The first question I give to my staff when they transition from Intern to Associate Coach is how are you going to bring redeemable value? This is not as natural of a transition as one might think. The role as a volunteer is about supporting without thinking. The role of a paid employee is support while thinking. This however, should not be the case. Every position should ask how to bring more redeemable value regardless of the role.
As an intern, you are doing the grunt work. Head down, set up, break down, clean – there is no job too small. There is a certain value in this, more than just supporting people that will hopefully employ you one day. You get a first hand look at the weak spots in the system, and that right there makes you invaluable.
In Sam Walton’s Made In America, he mentioned how he would hang out in the break room in his Walmarts. For those who do not know who this is, he founded Walmart and became the richest man in the world. So imagine the richest man in the world hanging out in a break room cutting up with drivers, sales clerks, merchandisers, or greeters listening to them bitch about their boss or how stupid something is.
Setting up something that is incredibly inefficient makes you think. Breaking something down you knew was inefficient makes you consider things. Hearing other people complain about the same things makes you find other strategies. You may not realize it at the time, but you are presented with a logistics problem. You can perpetuate inefficient processes or you can find a better solution.
I can recall when I interned at Georgia Tech and we hand out warm Met-Rx shakes after workouts. The storage closet for the shakes was literally right in front of the fridge that was unplugged. I remember thinking how silly it was to just not put them in the fridge daily. I asked my supervisor if it were ok if after the end, I set up the movement prep stations and racks for the lift. Can I load the fridge with shakes so they are cold for post workout.
It was the middle of June and it was getting pretty hot out in Atlanta. After the lift, the guys walked over to grab their shakes, and it was as if we were handing out millions of dollars. The team was ecstatic, the rest of the staff was incredibly appreciative of the extra effort. So much so I got offered a job the following year. My job was offered with the expectation to overhaul the nutrition program with the football team. All because I asked to load the fridge with shakes.
As we transition to paid roles, there are weak spots all around. This is why Walton used to hang out in the break room. He wanted to hear what people were saying that could be improved. If you are doing something everyday that you know just does not make sense, there is an opportunity to bring more value. If there is a job that everyone hates and no one wants to do, there is an opportunity to bring more value. If there are areas that you know could be improved, there is an area to bring more value.
It is not working harder. It is seeing spots that make you indispensable. Bringing high utility to a department is the foundational piece of our profession. It is about seeing where we can bring value and seizing the opportunity. It is why we have evolved from just watching guys do bench press to handling conditioning, speed development, power development, injury prevention, analytics, nutrition, competition, sports psychology, academic support…
How you bring redeemable value is seeing where there are opportunities to bring value. It is not saying your skill and specialty is not important. How we bring redeemable value becomes how we become more valuable. Filling a fridge with Met-Rx shakes eventually led to me running the nutrition for Georgia Tech and University of Southern California. Getting the job was the easy part; demonstrating value on a daily basis is the part that requires the most effort and creativity.