kim Bastable:Is it gonna be, you know, increase in pay from somebody who graduates? Is is it gonna be anecdotal, just great experiences of people that feel they gained immensely from this experience? And I think everyone has to decide what those metrics are, and then you you work to those. But those are those to me are elements of any leadership project and and you just went through them and I think that's what makes leadership exciting and scary at the same time.
Simon Gale:You know, I think to be completely honest, and we've talked about this, the campus is such a unique place that no other job I've ever done has prepared me to just come in and say, let's cut and paste what I did at my old club. That doesn't work anywhere unless you're moving laterally to a very similar type position. And even so, there's nuances in a new position that that you have to make adjustments. But I think all the things you've done over your career help you make better decisions at the time when things are presented that that are new to you. So just managing the campus alone took me a couple of years to work out how to do it.
Simon Gale:And you're you're not making it up as you go along, but you're trying to figure it out and make good decisions based on some of your experiences. But I didn't have experience the same as the campus. So when you go to this apprenticeship program, you just said it. You you're making it up as you go, which doesn't sound good. Right?
Simon Gale:You've been asked to do something and given a budget, and you're saying you're making it up as you go. You have a framework and a vision, and you're working backwards from that, which I've learned a lot of what education is is what's the outcome goal? And Jason taught me this was what do you want at the end and let's work backwards and build it. And so that's always been our north star, and I think that's where having someone like Jason has helped. But he's never done this before either.
Simon Gale:So you're taking your expertise or your experiences and molding something, and we're making up some of the metrics as we go along and saying, we think we're gonna get these type of people apply. And then you start the interview process and say, maybe they're gonna be a little lower than we expected. And then somebody comes in, you say, wow, that's one of the the ones we were hoping for. And you're starting to see trends to say, okay, this is the level of applicant in our first year. It's only been out two months.
Simon Gale:So it's gonna take time before the industry knows about it. So what's realistic with our first cohort or two?
Kim Bastable:So now you're addressing the what we discussed, which was adaptability. It's the it's one of the cornerstones of of leadership and, you know, it sounds like you've you've had to be adaptable to what, you know, the present reality is of your of your applicants. And I think there's so many other ways that we are required as leaders to be adaptable.
Simon Gale:Yeah. And and you mentioned measuring success too. Just what does success look like? And we're making that up as we go. You know, what we thought it would be.
Simon Gale:And now as you learn more about the people who are applying and what their motivations are, you're you're gonna be steering people in different directions depending on where they wanna end up in the industry. So success doesn't mean everybody's going and managing a platinum country club or is taking on a massive operation. Success could be having great people who are going and driving park and rec programs where there's a massive need and some of them have those motivations. Great. That's successful, but that might not be successful in the industry's eyes.
Simon Gale:But to us, you've added somebody to a a real need, and so that is success for us. So you're gonna have all sorts of different types of success, but it might not fit in the box that everybody else kinda lives in. So we're working that out, and it's it's fascinating to see where this is all gonna end up. But adaptability is first and foremost with everything we're doing. You we say it with our pros on the court all the way up to all levels of leadership that if you can't adapt in this business or any leadership role, you're dead.
Simon Gale:You just have to adapt constantly.
Kim Bastable:And and to me, adaptability is a creative ability. So it's no one not everyone's adapt adaptation will look the same, but it's it's definitely just having the ability to be flexible, be creative, be be calm, really, and as that's happening as as much as can as as you need. I always say, you know, on the tennis court when you're changing drills to make it look like you had that planned all along. And, you know, it's the the art of adapting while you're not acting like you're adapting.
Simon Gale:Yeah. And I think one of the things we've talked about is is juggling a lot. And at times in your life, my wife and I talk about it as as you're on the hamster wheel of life and you're just spinning and and and and you don't get off, and you can you can have moments where that that cycle doesn't seem to stop. And then eventually, it settles and and and you cope with it, but the ability to juggle a lot. And at this time of the year, I think anyone in the tennis industry is generally juggling ending a summer.
Simon Gale:You're exhausted after the summer camp or the summer programming you've done. You've then got to fire back up again, and the fall is right there. You've spent the last month building up the fall and trying to get people into your programs. You're also adapting to bringing on new staff and all the onboarding skills that go with that to get them up to speed so your program's delivered the way you want. There's a lot going on in this August, September, October period for anyone in the industry.
Simon Gale:Industry. And it presents a lot of challenges and that juggling and ability to manage all that's on your plate can be can be incredibly taxing. And and, you know, what are your thoughts on that and and that life balance and and, you know, even where you're at with with this time of the year.
Kim Bastable:Yeah. No. With self self care is important. I mean, I have the challenge every August of children who live internationally coming back to to my home, and so I wanna focus on family. But that's right as I'm gearing up for a semester and getting classes ready for the fall.
Kim Bastable:So, you know, plus on top of that, some travel for speaking engagements and, you know, boy, August gets gets away from us in a hurry, and and then I'm ready to prepare, get my classes ready to be published for my my online delivery. And, yeah, I mean, that's that's a constant. There's always that. And and I think we have the requirement that we must keep some personal self care, personal well-being. I know there's a trend in the industry to these six and seven day weeks, and the argument is you could make that happen for a short amount of time, but it's never gonna be a long term.
Kim Bastable:It should not be we absolutely should not be working six days a week or or seven for more than, you know, maybe a few weeks, six to eight maybe. And then you must take, you know, a reasonable amount of time off and really and really use it well. I think there's a challenge to use it well and make sure that we know how to rejuvenate ourselves and and and we spend time with the people that are very important to us. Again, I think seasons of busy, totally expected in any position, but, really, the science says we must, must, must learn the art of self care, take time away, be effective with vacations, be effective with our our evening time off. I've just recently lost a dog, which was beloved, and I am really realizing how important that was to me to just go on walks with my dog.
Kim Bastable:And, fortunately, I'm soon to be getting a puppy, but that's a whole another challenge and nothing I was planning for. I don't know that anybody truly loves the puppy stage. The puppy cuteness is one thing, but but to have a dog, I'm realizing I'm not a person that could be without, and that's really a rejuvenate form of rejuvenation. So as they say, everybody should walk their dog whether they have one or not because we all need to get out on some leisurely walks, it's but for a lot more fun with a dog. So managing self care is key.
Simon Gale:Yeah. I agree a 100% and and to an extent, well, not even to an extent. I think we have a responsibility as as the leader of of a group of people. When I say we, anyone in a leadership role, we have to role model what that looks like too even at the toughest times. And we're always thinking about everybody else, so we're encouraging them at the busy times to take time off.
Simon Gale:Are you looking at your team and saying, well, we need a night out as a team. We need to do some r and r. We need a bit of fun because this has been stressful. But you're still thinking of everybody else, and that's great. But what are you doing for yourself?
Simon Gale:And I can relate to that. It's I have a special needs daughter, and and and there's some real ups and downs with that from a health point of view, and this has been a challenging six months or so. And that's taken a lot of focus. That's a lot of personal energy that's going into to something. And I just had shoulder surgery, I'm recovering from that.
Simon Gale:And I thought it would be two or three months, and I'd be back out there hitting balls and running around doing things. And I'm four months in, and I'm still twice a week doing rehab and trying to just be able to hit a ball again. So it's been frustrating, but where I'm going with this is the time factor. That's two hours of my day I have to stretch morning and night. So I'm getting up earlier and and and and instead of maybe doing some family time, I'm stretching and cursing and swearing in the the the quiet room in the corner of the house because my shoulder's not where it's supposed to be.
Simon Gale:And then trying to still fit in all the things we need as a family and work. It's a busy time, and and there's some times where it feels like it's a little too much, and you have to find a way to escape. And I could be here seven days a week. No problem. The place is so busy, but I'm very strict with the five and come in on a sixth for opening days and things like that.
Simon Gale:But I have to lead by example and find that balance and and get my team to buy into that as well. And the place is not gonna go down if if if I'm not here
Kim Bastable:for Because that's built you've built it well. Yeah. The place should not go down when the leaders are away. We've discussed that. It's like get the delegate to some staff, have some even if it's even if you're a two man facility, two woman facility, just have a good second in command who knows what's going on and can handle things and give you that proper time off.
Kim Bastable:And that means, you know, no texting, no calling, like, literally gives you the proper time off. I think one of the things I've also seen in this summer has been, I've been consulting with and a Paddell Club and kinda mentoring a young leader, And I've been really encouraging her. That's largely what I've been doing, and I think that's really what so many of us older leaders need to be doing is thinking about how we can encourage. There are many, you know, things I'm suggesting and ideas, but largely when she'll ask me a question, I am saying good job. You got the right answer.
Kim Bastable:Well done. You know, we're well written this or that that was a good meeting or or whatever. I mean, yeah, I did I think that you've got sharp people. They just need to be, you know, patted on the head and let go and encouraged to and then guided in some directions. But when when we're too harsh as leaders or we don't let go and we just control, we just do it ourselves, We don't help the next generation feel empowered and important.
Kim Bastable:It's a never ending cycle of overwork for the older leader if you're not allowing the the people below you to learn and grow.
Simon Gale:Yeah. That's an excellent point. Mean, think my time here, I'm coming up on four and a half, five years with the USTA, and and one of the benefits is the resources we have here and the amount of people in leadership roles that you can talk to. And sometimes you're a little isolated at a traditional club setting, but the art of asking questions is something that that I've learned here and in continuing to to get better at is when you feel like you wanna tell someone how to do it, what to do, and then move on and assume they've got it, you haven't allowed them to to discover it themselves and and make a mistake. So can you ask them the question like you're talking about there with with the young person you're empowering and ask them questions and then stop and reflect and say, well, what did you what did you work out about yourself as you went through that process?
Simon Gale:What did you learn about your decision making? And how did that work out for you? And what would you do better next time? There's questions that you get used to asking, and there's a real skill to that. And I wasn't as good at that five years ago and ten and fifteen.
Simon Gale:I look back and say, twenty years ago as a leader, I was really passionate, but I don't think I was as impactful and effective for my team. The facility might have done well, but was my were my team getting what they needed? And retention's an issue in our industry. Right? We talk about this.
Simon Gale:And if it's an issue, surely if you're developing new people and they feel like they're contributing more, they're more likely to stay around. I mean, that's what the research shows as as well.
Kim Bastable:Absolutely.
Simon Gale:It's an interesting evolution as a leader and and, you know, maybe spending enough years in it, you eventually get there. But how do you learn that early in your leadership so that you master that skill much earlier rather than later?
Kim Bastable:Well, as I was saying, I feel like there's a a little bit of a problem in the world of tennis. We have a sport that's trained many of us, if not most all of us, that is very independent. And in order for us to be good at it, we have to take control. We don't delegate. We do.
Kim Bastable:And then we get into leadership, and we really continue that. And what might be interesting is if you think back even to before we all chose to play tennis, we may have had tendencies to be control freaks and doers because we chose this sport. People that are more interested in team atmospheres might be of a different personality type and have traits that more are aligned with sharing the load, but we are tending to be independent people that are executors and strategic thinkers is what I've seen in the in the research I've I've done with all of my UF students through the StrengthsFinder. And a little bit less on the relationship building and influencing, which is the real need of a good leader. So I think that's just something we need to realize as a tendency that we do tend to do.
Kim Bastable:We have a history of doing, but that's not what helps our industry, doesn't help the people below you. We need people to feel that sense of autonomy and importance and growth, and then they're gonna stick around. And that's really key to our our businesses, our clubs, our our industry profession doing well.
Simon Gale:Yeah. And I think I look at my team here, and I have an amazing team and my head pros have all been here pretty much since the day we opened. And they've seen it all. They can do their job with their eyes closed almost. They're they're so good at it.
Simon Gale:But one of the things we constantly talk about in our leadership meetings is is the importance of developing the people under you. And I I challenge them to to really look at who is your they have associate head pros or assistant head pros. What are their roles and responsibilities off the court? And is that well defined and how are you developing those? And are you meeting regularly to challenge them to to reflect on the program and their job as on court role models and give you feedback?
Simon Gale:Are you having those conversations or are you just going through the x's and o's of lesson plans and who needs to move out of this group? You've got to dedicate time. And so we went through a kind of growth opportunity workshop type situation and said, let's let's look at what we're doing and what are our opportunities to grow revenue and and grow programming and add some new new programs for the customers. And it was interesting when you start to go through that exercise, you could sense that there was a feeling that it was more work for them. And we stopped and said, hey.
Simon Gale:Hey. Think about this. You've got a team under you who are all dying to become you. They want your type of role. What are you doing to challenge them?
Simon Gale:I don't mind if we have to pay them a little admin time, but you've got to empower them. And you take this social calendar, for example, give it to somebody and task them with here's the parameters. You gotta stay inside the rails, the guardrails, but I want you to come up with this and present it to me and see what happens and watch them watch them thrive. And so it was interesting that the wall goes up to more work versus how do I have somebody else do the work for me. And so that's been fascinating to watch.
Simon Gale:And they they've they're good at it, but we can always get better at it. Right? We're all learning to be a better delegator.
Kim Bastable:Well, and how do you get over the fear of something's gonna fail if you don't do it yourself? And I I think I was talking to Scott McCullough the other day, and his his theory is you educate to delegate. You don't just give something to someone and say do it and hope, but there's a education and there's a closeness. You might work with them for a while. But, really, if there's also just a conversation about what does success look like, what's our goal here, and then even ask what are some steps you might take.
Kim Bastable:You know, here's you could offer what you're gonna do, or you could just ask them what they might do. Maybe they'll have a better idea than what you would have done, but you have the conversation. You have some meetings set up that are, you know, a week or two weeks. You check-in. You can you know, you it's kinda like waiting for somebody to complete an entire English paper, and then they get an a d on it.
Kim Bastable:You know? It's usually now where they have you show a first draft, and and you kinda get that graded and see if you're on the right track. And and then when they come back with their final English paper, it's more likely to get, you know, an a or a b or a high c if they've already been had the the first draft graded. And I think that's the way delegation needs to be a little bit of, you know, first draft, like, here's your first attempt, your first things, how's it going conversations. But there's still a fear that I'm not in control, so it may not get done as I would and how would you say as a leader you get past that?
Simon Gale:I keep telling them that remember the people who report to you, they don't know what success looks like either. And so you you can let them fail, but they haven't necessarily done it to know what success looks like. So it's pretty hard for it to be called a failure. It's still gonna be good and the customers are gonna have a good experience. But behind the scenes, we have work to do.
Simon Gale:But the actual experience, you guys have done this too many times to let it fail. But it's okay if behind the scenes, the people you're empowering feel like they failed a little bit. You're not gonna let them fail because you'll keep them in the guardrails, but let them fail a little bit. It's not gonna be a poor experience for the consumer, but it's okay if it's not perfect and you fine tune it over the the next one and the next few that are in front of them. You just want to be able to say, did this well.
Simon Gale:We struggled with this. So how do we do that better next time? And that's where the learning happens. And within two or three occasions or experiences, they're off and running, unless they're just not well equipped to to be in that role and that you'll find out. But you guys, you know your stuff.
Simon Gale:You're not gonna let them fail because you'll give them good solid grounding and fundamentals to say, work from here, move forward, and we'll work backwards and reflect on how we move move the needle to make this even better so that it's at national campus standard, for example. So
Kim Bastable:Well, so so what you're just saying to me goes to one of the other big leadership challenges and something that we could have a whole not we will have another episode on is communication. All of those steps require stopping and saying, where are we? Where are we going? Where did we where have we been? What have we done well?
Kim Bastable:What have we not done well? How can we change this? And those conversations often get, you know, lost. You just finish something and you just move on without making that that really after action review. So there's so many points of communication with the leader.
Kim Bastable:I think the old days where it was, you do this. You do that. I'm gonna do this. Let's go. That's not how we lead and be effective leaders anymore.
Kim Bastable:So there's a a need to really communicate formally and informally through through the process. And and then like you said, there's you could have five people show up for an event that you really hoped you had 15 for, but if those five have a fabulous time, that was a success to those five. And then the next time, you hope they're eight. And, you know, maybe 15 was an unrealistic or silly number you just pulled out of a hat anyway. You had to work up to it.
Kim Bastable:But definitely, it's it's about the customer experience and hoping they know whether it's 05:15 or 500. It's still a great experience.
Simon Gale:And there's a a term we use here for developing our coaches. You're a coach developer. In a leadership role, you have to develop people under you, and you have to develop them as coaches and people and all that goes with that. But you said, I think you used the word formal and informal communication. So we've kinda used the saying, it's not on your calendar, it's not gonna happen.
Simon Gale:And so we'll have great meetings and everybody's fired up about what they're gonna go and do. And then a week later, it would be, hey, guys. How did the meetings go? How did you we never got there. We got busy.
Simon Gale:And so it became, well, put it in your calendar. If it's not in your calendar, it will not happen. You just won't get to it and a week flies by. So from a formal point of view, we've made a real point of in your calendar, get it in there with an agenda and and and use that as your formal. And then it's still formal, but a little little more informal is when those teaching moments happen out while they're performing, whether it's on the court or running an event or running a meeting, take five minutes afterwards to to reflect with somebody and get some feedback while it's fresh versus a week later in a meeting.
Simon Gale:You know? So it's not it's formal, but it's it kinda happens on the fly right after or during till you get some real feedback, and that's how people grow. So they're all communication skills that we're working on daily. Nobody's got it mastered. I I don't care how good you are.
Simon Gale:You've never got that mastered. There's always a new challenge, but that coach developer, people developer mentality is something we try and really instill in all of our leadership team.
Kim Bastable:Yeah. That's good. So okay. So let's get to the, kind of summation, like, what are the takeaways? We always like to give listeners some takeaways, like, what can they do?
Kim Bastable:And I think that mine really from from this summer has been this idea that it's okay to have personal time off. It's okay to, you know, put the emphasis on your self care at times when you need it. Do not feel guilty for having to take a half day off or something. Obviously, you wanna try to plan those around the least, You know, if it's if it's optional, put it at a at a good time to do it. But it's just so key.
Kim Bastable:We need long term well-being, and we are not Energizer Bunnies that do not stop. And we want really thriving long careers. So, yeah, don't be afraid to take the time that you need. I mean, I have my children that come to town internationally, and I pretty much stop. And I might check emails at night just to see what's urgent, but during the day when I'm with grandkids and kids, it just stops.
Kim Bastable:And that's just super important to me, and I don't want to miss those opportunities because those kids grow fast. So I just think in general, we all have challenges whether it's going to get a puppy in my case, whether it's dealing with special needs child or the PT appointments for your shoulder. I mean, these things are not to be neglected and felt guilty over.
Simon Gale:Yeah. I couldn't agree more. I think, you know, there was three real themes that I picked up on was delegation, adaptability, and communication. And when I look at myself, I think they're things that I've learned to get better at over a long, long period of time. And it's okay if you're not great at them, but you should be focused on them.
Simon Gale:And if you're in a leadership role, there's probably nothing much more important. But I think the balance and the art of having some balance in your life so that you can be the best you can be for the team you're leading because you're no good to them if you're burnt out and tired and miserable. So how do you maintain that balance at busy times of the year? And the business is always gonna be okay. It's it's not gonna sink if you're not there for a day.
Simon Gale:If you've done your job, it'll actually could thrive, and it might even do better with you not around. So you'd be surprised what happens sometimes. So, yeah, I've enjoyed talking about this. I think it's important, and and it's not something we've touched on a lot throughout Racquet Fuel over the last, year or two.
Kim Bastable:Yeah. It's a it it's been a fun episode. We always enjoy kinda sharing our our our real life lives because this is what everybody's living. We're all not people who just put our clothes on and go to work, and that's all that's important. We're whole people.
Kim Bastable:So we encourage you to go out and make yourself better as a leader. We look forward to season four episodes coming forward, in the coming weeks, and always let us know how we can improve Racquet Fuel. We'll see you next time.
Episode Narration:That's all for today, but we're not out of fuel. You can find more information and resources in our show notes and by visiting racquetfuelpodcast.com. If you liked what you just heard, please subscribe, and also leave a review, which helps other people join the mission to become stronger Racquet's leaders.
Conclusion:This podcast is a production of Athlete Plus, the people, stories, science behind elite athletes and teams. Athlete Plus is the official podcast network of the Institute for Coaching Excellence, a research, education, and outreach center in the College of Health and Human Performance at the University of Florida. The Institute for Coaching Excellence offers various online certificate programs and degrees in partnership with the Department of Sport Management. Learn more today at coaching.hhp.ufl.edu.
