College Hunks’ leadership culture empowers every level of our organization
College Hunks franchisees aren’t just leaders themselves; they develop leaders on their teams, too, and that’s why they succeed.
“As leaders, we want to make sure that we leverage our strengths and make the greatest impact on our business that we can,” says Dan Whalen, General Manager of our location in Tampa, FL. “For me, that’s team development.”
Whalen embodies the culture at College Hunks. Every day, he works to inspire his team and help them develop new skills. If you’re looking for some inspiration as you consider opening a College Hunks franchise, you might want to check out his Medium article on “13 Powerful Actions Great Leaders Take to Build Great Teams” or some of his other work on the site. Here’s what he had to say about how he lives out the College Hunks leadership culture.
On his leadership philosophy (or lack thereof):
“I try not to limit myself to a specific philosophy. My opinions are strong, but I hold them very weakly. The most helpful thing is to remain open-minded and vulnerable and recognize that I’m also a work-in-progress. That’s created more of a partnership feel to our organization. It’s being present, it’s listening, looking at every day as a new possibility.”
On how to be a leader who builds leaders:
“This is a fantastic leadership culture to express and identify your own leadership style and your aptitude for it. The business will tell you what you need to learn as a leader pretty quickly. Because of how fast our brand is growing and how different every scenario is, it takes someone who’s willing to put in the work themselves. Someone that’s willing to learn and develop themselves every day and give that back to the people that they lead, someone with a lot of energy and drive. Find whatever it is in this business that lights you up. It takes people that really just want to bet on themselves, that feel confident, are willing to take responsibility and make a real impact. The payoff is significant, not just monetarily, but internally. You’ll see that in yourself and your employees.”
On how leaders create success:
“With leadership, we’re taking greater responsibility; nothing just happens to us, we create things for ourselves. Ultimately, when you take ownership of something, you have control over it. It’s a powerful state of being for us as leaders. We never have to accept things as they are, things can always be improved, and that inspires hope in your team.”
On how a team of leaders builds a stronger business:
“Any successful leader is not successful on his or her own. The greatest minds of our time, they always had somebody. If you’re trying to man it all yourself, you’re setting yourself up for burnout and for failure. Responsibility breeds empowerment, and there will be times when you have to trust your team. They’re not always going to be 100% ready, but part of getting ready is growing through the process and learning from real-world experience. They may surprise you, and then you know you’ve got people that you can depend on. By building a strong team of leaders, it feels a lot more comforting to know that there’s a group of you tackling your goals instead of just going it alone.”
Learn more
If you’d like to find out more about the College Hunks franchise opportunity, please fill out a form and start a conversation. We look forward to answering your questions.