[00:00:00] Hey, it's Antony here, and welcome to today's episode of the Grow My Salon Business podcast. I'm your host, Antony Whitaker, and thank you for joining us here today. This is the weekly podcast for ambitious stylists and salon owners, and every week I'll either bring a guest on the show or I'll dive into a new idea or perhaps revisit the foundations of what it takes to succeed in the salon industry today.
[00:00:24] We'll feature new startups and new ideas, as well as initiatives from established people and brands. And with every episode, I'll aim to bring you practical and actionable opportunities that you can run with today. And on a final introductory note, I'll also strive to have a relentlessly positive outlook, although that is harder than ever in today's world of fake news and half truths.
[00:00:49] Instead, we're unashamedly going to be celebrating the ideas and the people. Making the salon industry better, greener, safer, fairer, and more professional. Now, as you may know, we are launching our online management course on Monday the 28th of April. And as an introduction to the course, we start with a free one hour masterclass titled Four Essential Lessons in Salon Management to Set You.
[00:01:17] For success. And then for those of you that are interested and ready, I'll invite you to find out all about the online Salon Management course. So if you're a salon owner, a salon manager, or aspire to be, either of those things, then the Free Masterclass, the four Essential Lessons in Salon Management to set you up for success is definitely for you.
[00:01:37] So to register, just check the link in the show notes of the podcast today or go direct to grow my salon business .com So on with today's show, Let me ask you, are you a good manager, salon owner, and leader? Obviously that's a rhetorical question that only you and the people that you work with can answer.
[00:02:00] But whether you like it or not, the business that you have, the team that you build, and the success of your business is always gonna be a reflection of you. And so your role as a manager and leader of others is more important today than ever. 
[00:02:16] And just because at some stage, you and I one day decided to transition from being a stylist, working for someone else, to then becoming a salon owner, a manager, and hopefully a leader of others. But that doesn't mean that on our first day of salon ownership, that we somehow had the skills and the understanding of what good management is, and more importantly, how to do it.
[00:02:40] And typically what most new salon owners do is they have a hands off, or what I call a light touch philosophy on how they'll manage their business and the people in it. 
[00:02:52] And the reason I think that we do that is because part of the rationale for someone to open a salon of their own is that they were working elsewhere as an employee, working for a manager, and they probably decided that they could do it better, and you may very well be able to do it better, because in all likelihood, the manager you left was also just making it up as they went too.
[00:03:16] And many of them will perhaps have started off with the same principles of effective management as I did, and I'll assume that you did too, which was to employ nice people, people who wanna work hard and be productive, people that don't need managing. And that's a lovely theory, but in reality. If you are expecting the people that you employ to magically become the best version possible of themselves, a version that is not only good for them, but also good for the clients, the rest of the team, and good for the business.
[00:03:47] And if you believe that, that will all be achieved without them having a manager, a leader, to guide them, nurture them, hold them accountable, and coach them along the way, then well, you are in for a big surprise because, well, that's just not human nature. And when people are left completely to their own devices, without the guidance of leaders and managers, they'll typically just do what's easiest and best for them.
[00:04:11] And what's easiest and best for them in the short term. It's not usually what's best for the business. So what makes a good manager? Well, I've titled this episode the Nine Traits of a Modern Salon Manager, and I've consciously used the word modern salon manager because like everything else in life and in business, what worked yesterday may not work so well today or it may not work at all.
[00:04:35] So it's important to recognize that everything changes and what it takes to be an effective manager and leader. Also changes and although there are obviously certain principles that are timeless, there are other elements of management and leadership that perhaps become more or less important over time.
[00:04:55] So what are the nine traits of the modern salon manager? 
[00:05:00] Well at number one for me, the starting point is always about having a vision for the future. Meaning that as a manager, you must have clarity about what you want the business to be like say three to five years into the future. 
[00:05:13] Even more importantly, it's your ability to share your vision for the future of the business with your team, so that you inspire them to help bring your vision to life. Because, well, let's face it, you can't do it alone. 
[00:05:26] I believe that sharing your vision and inspiring others is your ultimate purpose as a manager and a leader. So develop an inspiring vision for the future of your business. Share it with your team and develop a plan to make it happen. 
[00:05:42] The second trait of the modern salon manager is closely linked to the first, and that is understanding that your job as a manager is also to be a leader and having a vision for the business and the role of leadership go hand in hand.
[00:05:58] Unfortunately, too many leaders are so focused on building their business that they forget that their real job as leaders is in the personal and professional development of the people on their team. So understand that the role of leadership is to develop the people and trust that the business will grow as a result because when you grow the people on your team, the growth of the business is inevitable.
[00:06:23] The third trait of today's modern salon manager is that they recognize the value of building relationships and having empathy for those on their team. I. Empathy is having the ability to understand and share someone else's feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person's situation.
[00:06:44] Now, a manager that consciously builds relationships and has empathy with others doesn't make them a soft touch, but it means that they listen, they connect, and they think about the other person's reality, and then they look for ways to make it work for everyone before reacting. And it's by having empathy for those on your team that you build connection, trust, and loyalty.
[00:07:07] The fourth trait of today's modern salon manager is flexibility. If there was only one word to encapsulate the demands of today's workforce and how business responds, it would have to be flexibility and possibly more so in the hairdressing industry than anywhere else. The idea of having more flexibility about when, where, and how someone worked is a guiding principle of today's workforce.
[00:07:33] Your job as a manager is to look for ways to offer that flexibility without it having a negative impact on the business, and that's really important. And with the changes in technology and the shift in attitudes that every new generation brings along with them having a more flexible approach. Has the potential to create a better culture and work life balance for everyone.
[00:07:56] But I stress the potential because you've gotta get the balance right with running a successful, profitable business and still accommodating that flexibility. But let's face it, if you're still trying to run a salon business the way you did 20 years ago and haven't integrated more flexibility across different areas of how you do business, then you'll be lucky to attract and keep good staff.
[00:08:23] Now, the fifth trait of today's modern salon manager is that they drive productivity, they set goals, and they hold others accountable for their results. Long gone are the days of just crossing your fingers and hoping for the best. Growth isn't guaranteed. Client loyalty isn't guaranteed. Staff loyalty isn't guaranteed.
[00:08:42] And in the salon business, the margins for error are slim. So successful salon managers are all over the numbers. They set goals for the business and they set goals with the people in the business. They understand that the inputs will improve the outputs, whether those inputs are training, coaching, goal setting, they will improve the outputs, which are the results that both the individuals and the business as a whole achieves.
[00:09:12] So today's modern salon manager nurtures growth and rewards, productivity and loyalty, but at the same time, they hold others accountable and they aren't afraid to let people go if they're not a fit. That leads us to the sixth T trait of today's modern salon manager, and that is that they embrace technology.
[00:09:35] They recognise that every business is now to whatever degree a technology business and hairdressing business is no different. So whether it's using social media or Google search, or integrating AI or using the latest salon management software, they know that the detail is in the data. And they use the data to grow the business and the individuals within the business.
[00:10:01] And that leads us to the seventh trait of today's modern salon manager. And that is they create the culture and understand that it's their job as leaders to nurture and protect the culture as the business grows and evolves. So what is the culture? Because it's one of those things that's always hard to define.
[00:10:22] Well, if the vision is about what you want the business to be like in the future, then the culture is about who you need to be as a team in order to make that happen. At its core company culture is simply how things get done around the workplace. It's a combination of the systems, the behaviours, and the shared values of those on your team, all of which will combine to form the culture that you have.
[00:10:51] The eighth trait of today's modern salon manager is that they understand that communication is essentially the oil that makes everything run smoothly, whether that's face-to-face communication or using social media, or perhaps it's a morning huddle or the one-to-one coaching sessions, or the written and recorded business operating systems.
[00:11:12] Whatever it is, today's effective salon managers recognise that most problems are caused by communication or the lack of it, and that most problems are also solved by communication. And that brings us to the final of my nine traits of today's modern salon manager, and that is that they understand that change is inevitable.
[00:11:36] And so they embrace change, whether it's changes to their team or changes to technology, or changes to the way that people work, whatever it is, they look for ways to understand what's driving the change, and then they adapt and they make change work for them. So that's it. The nine traits of the modern salon manager.
[00:11:57] Now, some of those points you'll be naturally gifted towards others. You have to learn, and the reality is that you never finish learning and evolving as the role of management and leadership also keeps on evolving. Now, as I said at the beginning of this episode, we are launching our online management course on the 28th of April, where we start off with a free one hour masterclass titled Four Essential Lessons in Salon Management to set you Up for Success.
[00:12:25] And then for those that are interested and ready, I'll invite you to find out all about our online management course. So if you're a salon owner, a salon manager, or aspire to be either of those, then this is definitely for you. So check out the link in the show notes of today's podcast for dates and times, or go direct to growmysalonbusiness.com/course/management.
[00:12:51] So with that said, we need to start wrapping up this week's episode for further information visit growmysalonbusiness.com to find out more about our free resource as well as our grow books, our online courses, and our one-to-one coaching program. Have a great week, and don't forget to tune in next Tuesday for another great episode of the Grow My Salon Business podcast. Bye for now.