When it comes to creating community, there are good affiliates and there are great affiliates. So says Ben Bergeron, head coach and co-owner of CrossFit New England, home to the team that won the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games Affiliate Cup.
Good affiliates, for example, participate in charity events, celebrate holidays and birthdays, and host competitions.
“That’s what good affiliates are doing. We want more,” Bergeron says. “We’re looking to be great.”
To be more than good, affiliates must come to a realization, he says.
“The great ones are recognizing that we’re not in the fitness business,” Bergeron explains. “We’re in the relationship business.”
The driving force behind that realization is what he calls the “emotional bank account.”
“You want to build wealth. The way you build wealth is by making frequent and sizeable deposits into your bank account,” he says.
And the best way to do that is through living a life of integrity.
“Doing the right thing regardless of who’s around, who might be watching or how hard that situation may be,” Bergeron says.
Video by Again Faster.
7min 40sec
HD file size: 51 MB
SD wmv file size: 92 MB
SD mov file size: 174 MB
Please note: These files are larger than normal Journal videos. For smoother viewing, please download the entire file to your hard drive before watching it (right-click and choose Save Link As...).
Additional reading: The Deeper Side of Coaching by Ben Bergeron, published Dec. 2, 2011.