The Lead Trainer Role

The Priorities of the Lead Trainer

As a leader, before passing anything off or asking someone to do something, it is important to explain “Why”. As you learn your role, why do we ask you to do the things we ask you to do? Why is this and that on your checklist? Why is all this structures the way we have it structured? Below are the five main reasons “Why” the Lead Trainer Role is SO important to the organization as a whole…

1) Insuring out clients are receiving world class service

This first item refers to Value 1. If we deliver world class service to the people who buy from us then we’ll not only WOW them, but they will share Wonder Dog to the world. This leads to more clients and ultimately more dogs served which does back to the Mission and Our Big Goal!

2) Ensuring the Games are PACKED and a ton of FUN for clients!

Building a Tribe and sense of community goes back to our beliefs as a company. We want to pack the Games out each week so that people want to come back. This not only helps the families in training expose their dog to all sorts of dogs, people and distractions, but it also helps us keep people in the Tribe Membership longer.

3) Keeping the training team on track and insuring they get all their to-do’s done

Making sure the DP’s are running smoothly and fulfilling well is the key to the future of the company. Getting all their to-do’s done is crucial because they all fulfill some important role for clients, operations and organization. So making sure they are on track and all the to-do items get done is very important.

4) Improve the skill of the DP’s over time so they the continually improve

By improving the skill of the DP’s over time, we insure that they are continually growing more and more capable of delivering the service we sell at a high level. If we do this, we fulfill the mission even better. By improving their skillset over time, we can also pass training newbies to the DP’s which will further progress their skillset.

5) Train, coach and develop the team under your leadership so that they develop and can get promoted into leadership roles

How did you get here? If you’re here, you’re learning how to become a Lead Trainer which means you’ll be leading a team of DP’s. You probably got here because you had character traits and attributes that are helpful and you do a great job training dogs and serving our clients. But you probably also got here because you’ve been groomed and developed into becoming a Lead Trainer by the person who filled the role above you. They invested time into coaching you, training you, leading you and passing their info off to you.

Your job will be to do the same to the people you’ll be leading now. It’ll be your job to coach, train and develop the people under you so that they have the same opportunity you had to move up the ladder here.

Think of Wonder Dog as a “people incubator”. When we hire for our entry level positions we look for people who are happy, healthy and seem like they can do more than just be a Dog Pro at some point. That’s the criteria. So the people under you probably have character traits and attributes that can be molded and developed so that they can become a leader, be moved into other positions in the company, etc.

So your job is to coach, develop, train and mold them into the kind of people we want leading and working in our basket of companies.

Principles To Live & Lead By

Before we jump into the tasks, to-lists, management skills, etc. it would be best to go over principles of being a “leader.” This will be the guide and lens you will look through to help the organization maintain and grow, to thrive in your position and have a happy team all while running an organization that’s powered by clients who have been WOWed.

0) Lead By Example

This is priority zero because literally everything is built on leading by example. Leading by example isn’t a way to lead, IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO LEAD. The same way the mission of the organization is the backbone of the way we do business, this is the backbone of all leadership positions here at Wonder Dog.

So set the example for the team and the organization as a whole by leading from the front. By leading from example. By setting the bar high for yourself and those around you.

1) Lookout For The Organizations Best Interest

As a part of the management team, your job is to lookout for the organizations best interest in all areas. Example categories would be your team, finances, clients, reviews, communications, public relations, etc. There are a ton of categories besides just these you could name. But overall the main priority for managers is to lookout for the best interest of the organization as a whole.

2) Maintain and grow

Simple enough, right? As a manager your job is to help manage the current business while growing and helping develop the future business.

Maintain the current business by making sure tasks are done by your team, making sure goals and numbers are hit, the team is staying busy, making sure we’re performing snd operating well, clients aren’t just satisfied but rather LOVE us. Making sure standards are hit. Making sure your people love their work and are happy.

Grow and develop the future business by getting on board with your leaders and selling their vision down the chain of command to your team. Looking into the future and anticipating problems and coming up with solutions. Looking for needs we’re not hitting and trying to fulfill. Pushing your team to perform and rewarding them as well.

3) Performance & standards & Expectations

Make sure performance for your team is high. If they do good, you do good and the organization does well. This means checking in with your KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) and making sure you and your team are hitting and exceeding the numbers.

Keep and maintain (even raise in some cases) the standards of the of the organization across your team in order to continue to deliver our exceptional customer service and quality of work.

4) YOUR PEOPLE

Make sure your people are happy and enjoy their work. Make sure your people are safe. Make sure to LEAD THEM WELL.

Make sure to lead your people by example. Be honest. Have tough conversations. Reward your people publicly and privately. Only correct them privately. Teach them lessons.

In order to maintain the company culture and morale, you’ll need to make sure that your daily conversations and actions with/towards the team express the love behind the mission. Being part of management, everything you say and do are being watched just like a child watching and mimicking their parents. Keep in mind that there are things you DO NOT need discuss with a Dog Pro under you, an Eval Pro, or a Trainer’s Assistant. Please don’t think I’m saying to keep it in, but rather, talk about it to the appropriate person to get clarification or to have a conversation about your views on the matter at hand.

5) Take Initiative

During this Cert and throughout your training, we will teach you what you NEED to do. But outside of what you have to do and are supposed to do, what else can you do?

When it comes to KPI’s, what can you do to improve the trainers KPI’s? Your KPI’s? How can you make your location stand out better than the other competitions? How can you spice your games and events up to make yours better than the other locations events? How can you get your team to do an even better job, leading to more leads and referrals? How can you help drive more revenue to your location and stand out? Etc.

You get the point I am sure. There is what you have to do, the minimum, but then there is what else can you do to stand out and grow your location & the company?

Take initiative and stand out among your peers. It’ll pay off.