According to a report by KPMG, a globally-recognized audit firm, 67% of women learned the most important lessons about leadership from other women; 82% of professional working women believe networking with female leaders will help them advance their careers; and 86% of women in the report felt encouraged when they saw women in leadership roles and believed they could get there themselves.
Here, five women share leadership tips and lessons learned over the years.
Amita Balla, the regional director of operations at West Crunch Franchise
What is one characteristic you believe every leader should possess?
In today’s world I believe every leader should be self-reflective. We need to be able to ask ourselves:
- “Did I communicate that well?”
- “Was this project well thought-out?”
- “How well did I include and empower my team to facilitate a solution?”
We ask our employees to have keen self-awareness, but I believe it is equally important for us to ask that of ourselves. Some of the best leaders do this naturally while others need to work on it.
What is the biggest challenge facing leaders today?
In my opinion, we need to stop blaming the COVID-19 epidemic for all our challenges today. Yes, staffing is hard, but we need to work on recruiting better and more often, and engaging our employees from onboarding. Did our industry take a hit from all the closures? Yes, it did. But now we get to reinvent ways and bring these people back in our doors focusing on health and a better way of life. It is our job as leaders to always be optimistic and focus on how we can do it better. COVID-19 may be here for a while, but we will be here longer — and stronger.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
I am pretty proud of recently going back to school with Yale Women’s Leadership Program, an executive education program that prepares women to make a successful transition to senior leadership, and getting the highest GPA of 100%. It reminded me of how to learn and why it always needs to be a part of my professional life.
This program also reminded me how our employees may learn. Learning can be easy but retaining information can be hard. Today’s learning programs are visual, auditory and experiential. We need to look at this in our organization’s onboarding if we really want our employees to perform at their best.
Amy Bueme, a co-owner of Catalyst Fitness
What is one characteristic you believe every leader should possess?
Empathy. I know what fitness means to me and how dedicated I am working in and on the business. With that being said, a leader should take the time to find out what fitness means to their staff and celebrate all of the different meanings, strengths and weaknesses to create a unique, strong team. When you have empathy for others’ beliefs, I feel it makes you more open and a dynamic culture gets created.
What is the biggest challenge facing leaders today?
I think communication is a huge challenge for leaders today. I experience this myself and I have spoken to other owners and managers of different businesses. The conversation will always get to, “Why does my staff not tell me what was happening or what they think?” I am very vocal with communicating and I stress to them to give ideas, have good and bad conflict to help the business, and help others around them to make the team more successful. When they do communicate, I will congratulate them for it, but it is very far and few between. I am constantly working on this and feel it’s very important.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
During the pandemic I never said no to a TV interview, radio interview or speaking at local events. I spoke my opinion on current events and my own beliefs on how the fitness world was so important mentally and physically to all of us. I was scared, but I knew I had to be strong for Western New York and every time I hear a thank you, I am proud of myself for what Catalyst Fitness did to support everyone.
What advice would you give to other leaders in the industry?
My advice to other leaders would be stay in your lane, know who you are and what your goals are, and accept opinions and reflect on them before you decide on what to do. I am a leader for a reason but sometimes by not wanting my opinion to be wrong I have made the wrong choice and cost myself time, money or loss in staff. This advice has helped me grow both as a business owner and personally.
Amina Daniels, the founder of Live Cycle Delight
What is one characteristic you believe every leader should possess?
Resilience is a crucial characteristic of high-performing leaders. Leaders must continue to cultivate it within themselves to advance and thrive. Leaders also carry the responsibility of helping to protect the energy of the people on their teams and even in their communities.
Resilience allows us to recover quickly from hardship or misfortune and adapt. It’s the product of a comprehensive perspective — seeing beyond the immediate and finding solutions, light and energy.
What is the biggest challenge facing leaders today?
The Great Resignation. Identifying, recruiting and attracting the right team members to support the company’s mission is always difficult and has become increasingly more challenging in today’s environment.
A significant amount of work, money and time goes into onboarding and training new employees. When employees depart prematurely, the replacement costs can be frustrating and disheartening. This situation has forced me to be more resilient, patient and driven.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
The development of our community and our youth. We work daily to unite individuals from a variety of diverse backgrounds, races and ages in the name of sweat and tapping into our better. We also hire many interns and teens in the spirit of creating opportunities for them to learn entrepreneurship and tangible life skills.
What advice would you give to other leaders in the industry?
Take time for yourself. Get out of the business to rest, recover, clear your mind and get inspired. Have an outlet: a workout routine, frequent meditation, some activity to move bad energy out of the body and invite the good. Attend other corporate events, network and connect with your peers across the industry. Have a business mentor, coach or group that you can lean into. Most importantly, have gratitude for your team, your community and what the work you are doing together brings to you.
Mary Edwards, the fitness director and professional fitness trainer at Cooper Fitness Center
What is one characteristic you believe every leader should possess?
Honesty. If your people know you are operating with transparency, they are more apt to understand or be willing to adjust to the reality being dealt with. If you act with integrity and compassion — two of our core values here at Cooper — then your employees can be confident you are acting in a respectful and sincere manner to give them the facts. In turn, your employees can better understand how to operate, act, make decisions and contribute to the work environment.
What is the biggest challenge facing leaders today?
The current hiring market definitely presents a challenge. Since we’ve lived through the COVID-19 pandemic, expectations of job candidates have shifted and are different than what they were two years ago. It’s more important than ever for employers to spell out the job responsibilities and expectations for employee accountability. It’s also essential for managers to be flexible and adapt to the changing landscape and individual working styles and preconceived notions of a workplace from prospective employees — while still upholding the integrity of the specific role and the company’s values.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Competing in collegiate athletics in cross country and track and qualifying for national competition in cross country as a student athlete at Southwestern University.
What advice would you give to other leaders in the industry?
Establish boundaries for yourself. Know what your priorities — such as business strategy, team and customer care — and values — family, health, knowledge — are and establish boundaries to stick to what matters. This ties back directly to our Cooper philosophy of maintaining a work-life balance and following the eight healthy steps from our founder himself, Dr. Kenneth Cooper — including making time for rest, stress relief and exercise.
Shawna Winters, the vice president of operations at UFC GYM
What is one characteristic you believe every leader should possess?
Commitment is the one characteristic I believe every leader should possess to be successful. Through the years I have been involved and contributed to the growth of the UFC GYM brand, I have always been committed to the organization’s vision and values. I have a strong belief the backbone of our business is our valued team members and, of course, our loyal members. In my role as a leader, I strive to provide support and show my commitment to our members, team members and company.
What is the biggest challenge facing leaders today?
In the wake of COVID-19, the toughest challenge has been attracting talent who are willing to come back to the workforce. There has been a huge shift of people wanting to work remotely and not have as much in-person contact. In the gym industry, we need the personal connection with our members. It’s this connection that creates longevity with our member base.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
I have been able to be a successful working mother of three. I have been able to balance my responsibilities and obligations at work with being an active participant in my children’s lives both socially and academically. This balance has enabled me to be part of something I believe in while carving out time for my personal workouts. These workouts have given me more energy and helped me be more effective throughout my workday.
What advice would you give to other leaders in the industry?
I find adaptability to be one of the most important keys to success. You need to be able to change gears and evolve. Being flexible and able to adjust to changing factors include, but are not limited to, marketing plans, package pricing, class schedules and PT schedules as well as running multiple departments. It’s this ability to adapt that ensures processes run smoothly.
