2020 Volume 31 Issue 2

VOLUME 31 | ISSUE 2 2020

U N I T E D

S T A T E S

HELPING ANXIOUS SWIMMERS DURING THIS TIME Hiring the Right People Quickly GETTING STARTED ON EFFECTIVELY LEADING CHANGE

S W I M

S C H O O L

A S S O C I A T I O N

Sunny Days Ahead

welcome back!

We’re excited to swim again and we’re sure you are too! But as the world ventures back into the water, we are facing a much different reality. Distancing from one another will be the new norm and sharing will be a relic of a simpler past. Unfortunately, communal gear, like goggles and fins, will not meet some of the safety requirements set forth.

FINIS wants to help you prepare for this new reality by offering free freight* on all orders of $500 or more through the month of August. So stock up on the essentials and let’s get back to focusing on the things we love!

*Excludes pool equipment, custom items, and international orders.

We’re here to help! Feel free to contact us any time with questions or comments!

Marie Morefield 925.290.2657 | mmorefield@FINISinc.com FINISswim.com

IN THIS ISSUE 18 Helping Anxious Swimmers During this Time 19

7 USSSA NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2020 EMPOWER. PERSIST. OVERCOME.

Swimming it Forward During a Global Pandemic: The Hope Floats Foundation COVID-19 Scholarship Relief Fund

20 10 Solutions for Zoom Fatigue

22 Building New MotivatIon for

Your Team Doesn’t Have to be Overwhelming 26 Hiring the Right People Quickly

COVER & TOC PHOTO CREDIT

29 Special Abilities On-The-Go News

30 How to Get Back on Track when

You Feel Lost, Powerless or Unsure 33 Loan Forgiveness Under the

Paycheck Protection Plan

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

35 Stop Drowning Now’s

Pandemic Activity

5 From the Desk of the Executive Director

36 Three Steps to Increasing African

American Participation in Learn

to Swim Classes

6 Sunny Days Ahead

38 Making Essential Connections

7

Letter from the President

USSSA National Conference 2020 Empower. Persist. Overcome.

8 Crisis Strategy for Finance + Investment 10 Getting Started on

Effectively Leading Change 15 How to Support the People You Lead in Times of Uncertainty

41 Registration is Open for ASSA

Virtual Conference: Connect,

Engage & Reimagine

ASSOCIATION HEADQUARTERS 4815 E. Carefree Hwy., Suite 108-480 Cave Creek, AZ 85331 480.837.5525 usssa@usswimschools.org usswimschools.org Executive Director Lisa M. Zarda, CAE, CNAP Editor Monica Martin ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President John Kirk, Little Otter Swim School Vice President Tracy Koleber, Nitro Swimming Treasurer Buffy Folise, Chicago Swim School ASSOCIATION DIRECTORS Karen Clay SwimWest Swim School Brad Grzelka Atlanta Swim Academy Bobby Hazen SAF-T-SWIM Melissa Taylor Small Fish Big Fish Swim School

42 Courage and Wisdom 44 Ask Al

48 Why Attend a USSSA Conference?

Recollections from an Aquatics

Aussie in the USA USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG | 1

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT The old saying goes,

“May you live in interesting times.”

I think many of us would take boring times, but that is not our choice. We have had to learn and be uncomfortable talking about race and racism. We are confronted with it not being enough to not be racist, but we must be anti-racist. It is a time to learn and reflect and have honest conversations. I know that I personally have much to learn. It is also a time to take action to make the world a fair and more just place. By looking inside, we can grow as humans and by taking action we can become the change we wish to see in the world.

JOHN KIRK AND EDDIE CLEMONS (DECK LEADER) AT LITTLE OTTER SWIM SCHOOL

The last few months have presented many challenges. I am happy for the schools that have been able to open. I am hopeful for the ones that are still waiting to open. We have all become junior epidemiologists and experts in infection control and cleaning procedures. We are having to be agile as we continue to navigate this ongoing health crisis. We have to take every measure to keep our families and our teams safe. Unfortunately, there is still a long road ahead of us.

While I am sad not to see everyone in Tampa, Florida, this fall, I am excited about our new virtual national conference. As an association we have had to learn about Zoom and how to communicate in this new virtual world. It was a hard decision for the board. Even though we won’t be gathering this year in person, I hope many of you will join us online and convene if only electronically as we do every fall to rejoice in friendships and learn together.

JOHN KIRK President US Swim School Association

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FROM THE DESK OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR “Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.”

ANTHONY J. D’ANGELO

It can be hard to stay motivated and positive these days. As a business owner, so many people look to you for guidance and leadership. We hope that your fellow members of USSSA have become a source for education, inspiration and understanding allowing you to see hope for the future and bring a little sunshine to these ever-changing times.

In this issue, take a look at a great article titled, How to Support the People You Lead in Times of Uncertainty with tips on how to coach with six steps to REACH out and connect with compassion. Long-time member, Johnny Johnson, shares a reflection on the association’s history and a hope for rays of sunshine in the near future. Our friend and motivational speaker, Bruce Sullivan, shares information on moving people forward through times of change. You may also find Ten Solutions for Zoom Fatigue to be helpful, a contribution from our 2020 National Conference Keynote, John Spence. Conference Speaker, Sean Dever, also shares his expert advice concerning Loan Forgiveness Under the PPP. We thank all of you who have shared what you are learning and doing, lighting the way for others. Even though our fall National Conference is not what we originally had planned, we hope you will join us as we continue to learn and share from one another.

We will persist and come out on the other side of all of this even better than before.

And don’t forget to bring your own sunshine. You have it in you, you’ve come this far!

LISA M. ZARDA, CAE, CNAP Executive Director US Swim School Association

BY JOHNNY JOHNSON BLUE BUOY SWIM SCHOOL

Hope, Unity and Encouragement can and will lead us into the Sunny Days Ahead. As we find ourselves searching for our own path amidst what often seems to be endless chaos, I thought it would be appropriate to share some of my thoughts and experiences as a member of the US Swim School Association since its inception.

Let me start with a giant Thank You to our current USSSA leadership for their incredible stewardship during these unprecedented times. They have gone above and beyond what anyone could have imagined, offering Hope for our collective survival by creating and organizing resources to help us overcome the multitude of challenges we face.

They have hosted countless Zoom meetings that have helped us find strength through Unity. We have shared our concerns, ideas, and successes, and have given and received the much-needed Encouragement to help us keep our sanity while navigating the way forward.

We find ourselves in various stages of reopening, figuring out how the “new normal” works, and wondering if the light at the end of the tunnel is from an oncoming train, or a ray of sunlight. Looking back, I can reflect on other challenging times in the history of the NSSA/USSSA. I have served on the Board of Directors on two different occasions. The first was during the mid-1990’s. This was an exciting time of growth and development, from a fledging group of 38 schools to over a hundred, with a surprising willingness to share best teaching and business practices. My second board term as 6 | USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG

president elect & president was 20002003. During that period, we transitioned through the resignation of our founder and Executive Director Steve Graves, the hiring of a new E.D. the subsequent removal a year later, and the hiring of another E.D. The effects of 9/11/2001 also had a profound effect on the NSSA membership and was a pivotal time in our history. In the end, we emerged a more close-knit association and indeed showed the unity that continues today.

Unfortunately, that ray of light was indeed a train heading our way. At our strategic planning meeting in January of 2003 we were informed by the E.D. that NSSA was basically without sufficient funds to continue for more than 2 more months. Once again, the members pulled together, many paying their dues early and, with new sponsorships, the association found its way out of the darkness to the continued growth we benefit from to this day.

Witnessing the support USSSA members are providing one another, I see a shared optimism that we will emerge from this crisis both surviving and thriving. Together, we will continue to touch the lives of thousands and provide the water safety and swimming skills for lifelong enjoyment of the water.

Our ability to profoundly change lives is the constant that will see us through this and any adversity.

As I enter my 54th year of teaching at Blue Buoy Swim School--looking forward to at least 6 more--I am grateful for the career path I have followed and know most of you feel the same. I am also thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this wonderful organization and family of like-minded people. I cherish the friendship of you all.

There are definitely “Sunny Days Ahead” but, don’t forget your sunscreen.

Blue Buoy is a charter member of the United States Swim School Association, and Johnny is a past president, having served on the Board of Directors on two occasions. In addition to seven years of Board service, he co-chaired the USSSA Infant Toddler Committee and co-authored the teaching course, along with Virginia Hunt Newman, that has been taken by thousands of instructors world-wide.

Johnny was awarded the USSSA Guiding Light Award in 1996 and in 2004 he was recognized for his lifelong contributions to swimming and water safety with his induction into the USSSA Hall of Fame.

Johnny and his wife Cindy were awarded the USSSA Humanitarian Award in October 2010 for their contributions to drowning prevention. Blue Buoy’s slogan is: “Great beginnings…lead to great finishes!”

USSSA NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2020

EMPOWER. PERSIST. OVERCOME. We hope you will join us for the Virtual National Conference taking place September 15-17, 2020.

The event has been digitally transformed to wow you and your team! The decision to hold the conference online was a tough one but we are confident in our program and know it will support you during these unprecedented times.

BY ANNE SWANSON USSSA CONFERENCE & MEETING COORDINATOR

Plan to experience three days filled with dynamic content, networking opportunities, interactive sessions, and renowned keynote speakers including John Spence. John is recognized as one of the top business thought leaders and leadership development experts in the world and was named by the American Management Association as one of America’s Top 50 Leaders to Watch. He is dedicated to helping people and businesses be more successful by “Making the Very Complex…Awesomely Simple.”

For the first time ever, you can share all the content with your entire team during or after the conference - and at a discounted rate. We stand with you and together we will empower, persist, and overcome. See you there!

USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG | 7

CRISIS STRATEGY FOR

FINANCE + INVESTMENT

BY DAVID GORMAN SWIMJIM

It bears repeating we are in volatile and unpredictable times. It is hard to imagine any swim school owner or leader not feeling intermittent or continuous anxiety.

With zero or even negative revenue (due to COVID-19 resurgence refunds) every swim school faces financial pain. Here are some familiar and new strategies to contemplate, research and put to use as well learn for the future.

They are employed daily by large and sophisticated investors that focus on “distressed” companies.

Conserve Cash + Credit: In the late 80s, President Trump famously said “Cash is king” regarding the real estate market at the time.

Same is true for swim schools today.

This means tough choices regarding

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expenses, planned expansions or renovations and above all, salaries, wages and benefits. The best approach is to act quickly, conservatively, and comprehensively. Do not wait.

Swallowing an awful medicine doesn’t get any better when you sip it slowly. In addition to reducing spending to the bone, also evaluate drawing down on low-cost credit sources and setting the cash aside. Credit availability contracts in periods of crisis. Better to pay a modest finance charge than have a surprise when you need to access the credit in a crunch.

Self-Care + Renewal: Put yourself first and “protect the asset”. In the book, Essentialism by Greg McKeown a chapter on selfrenewal (sleep is this chapter’s topic) discusses the essential nature of sharpening the saw. It allows any leader to make better decisions, have more of the most necessary stamina and deal with the tense emotions that come with crisis. However, you define self-care - sleep, nutrition, exercise, spiritual renewal, friends and family, therapy, all of them - this is the time to double down and invest in you.

Negotiate + Communicate: Just about everything is negotiable in normal times; in this period of crisis, the truth of negotiation greatly amplified.

Landlords, lenders, vendors, investors and even employees have a massive interest in being flexible. The market for just about everything has changed.

That said, if you owe someone money, their job is to continue to extract as much revenue as they can. It is not personal - it is simply their job.

For example, landlords have to pay property taxes, management expenses, employees and possibly a mortgage.

Yet no tenant can pay with money they don’t have: so ask for alternatives and prepare to negotiate. It is in the other party’s interest to work with you. No property owner wants a tenant to go out of business and have an empty spot with a hole in the ground. Be prepared for “no” several times. This is actually progress. “No” means a step forward towards “yes”. It is easy to write or read about in an article, but uncertain and tough to actually execute and accomplish. It will be uncomfortable.

Remember that no business can take on all the risk while counterparties take none. That is never sustainable. No one will articulate this because it is not a normal course of business. It is always possible and in today’s climate, the possibility and need is even greater.

Educate yourself and ask for help. You will also emerge from this period with irreplaceable skill and knowledge for future endeavors.

Bankruptcy Education: Bankruptcy has a stigma in personal finance. The conclusion is that the bankrupt person was irresponsible or worse. However, bankruptcy is a legal and sometimes essential tool. It creates a forum to formally work with creditors and design a mutually workable agreement to maintain operations. The large corporate bankruptcies you will see in the press now and in the coming months may actually help those brands, their clients, employees and investors.

Depending on how things develop in this crisis, bankruptcy may make sense. No one will post a Scarlet B on your door if you choose to follow this legitimate, legal path.

Technology: Technology’s promise and value is to deliver transformative information and efficiency. Think of how Amazon’s technology has delivered massive selection, convenience and speed to consumers, but also an amazing client experience and highly competitive prices. Research and brainstorm how you can save time and money with digital technology. Technology can make processes smoother for yourself, your team and your clients. What could your current providers do for you now to save cost, errors and time?

Conversely, what elements of your operations can you eliminate or reduce because they can’t be automated?

What new technologies might you adopt to remarket, re-engage, deliver digital value? We are fortunate in swim schools to work very closely with a small number of privately-owned technology providers. We can speak to them directly. Collaborate. There will not be an opportunity like this again (we hope).

New Investors: Friends + Family, Clients, Employees: Our industry has very positive business characteristics. There will always be demand for swimming lessons as long as there are families with kids.

Thus, we have a potential appeal to investors that many industries do not. Family, friends, close clients and even employees may be a source of investment capital. It might be loans or it might be equity investments. Each approach has strengths and drawbacks.

This is not a casual consideration, but some excellent investment opportunities develop in times like this - and your circle of friends and associates want in on a good thing.

Expect to be flexible and not get everything you want. Expect it to be hard. Even if someone is a dead end, they might have a referral to someone else who you weren’t aware of before.

diversifications of your current business.

Virtually everyone who will read this article is entrepreneurial. The form entrepreneurship takes at inflection points like this are not the same as during periods where the economy is chugging along steadily. There are more opportunities because there is a shake-out, but also there is more risk. Pursuing new investment and business opportunities during crises is a lot of work. Yet some of the greatest wealth creation happens in moments like this where we can buy low and eventually sell high. Look at everything. At minimum you will learn and understand how to better protect and differentiate your business as it is today.

Exit the Business: It is always possible the best choice might be to exit the business altogether. If so, you may decide by necessity or by choice. Many swim schools right now are facing generational transfer, from founders to younger family members, to employees or third parties. Educate yourself on alternative methods of valuing your business if you choose to sell. Normal valuations methods need extraordinary modifications. This can be a wholly healthy and smart choice for your team, your students, their parents and you.

David Gorman served foundations + endowments, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, private banks and family offices for over 20 years at some of the world’s most sophisticated financial institutions.

New Investment + Business Opportunities or Alliances: As with the new investors comment above, it is very possible that you will find new investment and business opportunities in the coming months. These could be additions or

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GETTING STARTED ON

EFFECTIVELY LEADING CHANGE

BY BRUCE SULLIVAN USSSA 2015 CONFERENCE KEYNOTE, AUTHOR & BUSINESS LEADER

10 | USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG

The world we live in has become one of constant change. No doubt since we worked together at the USSSA Denver National Conference, there will have been even more change forced upon you.

What’s interesting is that all of our roles at some level require us to change.

To change things implies progress. To improve, make good, challenge and reinvigorate.

No doubt you have heard the saying…

“If you always do what you have always done, you always have what you have already got!” I personally think that this is way too optimistic! If we keep doing things the same way in such a rapidly changing environment, then in effect we will be going backwards.

So how do you deal with the people in the office who are still walking around muttering that they can’t wait for things to go back to normal? There are of course many strategies for moving people forward through times of change. Some are even legal! I have listed below three useful strategies for your consideration.

PROACTIVELY DEALING WITH INFORMATION ANXIETY Please universe forbid this ever happens to you or yours but what if you did notice tonight that there was a lump on the side of your neck? Would you get excited (doubt it!), anxious, curious, nervous, catastrophise, upset, angry…?

All of those feelings would be justified and very normal.

The only good news is that it isn’t the end of your life!

It would be the ending of your life without a lump and the beginning of your life with a lump. Change is upon you.

Regardless of what you had on the next day you would be off to see the doctors in search of information. What is it?

What does it mean? How does it affect me personally? What are the possible scenarios? I need information!

In working with a large council during a major restructure in the latter half of the 1990’s, there was uncertainty about whether a certain area would even exist after the restructure. Would the Council maintain the existing area, or would this whole department be outsourced meaning potential retrenchments for many people?

Those involved were now preoccupied by three simple responses… uncertainty, mistrust and self-preservation. Add to this the inappropriate displays of emotion, catastrophising, sarcasm and sabotage and you have a short to medium term disaster in terms of morale and productivity.

One useful strategy in these times is to increase the flow of information. How do you introduce fact to replace fiction and as a result begin to reduce the information anxiety, the mistrust, uncertainty and self-preservation. No different than racing off to the doctor to gain facts about that lump on your neck!

In dealing proactively with this uncertainty I distinctly remember taking 12 men to the local Centrelink (Social Security) office to conduct individual interviews with a qualified person who could tell them exactly what their position would be if the unthinkable did happen. How would we survive? What support would be available to me in this instance? The result was a decrease in the stress related to the unknown. If they were retrenched, they had facts (not lunchroom fiction) about what their life would look like.

You can either pretend that these feelings are not real or prove to your teams that you genuinely recognize the full range of emotion and possibilities that could emerge. We need to increase the information flows on ALL possible scenarios… not just the one we would most hope for!

NOT EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED NOTE: It is important to note that this is a secondary strategy. Why? You would not go up to a person at a funeral and say…

“Well at least you still have your brother!”

Even with the metaphorical lump on your neck, not everything has changed.

There are still things to do and lives to lead. In increasing the information flow and particularly after you have openly dealt with ALL the emotion then it is time to remind people that even with potential change, the business of Swimming Schools will still go on. That there will, as always, be opportunities for those focused on problem solving not whining.

Regardless of what changes, Swim Schools will still require a modern, fun, engaged, highly skilled and effective workforce.

This also proves to your team that you are prepared to deal with the full range of emotion, that you don’t live with your head buried in the ground and at least for you, increase the level of trust and respect amongst your team. Please read on to see the third strategy called A.I.R.©.

It will assist you in doing the above with heart and compassion.

GIVE EVERYONE AS MUCH A.I.R.© AS THEY NEED! Everything we enjoy as good in this life has been a result of change… however, not all change is good!

When I hear people talking about the good old days, I ask them what would it have been like to go to the dentist 100 years ago? For perspective and clarity, we need to recognize good and bad.

As a leader, be the first to acknowledge that not all change is good however everything good has been a result of change.

A. IS FOR ACKNOWLEDGE Any part of us that is not acknowledged will just get louder. As humans we all need a safe place to share our true range of feelings. To have someone sit with us and acknowledge our feelings without us trying to change them, fix them, cheer them up, scoot around the facts or move them on. Most importantly NO “yes buts”!

Acknowledgment has a beautiful caring impact. Acknowledge facts and feelings! (feelings are facts too… it’s a fact I feel this way right now!)

I’m feeling very frustrated about how long this is taking to find out what exactly is happening! I know we have to make these decisions but I’m feeling very sad about what’s happening” Instead of the well-intended usual: “yes, it is but you know these things take time”, “yes I know but we are working as fast as we can”, “yes but we have to be careful about how we tell people” etc…

Try instead:“I hear you, in fact, that frustration is being felt everywhere across the business. And yes, many people are frustrated because of the time it’s taking not to mention how sad it is to either feel survivor type guilt or sadness to be going and saying goodbye to great friends and team members. It’s a really tough time” NOTE: If you don’t care, feel it or mean it don’t say it. It has to be a genuine acknowledgment. There is as you know no room for rhetorical placating at any time in our relationships.

I. IS FOR INFORMATION The true test of your genuine acknowledgment will be moments of silence in the conversation where the individuals have truly connected and have been heard. Once that is successfully achieved then this next step comes in two parts, Firstly, asking questions of them to better understand what information they have already and to where you can build on that information with a view to decrease information anxiety. Secondly, this is a wonderful opportunity to share information that you have that links directly to your vision and strategy for the future.

Firstly, seek information from them and ask open questions of them like: “I know you said you are frustrated with the time lines so how are you personally coping?; who else do you know in our team that might need some extra support?; what else can I do to support you?; what do you see as possibility for what happens next?...etc.

Secondly, share information about your intentions for this change, your own feelings, your vision for the future. If I was you (and I know I’m not!) then I would be providing information like this: “This is a tough time for everyone!

There hasn’t been a night where I haven’t thought about the decisions that need to be made to ensure the longevity of the Continued on next page...

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business and most importantly that this is about people’s lives. It’s been one of the biggest challenges I have ever faced in my career and I know we are still not there yet! My intention is to be sure to keep everyone safe, cared for and do all we can to be sure those that leave (and stay) are absolute advocates of the business despite the hurt and set them up for their next chapter in life. I think it would be cool if we did what we intend and turn around the business, grow the business profitably then we could be inviting these people in 2 years’ time to think about applying for the new jobs we create!

Ultimately, what hasn’t changed for me is that we do everything to be sure our customers love flying with us, that every plane that takes off lands safely and that we keep on making this place a great place to work! That our Swim School DNA emerges stronger for the experience.”

What’s your story? What’s the information you are repeatedly sharing with the business and your teams in this time of information anxiety, uncertainty, mistrust and self-preservation.

R. IS FOR RESPECT Finally, and this is the easy part for you!

It goes with who we are as individuals and as a collective.

Will these conversations advance the Task AND the Relationship?

Will it add to keeping our people, our products and our partners on the path to change business for good?

•

•

•

•

•

•

In summary: Increase the information flow by introducing more facts to wash away lunchroom fiction Openly acknowledge and explore the best and worst feelings and facts Accept ALL emotional responses as normal but not necessarily useful in the long-term Carefully introduce the fact that not everything has changed Recognize that everything good has been a result of change however NOT all change is good AND that we need both for perspective and clarity Give as much A.I.R. © as you possibly can!

• Share your story… your feelings and facts and your vision for the future

I trust that this information increases your appetite for how you could more effectively increase your own effectiveness during this change!

Warm regards, Bruce Bruce is a proven performer in achieving results in people for over 30 years. His practical, hands on experience is based on working with individuals, families, businesses, and communities providing education and opportunities for personal improvement. Voted Australian Keynote Speaker of the Year by the National Speakers Association of Australia, Bruce was also presented with the Paul Harris Award in Rotary District 9640 for his contribution to RYLA as a presenter for more than 20 years. Bruce will engage and inspire you to do what it takes to be the best that you can possibly be in a world where change is constant, and relationships are fragile.

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS

NEW MEMBER LIST

A3 | p32

Jackrabbit | p21

Aquam | p46

Neptune-Benson | p32

AQUA STARS PALM BEACH Maria Fasulo Jupiter, FL

CES | p28

Pool Guard | p47

Charlie Banana | p2

Risk Management | p14

Cressi | p4

Spot TV | p13

Endless Pools | p27

Swim Angelfish | p43

FINIS | Inside Front Cover

Swim Consultant | p25

iClass Pro | p25

Tri Swim | p21

iPlay | p28

BLUE DOLPHINS AQUATICS Matti Chiaramonte Durham, NC CT SWIM LESSONS Jessica Spence Rocky Hill, CT PATTI’S SWIM SCHOOL Patti O’Brien Castro Valley, CA SWIM SAFE LLC Karen Burke Raleigh, NC

12 | USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG

INTEGRATE YOUR EXISTING SYSTEM OR ENJOY A TURNKEY HD SYSTEM SETUP!

HOW TO SUPPORT THE PEOPLE YOU LEAD IN TIMES OF UNCERTAINTY Those in any kind of leadership position right now are called to find compassion for the people they serve.

BY ELLEN VAN OOSTEN, MELVIN L. SMITH, RICHARD E. BOYATZIS

Recently, an employee at a major Ohio company lost his mother to coronavirus.

Under normal circumstances, his colleagues would have offered expressions of support and sympathy in person. They would have attended a funeral or memorial service. They would have made a meal for his family. But, since the state was under stay-at-home orders, none of that was possible.

At first, the team looked to their manager for guidance about what to do. But the manager hadn’t faced a situation like this and didn’t really know. So, he reflected the question back to his team: “What do you think we can do to help?”

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The team suggested a Zoom call that evening. A 30-minute planning call turned into 90 minutes of sharing their feelings and brainstorming how to express their sympathy, but also checking in on one another and even finding some humor in each other’s stories of being cooped up at home. By starting a dialogue and listening to their suggestions, the manager helped individuals to cope with their grief while enabling them to collaborate on a solution. The experience opened up the team to new ideas and ways of adapting to highly confusing and uncertain times.

Whether you are a manager, teacher, physician, nurse, counselor, or cleric, you are a leader in your organization and community. In times of uncertainty and distress, it’s often hard to know how to best help others, much less motivate them to continue performing, learning, and growing. This can be especially difficult in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is changing how you work, how you learn, how you play, and how you communicate.

Many of your colleagues, clients, patients, and students are experiencing financial stress, uncertainty, and fear. It’s understandable for you to feel utterly helpless—and it’s natural to cling to the status quo, urging people to stick to deadlines, assigned tasks, and as-normal-as-possible routines. But that would be a mistake.

As we explain in our new book Helping People Change, the best leaders and coaches seek to connect with and understand others. They prioritize their team’s needs and create an environment of trust and support. They attend to building relationships, not just completing tasks.

They motivate others to adapt, develop, persevere, and perform, even in the most trying of times, through a process we refer to as coaching with compassion.

COACHING WITH COMPASSION In the face of uncertainty, it is tempting to slip into taskmaster mode and resort to simply telling others what to do in order to fix a problem or improve a situation.

We call that coaching for compliance because the aim is compliance to some external standard of how a person should behave or what they should accomplish. That can sometimes work when

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the context is predictable and known and the goal is clearly and discretely defined, such as coaching a salesperson to achieve quarterly goals. But none of these characteristics apply to periods of volatility and distress.

Research suggests that coaching for compliance often leads to an outcome that is the opposite of what we desire. The individual can feel pressured or obligated, which activates a physiological state known as the “negative emotional attractor.” This state involves the body’s stress response system, which is essential for our fight-or-flight instinct, but will inhibit a person’s ability to actually learn, grow, and change. When the negative emotional attractor is triggered, a person is likely to become defensive and closed down emotionally, cognitively, and physiologically.

Coaching with compassion, on the other hand, involves helping others to uncover or discover their ideas, feelings, hopes, and dreams and then supporting them in their efforts to adapt and change. This approach emphasizes the needs of the individual or group, rather than the agenda of the leader, and prioritizes building a resonant relationship with others. A resonant relationship is one anchored in mutual trust, where the leader takes intentional steps to notice people’s efforts and express gratitude, as well as suspend judgment and deeply listen.

Connecting and coaching with compassion activates an alternate physiological state, known as the “positive emotional attractor.” When we create resonant relationships with others, positive emotions are unleashed and the person is likely to feel more confident, hopeful, and open to considering new ideas. This also creates a sense of renewal for both parties in the relationship, thus reducing the negative effects of stress.

In two of our brain imaging studies, we found that when people discussed their dream or personal vision with a coach for 30 minutes, it activated the brain networks that enable us to be open to new ideas and other people. In contrast, 30 minutes of discussing their current problems suppressed these networks.

This effect explains why 25 to 35 year olds who receive coaching see a dramatic improvement in their emotional and social intelligence that lasts for years.

HOW TO COACH WITH COMPASSION We have more opportunities to lead and coach with compassion than we often realize, but it requires us to be intentional about being aware of ourselves and others and about cultivating empathy in our conversations and relationships.

Quite simply, we need to remember to “REACH2”—to follow the six steps below as we strive to help others.

R stands for resonance. Leaders need to reach out and connect in ways that are in sync and in tune with others’ thoughts, feelings, and experiences. The goal is to create a supportive, trusting, positive relationship in which you are focused on the other person over yourself.

In one organization, for example, a manager carved out 30-minute windows of time at the beginning of each workday and invited individuals on his team to join him virtually. He called it “coffee with Kevin.” His intention was to check in with each person without having a laundry list of tasks to cover. Once people slowly started to attend, Kevin was shocked at how much he didn’t know about the individuals on his team, and how much he enjoyed getting to know them better.

This simple act enabled him to feel more connected to them in rewarding ways.

E reminds us to lead with empathy.

We need to shift our concern from wanting to be understood to understanding others.

At one U.S. university, the campus closed abruptly and courses transitioned online as cases of COVID-19 accelerated.

One professor received an email from a student asking for an extension on her final course paper, worth one-third of her grade. The student explained how she had returned to Spain to help her family, whose business was in trouble amid the pandemic, and she was now working 14hour days and struggling to concentrate in school.

The professor had a choice—to urge the student to prioritize school, share her concerns, or just discuss the details of the assignment and avoid the other topics altogether. She put herself in the student’s shoes and imagined the stress of the situation. She knew the assignment required focus and critical thinking, which would be difficult to muster even in normal conditions. She ultimately agreed to a one-week extension, which in turn

lifted a heavy burden from the student’s shoulders and enabled her to finish the semester on a positive note.

A is about being aware of yourself and others. Before you can help others, you need to be clear on your mindset and emotions and their impact on the people and the environment around you. Emotions are contagious; so when you lead with joy, hope, humor, and love, others feel that. And when you lead with fear, anger, disappointment, and disgust, that rubs off on others, too.

One way to improve your selfawareness is to practice deep breathing exercises. Becoming aware of your breath can help you to calm your mind and your body and enable you to tune into yourself. Practicing deep breathing also helps you to reset your mind and body so that you can respond appropriately. For you, that might be before an important meeting that is likely to get heated or after reading an email from a colleague with unsolicited, constructive criticism on your work—or, really, any time you feel your neck stiffen and your heart start racing.

C represents connecting with compassion. When we act from a place of compassion, we focus on the needs of others and respond in meaningful ways.

Coaching others with compassion emphasizes caring, warmth, and tenderness to help another person in their professional development. We often have a front-row seat to expressions of emotion in others, running the gamut from joy to sadness to anger. When you demonstrate compassion in helping roles, you listen and respond to the emotions beyond the person’s words.

For example, in a recent session, a coachee in our network welled up with tears in response to a question posed by her coach. The coach paused, allowed her to catch her breath, and then said, “I can see that struck a chord.

Did you want to talk more about what’s behind the tears?” In situations like this, our tendency might be to ignore the person’s expression of emotion and continue with the discussion as if nothing happened. The problem is that you dismiss the person in the process and send the message that you don’t care about their feelings, which in turn may cause them to close down further.

H is about spreading hope. You unleash positive emotions and uplift others when you help them to envision a brighter and better future. In the face of uncertainty, the tendency can be to succumb to worry, fear, and anxiety. Intentionally spreading hope is about acknowledging the difficulty and also the possibilities.

In coaching conversations, that can take shape by reminding the other person of their strengths as well as your belief in their ability to get through the period of uncertainty. You can help others tap into hope by asking them what is possible now that wasn’t as likely before.

H also refers to the power of humor. Stress shuts us down to new ideas and experiences. It also makes us less likely to find things funny or amusing or be playful. By keeping things light, you remind others to keep smiling. Having a sense of humor and promoting laughter in the workplace has been shown to reduce stress and increase satisfaction, productivity, and performance.

Consider, for example, a team who made a sizable error that caused them to significantly overstate their department’s quarterly forecast in the organization’s endof-year projections. When they sat down with their manager to disclose the error, you could feel the tension in the air as they awaited what would surely be an angry outburst. Instead, the manager paused for a moment, then smiled and said, “I guess I need to call the car dealership and cancel my order for that Porsche.”

Everyone laughed, and immediately you could feel the tension in the room dissipate. They were in a much better place mentally and emotionally to have a productive discussion about how they could best address the issue and prevent any future errors. Using humor didn’t make the problem go away, but it did signal to everyone that it wasn’t the end of the world and that together they could come up with a creative solution.

The most powerful way to ameliorate the stress and uncertainty we are feeling is to reach out and help others. This can be in small doses by helping them laugh, helping them figure out how they want to act, or stimulating in them a moment of discovery. In highly uncertain times, instead of quickly jumping into advice-giving mode or falling back on the often-dysfunctional approach of

telling people what to do, we have a rare opportunity. By reaching out and connecting with compassion, we encourage others to be open, and to learn, change, and develop in meaningful ways during this time of crisis.

This essay is adapted from Helping People Change: Coaching with Compassion for Lifelong Learning and Growth (Harvard Business Review Press, 2019, 256 pages).

ABOUT THE AUTHORS Ellen B. Van Oosten, Ph.D., is associate professor of organizational behavior and faculty director of executive education at Case Western Reserve University. She is a cofounder of the Coaching Research Lab, a scholarpractitioner collaboration to advance coaching research, and coauthor of the book Helping People Change: Coaching for Lifelong Learning and Growth (Harvard Business Review Press, 2019).

Melvin L. Smith, Ph.D., is a professor of organizational behavior and faculty director of executive education at Case Western. He is a cofounder of the Coaching Research Lab, a scholarpractitioner collaboration to advance coaching research, and coauthor of the book Helping People Change: Coaching for Lifelong Learning and Growth (Harvard Business Review Press, 2019).

Richard E. Boyatzis, Ph.D., is a distinguished university professor at Case Western. He is a cofounder of the Coaching Research Lab, a scholarpractitioner collaboration to advance coaching research, and coauthor of the book Helping People Change: Coaching for Lifelong Learning and Growth (Harvard Business Review Press, 2019).

This article originally appeared on Greater Good, the online magazine of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. Read more at greatergood. berkeley.edu. Reprinted with permission.

USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG | 17

HELPING ANXIOUS SWIMMERS DURING THIS TIME Examples from Lemon Lime Adventures

BY MELISSA MCGARVEY | BRITISH SWIM SCHOOL We all know that there have been many obstacles over the past weeks, and as adults this has been difficult for many of us. But now, let’s focus on the children coming back to swim lessons after an extended and unintentional break. If you had students/swimmers who struggled with fear or anxiety before this happened, it may be heightened now. Even children who didn’t struggle before the break may show some hesitation when they return. It is important that we work with our teams to support both these swimmers through their lesson, and our instructors on how to best handle these situations. It can be a challenge to find the right things to say and connect without making their fears worse, while at the same time offering support and encouragement.

To the right are phrases, taken from Lemon Lime Adventures that can be used the next time a swimmer is feeling anxious, scared or nervous. Rather than telling a child “calm down,” or “stop crying,” try one of these phrases instead.

Anxiety and worry look different for every child. Not every one of these strategies will work for your swimmers, but a couple might! If you try something and it makes their worries worse, don’t panic. Just pick something else from the list to try next time. Eventually, you will find a few phrases that are effective for sending a calm, encouraging and empowering message to your swimmer/student.

1. “I am here; you are safe.” Anxiety has a way of making things look worse and feel scarier than when we are not feeling worried. These words can offer comfort and safety when your child is feeling out of control, especially if they are at the height of their worry. If you’re not sure what to say, this is an excellent go-to phrase!

2. “How big is your worry?” Help the child verbalize the size of their worry and give you an accurate picture of how it feels to them. They can represent their worry by using arm length (hands close together or arms stretched wide apart).

3. “What do you want to tell your worry?” Explain to the child that worry is like an annoying “worry bug” that hangs around telling them to be worried. Create a few phrases, then give them permission to talk back to this “worry bug.” They can even be bossy: “go away!” or “I don’t have to listen to you!” Use silly voices and try it loud and quiet.

4. “I’m going to take a deep breath.” Sometimes children are so worried that they resist our encouragement to pick a calming strategy. In this case, use yourself as the calming skill! Verbalize what you are doing and how it makes you feel.

5. “It’s scary AND…” Acknowledge the child’s fear without making it even more frightening by using the word “AND.” After the word “and” you can add phrases like, “You are safe.” or “You’ve conquered this fear before.” or “You have a plan.” This models an internal dialogue the child can use next time they are feeling worried.

6. “What do you need from me?” Instead of assuming that you know what your student needs, give them an opportunity to tell you what would help.

Older kids may be able to verbalize if they need you to listen, give a high five, or help them find a solution.

7. “This feeling will pass.” This may be a phrase you can both use when your student is at the height of panic. All feelings pass eventually. It often feels like they will never end, you won’t make it through, or it’s too hard. And that’s OK. Don’t let your brain get stuck in that moment; focus on the relief that is on the horizon.

For more ideas, visit Lemon Lime Adventures online at lemonlimeadventures.com.

Reprinted with permission.

18 | USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG

SWIMMING IT FORWARD DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC:

THE HOPE FLOATS FOUNDATION COVID-19 SCHOLARSHIP RELIEF FUND “It’s absolutely essential that every child in America learns how to swim to save their own life… Drowning is the leading cause of death in young children in America, and many, many pools are closed right now. We need to get back, as aquatic professionals, to do what we do best, and that’s helping kids learn to save their own lives.” ~ Cindy Romeo Tonnesen, founder and board chair of Hope Floats Foundation and the co-founder of SwimKids Swim Schools.

It has been more than four months since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the first confirmed case of the coronavirus, COVID-19, in the United States. As a nation, we have all been greatly affected by this global pandemic.

Many people have lost loved ones and have suffered mental anguish with concerns surrounding the issue of personal safety.

The swimming industry has faced financial hardships. With the mandated closure of all but essential businesses in many states across the country, we have all felt the economic strain caused by COVID-19.

Sadly, we have also seen an increase in drowning rates over these months. Parents have been juggling working from home without full-time childcare, and swim lessons have been largely unavailable. As a result, data shows that 18 US states experienced increased drowning rates in March and April 2020, when compared with March and April 2019.

During this time, the Hope Floats Foundation Board of Directors has grappled with the effects the COVID-19 virus has had on our swim school partners and on our organization in terms of scholarship availability. With swim schools closed, and with the economic downturn, we believe that now, more than ever, we need to truly “Swim It Forward” to ensure the availability of scholarship funds for families in need.

The Hope Floats’ COVID-19 Scholarship Relief Fund was created in response to the crisis, in an effort to place more scholarships into the hands of families who otherwise could not afford swim lessons. Over $15,000 has been designated to this fund, and each and every Hope Floats swim school partner will receive scholarship funds to provide lessons for local families in need. This initiative will retroactively match all partner fundraising in 2019 by 10%, providing scholarship relief between $100 and $1,000 per partner school.

Additionally, Hope Floats has initiated a COVID-19 Scholarship Relief Fund public fundraising campaign to help raise awareness and boost the relief funds available.

Jackrabbit Swim has generously kicked off the campaign with a $5,000 donation that will be awarded in the form of a $1 for $1 match.

We are in this together, and it is important that we work together to ensure these measures are a success. We ask all swim schools and drowning prevention advocates to follow us on Facebook and Instagram and share our social media posts to increase the amount of scholarship funds available.

Together we will “Swim It Forward.” Together we will continue to prevent drownings by helping kids learn to save their own lives in and around the water.

Hope Floats Foundation, founded in 2016, is a 501c3 national non-profit organization committed to positively impacting the statistics on worldwide drowning.

Hope Floats creates and fosters partnerships with swim schools across the United States to help provide scholarships for swim lessons for families in need. Currently, Hope Floats provides scholarships at over 180 swim school partner locations across 29 states.

BY STEPHANIE BAKER HOPE FLOATS PARTNER LIAISON - VOLUNTEER

For more information regarding Hope Floats Foundation and/or the Hope Floats COVID-19 Scholarship Relief Fund, please visit: www.hopefloats.foundation.

USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG | 19

10SOLUTIONS FOR ZOOM FATIGUE

BY JOHN SPENCE | USSSA 2020 VIRTUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE KEYNOTE

Internal and client meetings alike are (and will continue to be) brought to virtual platforms like Zoom. Rather than dread your calls, I offer some actionable tips to help you fight the Zoom fatigue that I have been giving my clients and practicing myself.

1. AVOID MULTITASKING – Turn off other electronics, keep only the Zoom call

window open on your screen and don’t check your email or Facebook!

2. AVOID OTHER DISTRACTIONS – Find a quiet place to work where you aren’t

interrupted by family members or pets.

3. BUILD IN BREAKS – Set meetings for 25 or 50 minutes so that you have structured

time to stretch, use the restroom, get something to drink and give your eyes and

mind a little rest.

4. REDUCE ONSCREEN STIMULI – Change the call to the “speaker view” so that

you don’t see all of the other people on the call, which can be very distracting.

5. USE GOOD ZOOM ETIQUETTE – Join meetings on time, stick to the agenda,

keep your computer on mute when not speaking and use the chat or Q&A buttons

when appropriate.

6. CHANGE YOUR LOCATION – If you’re using a laptop, move around the house, or

take casual meetings on your phone. Again, find that distraction-free zone.

7. CHANGE YOUR MINDSET – During the day, you are not working at home, your

home is your office. Be sure to treat it as such.

8. SET CLEAR BOUNDARIES – Create a clear separation between work time and

personal/family time. Stay firm on that differentiation in time.

9. NOT EVERY CALL NEEDS VIDEO – Often times, email or messaging platforms

are more efficient than a Zoom call.

10. LEARN TO SAY NO – You don’t have to attend every single meeting. If you’re

not going to add value or you have more important tasks to complete, have a

discussion about whether you need to be involved.

I hope these help you and your team members create a better work environment, no matter where you are.

John For more than 23 years John Spence has traveled worldwide helping people and businesses be more successful. John is the author of five books and co-author of several more, a business consultant, workshop facilitator, keynote speaker and executive coach with a client list that includes numerous Fortune 500 firms to small businesses, professional associations and other organizations. John’s areas of expertise include: leadership, high-performance teams, managing change, organizational culture, consultative selling, strategic planning, strategy execution and the future of business. John has made a career of “Making the Very Complex… Awesomely Simple”. Visit www.johnspence.com. Reprinted with permission.

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BUILDING NEW MOTIVATION

FOR YOUR TEAM DOESN’T HAVE TO BE OVERWHELMING While many of us in the swim school industry think of our bread and butter as the water, it’s really the people. Whether it’s employees, volunteers, partners, or customers we’re in the business of people. So how do we cultivate that positive and impactful attitude? The answer is simple…we need MOTIVATORS. To make motivators in our company we must first BE THE MOTIVATORS. It is our job as owners and managers to create a climate of excitement and growth in the swim industry/our organization and ignite purpose in others and oneself. To do this we must get back to the basics and get down and dirty with some positive psychology tools. Here are 5 steps to building new motivators for your team:

BY ANDY BROIDO SWIM CONSULTANT

1. Share Your Vision And Communicate With Staff: This creates an environment of inclusion which will lead to success of each member of the team. Motivation and enthusiasm will become woven into the goal of reaching your vision. You cannot uncover new ideas, attitudes, or concerns of your team if you lack good communication skills. Plant the seeds of your vision and let them be part of the growth.

2. Take Interest In Your People And Encourage Self-Care: It is human nature to crave attention and feel appreciated. Show gratitude for the unique contributions brought by each member of the team and for those individuals who work around your business as well. Appreciation is often a greater reward than money. It is also ok to ask hard questions and it is definitely ok to ask those pesky feelings questions. When you ask difficult questions and acknowledge team members feelings you validate them as a person and as a team member. Also reminding your team to put their mental well-being first helps team members to prioritize you and your business. Mentally healthy team members will bring more to your table and a smile to your customers.

22 | USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG

3. Encourage Creativity And Empower Each Individual: Motivators don’t control every step.

Allow your team some freedom to find their own distinctive way of solving issues. Treat your team members like the unique individuals they are. This independence challenges them to think outside of the box. Encouragement goes a long way in developing a creative environment. People often need a small dose of encouragement to believe in themselves and unlock greater potential within themselves.

4. Give Challenging Tasks And Opportunities To Grow: As a motivator you need an enthusiastic and productive team. Don’t let your team grow stale and bored, AVOID ROUTINE. Routines can be where enthusiasm goes to die. Cultivate an environment for people to explore and discover. Work should be interesting and engaging.

5. Create And Maintain A Collaborative Effort: A great motivator understands the collaboration of all is much greater and wiser than any of us as individuals.

Cohesive teams are more successful.

When team members feel included, they perceive their role as significant and ultimately perform better. When you see collaborative behavior RECOGNIZE IT, REWARD IT, and CELEBRATE IT. Here at SwimConsultant we have established some fun and purposeful activities that play off the 5 steps above: 1. Find Your Inner Superhero In this exercise your team determines what their strengths and strength opportunities are. It is important to identify what you already excel at and what needs improvement. After identifying your strength opportunity, focus on ways you can turn that opportunity into a true strength! Who knew picking your Superhero for the day could be so impactful!

2. Riding The Emotional Rollercoaster To Success We are all riding an emotional rollercoaster and are at different stages of that rollercoaster. Your emotional rollercoaster could be representative of your personal journey or your family’s journey. In this exercise your team will relate to what is happening in their industry and communities. Bringing in the reality of ones changing emotions, experiences and decision making, can and will fluctuate while being on this ride! The best part is they can also create a name for their own rollercoaster!

Questions that can be presented to your team are: • How much resilience and self-belief do you need to ride the aquatics rollercoaster?

• What if you had no idea how long the terrifying lows and twists and turns would last?

• What if you were the only one riding in your H20 cart?

• How would you express yourself during the lows?

• What if all the people ahead of you are doing the same but ever-changing things as you, however they seem to be so much more confident and good at it?

• What if there is another last-minute curve or dip, how would you handle it?

Five tips to help you manage and persevere through your ride: • Have a Strong Purpose! (What is your “Why” of doing what you do?)

• Seek Support (Let others be part of your journey and ask for help) • Be Flexible (Be adaptable to change and change occurring around you) • Self-Belief (Believe in your abilities, tell yourself you will survive and trust yourself)

3. Making Mental Health Hurricane Boxes There are days when you and your staff may find yourselves at a low point and it may feel as if you are at the breaking point. Just like our hurricane boxes for hurricane season we need an emergency box for our mental health. This self-care kit will help get you through the internal storm and into calmer waters. Each box should meet the five types of self-care: physical, emotional, spiritual, sensory, and social. You can brainstorm with your staff about what goes in the boxes or you can even make your staff a selfcare box.

The following can be used in self-care boxes but the sky’s the limit: • Letters from loved ones • Fun pictures • Chocolate • Gift cards for restaurants, spa services, or movies • Tissues • Journal and pen • Favorite Movie • Gratitude journal • Favorite tea or soda A key ingredient no matter how small or big is a return on yourself and business.

Cultivating an atmosphere of Positive People Motivation is what we can do not only for your team, but you as well.

Together we can build those motivator muscles and help you and your team feel inspired.

For over 45 years, Andy Broido has become a worldwide leader in the aquatics industry by scaling multiple swim schools and developing a proven curriculum. In 2011, Andy launched Swim Consultant, a leading full-service management and consulting firm to the child activity center community. Serving child activity centers, as well as, gyms & preschools in the USA and internationally, Swim Consultant specializes in curriculum development, teacher training, on-site visits and more. Visit online at swimconsultant.com.

• Manage your emotion (put yourself in a positive time out, and do something that brings peace to your day)

USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG | 23

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

SEPTEMBER 15-17, 2020

USSSA NATIONAL CONFERENCE LIVE STREAMING & ON DEMAND usswimschools.org/events

JULY 27-31, 2020

AUSTRALIAN SWIM SCHOOLS CONFERENCE VIRTUAL

usswimschools.org/events

OCTOBER 4-6, 2021

USSSA NATIONAL CONFERENCE MAUI, HAWAII

usswimschools.org/events

24 | USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG

THANK YOU ANNUAL SPONSORS

HIRING THE RIGHT

BY NATALIE MORGAN CAREERPLUG

PEOPLE QUICKLY As many businesses plan to expand their operations again or completely reopen their doors when the time is right, there is an obvious hurdle for companies that were forced to reduce their team: hiring.

If you’re in this boat as a business owner, you’ll likely want — or need — to hire faster than you ever have previously.

But I want to offer a preliminary note of caution as you prepare to hire up and get back to business: rather than abandon your hiring process in favor of staffing up as soon as possible (the “any-body-inany-seat” approach), adapt your hiring process to hire quickly while still hiring the right people.

Remember that making the wrong hires is costly — to your bottom line and to your culture. The U.S. Department of Labor has estimated that a bad hire can cost a business 30% of the employee’s potential first-year earnings. Think about the time you and your team spend in interviews and training the new hire, not to mention any money you’re spending on recruitment marketing. An employee who’s a bad culture fit or a poor worker can drag down the morale and productivity of your higher performing employees and put them at risk of leaving too.

Treat a structured hiring process with verification steps like reference and background checks as non-negotiables, even when you need to move fast. The latter is especially easy to skip when you’re on deadline. Calling references takes extra time. So does that background check that takes a day or three to run. But they are also your best tools to make the right 26 | USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG

hires, both validating your evaluation during the interview process and helping protect your business against negligent hiring claims.

So how do you keep the integrity of your recruiting process intact when you’re on a tight deadline to staff your business?

Here are a few things you can do to hire faster, while still making the right hires for your team.

1. Review applicants daily.

Or twice a day. Heck, three times a day if you can swing it. There are more applicants than ever active on job boards and we expect many positions to have higher applicant flows than usual. Block time to stay on top of this volume and make decisions as you review: move forward or politely reject. Avoid pushing off the decision by saying you’ll come back later or that they’re a ‘maybe.’ You either want to learn more about them, or you don’t.

2. Schedule interviews on a rolling basis.

Rolling interviews means inviting applicants in for interviews or phone screens as they apply. Some employers have a cut-off date for applications and then move to an interview stage.

Moving to rolling interviews will speed up your process. Doing so will allow you to move promising candidates through your process as you receive them. This

may mean you end up with candidates in different phases of the process, but it will move you to make quicker hires.

3. Use prescreen questions to surface what’s most important early.

Do you need someone with weekend availability? Someone who already has a personal training license? Instead of a long application, ask the most important questions — the non-negotiable requirements — right away. This will help you narrow in on the quality candidates who are worth that next step of a phone screen or in-person interview.

4. Be transparent about your hiring process and timeline.

Put it on your careers page or in the job description. Set your intention to move quickly, when you’d like people to start, and when you’ll be conducting interviews.

5. Try out group interviews.

Group interviews can be an effective way to evaluate a larger applicant pool. They usually involve a discussion portion where you’re asking the group questions that candidates answer individually and an exercise for them so you can evaluate their ability to work on a team. Some common exercises include having the group build a house of cards or having candidates ask questions of each other to learn more about them as individuals.

6. Organize your hiring process.

The easiest way to move quickly through your hiring process is to get organized ahead of time. Define your hiring process steps, have all your interview questions prepared, know who is going to be conducting interviews, who is going to be scheduling them, and how you’re going to communicate with potential candidates throughout. Automate what you can — an applicant tracking system can help — but even if you’re sticking spreadsheets to track candidates, make sure you have a process that works for you.

7. Start early.

This looks different for every business — you may be able to make all your hires in a week … or it may take a month. Leave yourself a little breathing room and get your job post and hiring process ready to go ahead so you’re not scrambling on the starting line.

TAKE ACTION CareerPlug is committed to helping businesses rebuild and displaced job seekers find work as COVID-19 measures are lifted. We believe that whenever your business is ready, our hiring software will help you save time, allowing you to hire faster while still attracting top talent and making high quality hires. Take the first step now by requesting a free personalized demo of CareerPlug.

CareerPlug Hiring Software Makes Recruiting Easier! Be ready for today’s candidates by showcasing the best parts of your jobs and your company. We give you the ability to add photos, videos, testimonials, core values and perks. This gives candidates an authentic feel for what it’s like to work at your swim school – all on one page. Interested in more information? Visit CareerPlug online at careerplug.com or phone direct at 512.579.0164.

Reprinted with permission.

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SPECIAL ABILITIES ON-THE-GO NEWS

BY KIM WALTERS

The last few months have presented our industry with new challenges, changing standards and evolving protocols. We have spent countless hours revamping our entire programs to align with the ‘new’ normal of living through the COVID-19 pandemic. And through all of this, association members have leaned on one another for advice, ideas and support. We have shared our worries, thoughts and successes over numerous Zoom calls, webinars and Facebook discussions. Yet as we continue on this unprecedented journey, we now face the challenge of providing the continued education and training opportunities, which have been a cornerstone of our association.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, providing our staff with training and development opportunities was a challenge even the most seasoned swim school owner wrestled with. Finding high quality training that is relative to our unique field is not easy, especially when factoring in cost, travel, and time commitment. The added stress of a global pandemic has only made that challenge even more difficult. However, one of the greatest benefits of being a member of the US Swim Schools Association is having access to training, education, and resources specifically designed for our industry. The USSSA has historically provided educational and training opportunities for members, such as the Special Abilities and Infant-Toddler classroom courses, which have been

offered at both the national conference and the spring workshop for many years.

However, the current situation we find ourselves in makes it difficult to gather large groups for any type of training or conference and has forced us to explore other avenues for training, networking and education. This fall the USSSA will be forging that new path by presenting the traditional national conference in a virtual format, which means the classroom courses for Special Abilities and InfantToddler will not be available. While the possibility of virtual courses is being discussed, it’s important to continue training and educating our staff as much as possible. The On-The-Go courses for both Special Abilities and Infant-Toddler are an excellent alternative to traditional classes. The Special Abilities On-The-Go Course is a full 8-hour course, just like those offered at the national conference and spring workshops, but we bring it to you! The best part of the OTG course is the flexibility that comes along with it.

Owners can contact any of the Special Abilities OTG Instructors and schedule a class. There are not size requirements, so it can be tailored to the exact number of participants. Swim schools throughout the country are now able to provide a high quality, introductory course that will better equip instructors who work with individuals with special abilities.

The On-The-Go course is also a great opportunity for swim schools in the same area to collaborate. By joining forces and co-hosting a course, more instructors will

reap the benefits of the Special Abilities and Infant-Toddler trainings and the cost will be lower for everyone. While there are still costs involved, they can be drastically reduced with On-The-Go courses. We are also able to adjust the course to better follow social distancing guidelines and COVID-19 precautionary procedures.

I had the privilege of traveling to North Carolina to teach the Special Abilities Course at Andy Broido’s Swim Consultant Retreat last year and it was one of the most enjoyable classes I have taught. Around 20 swim instructors from several local schools came together to take the course, many of whom would not have been able to receive this training without the On-The-Go course.

While we did not have the concerns of COVID-19 at that time, the course would have been easily adapted due to the size and flexibility of participants.

The Special Abilities On-The-Go Course can be hosted by any USSSA member school and there are currently three trained instructors. If you are interested in bringing the Special Abilities course to your swim school, please contact one of the instructors.

Kim Walters (317) 809-2724 Erin Grande (813) 310-6959 Angie Baker (571) 426-4838

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HOW TO GET BACK ON TRACK WHEN YOU FEEL

LOST, POWERLESS OR UNSURE Life’s challenges can make us feel lost, powerless, or unsure of what to do next.

Perhaps it’s the challenge of losing your job, being criticized by your boss in public, or having to report to someone who used to be a peer.

Or living in an environment of change and uncertainty where you feel powerless to change your circumstances. Or feel you have no say in what happens next.

Yet, we all have personal power, but most of us go through life unaware of just how powerful we are and can be.

3 SOURCES OF PERSONAL POWER When you feel lost, powerless, or unsure of what to do next, there are 3 sources of personal power that you can tap into to help you get back on track.

1. Purpose – your bigger picture “why” 2. Passion – what gets you fired up 3. Instinct – trusting your gut and trusting yourself Let’s explore each of these.

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BY MAY BUSCH

PURPOSE – YOUR BIGGER PICTURE “WHY” Your purpose includes your aspirations, your values and the things you care deeply about. Your purpose is your “why”. You can think of it as your mission. The “true north” you can look to when you need to re-orient yourself.

When things feel unsettled or unclear in your career or work, it helps to frame what you’re doing in terms of a higher purpose. Having a deep sense of purpose will give you the staying power to keep going when things get tough and find your focus again. To overcome your fear, speak up and take action. To be motivated and do your work joyfully.

Your work can connect to a higher purpose even if it’s not immediately obvious. Like the story of the janitor at Cape Canaveral who proudly told President John F. Kennedy that his job was “to help put a man on the moon”.

Tapping into your purpose also attracts others to join you. We all want to have meaning in our lives. So when you align the initiatives you take on with your purpose, others are more likely to want to work with you too so they can do meaningful work alongside you.

When you tap into your higher purpose you become pretty much unstoppable.

What is your powerful purpose and how does it align with your career and life?

PASSION – WHAT GETS YOU FIRED UP Passion is about what’s in your heart and what fuels your soul. What gets you fired up. The things you truly believe in and even get emotional about.

The key is to discover what you are passionate about and find a part of your work that taps into those passions. And ideally, spend the majority of your time working in those areas.

For example, I’m passionate about serving my clients. Seeing them engage, have “aha” moments, take action and make progress lights me up. Helping them improve their careers and lives gives me energy. I’m still buzzing even when I’ve been “on duty” for hours.

What are you passionate about and how could you tap into that source of personal power in your career and life?

INSTINCT – TRUSTING YOUR GUT AND TRUSTING YOURSELF Your instinct is your sixth sense. It’s the part of you that’s always looking out for your best interests. It encapsulates all the wisdom and experiences you’ve accumulated over the years.

And most of the time, your instincts are better equipped to lead you in the right direction than your conscious intellectual brain. No wonder people say, “trust your gut”!

But sometimes it’s hard to stay in touch with your instincts much less trust them.

It’s especially true when the quiet wisdom of your instincts has to compete with the daily avalanche of information, advice and distractions just to attract your attention.

So when you’re feeling uncertain and overwhelmed about your next steps, start by taking a moment to be still and listen for your gut instinct.

When you trust your instincts, you free yourself to make better choices. And you’ll be able to make those decisions with greater confidence and less stress.

How are you embracing your gut instincts to help you act more powerfully in your life and career?

HOW WILL YOU USE YOUR PERSONAL POWER? So remember, you’ve always been powerful.

If you’ve lost your sense of purpose, take a few quiet moments to get back in touch with your aspirations and what gives your life meaning.

If you’re unsure of what you’re passionate about, reflect back on what makes you really angry and truly joyful – there are clues in emotion.

And if you’re struggling with a decision and unsure about what to do next, take a moment to be still and listen to what your gut instinct is telling you.

Your purpose, passion and instincts are yours to have and hold. Make sure you nurture and protect these power sources and they will serve you well.

WHICH SOURCE OF PERSONAL POWER DO YOU NEED TO TAP INTO? May Busch is a sought-after executive coach, speaker, advisor, author, and former COO of Morgan Stanley Europe. Her passion is helping people succeed in their career and life – to be better, do more, and make the difference they are meant to make. Find her on MayBusch.com. Reprinted with permission.

USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG | 31

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Kids

LOAN FORGIVENESS UNDER THE PAYCHECK PROTECTION PLAN As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed into law March 27, many small business owners were able to apply for - and receive a loan of up to $10 million under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Businesses including nonprofits, veterans’ organizations, Tribal entities, self-employed individuals, sole proprietorships, and independent contractors - that were in operation on February 15 and that have 500 or fewer employees are eligible for the PPP loans.

The deadline for applying for a PPP loan is June 30, 2020. If the loan proceeds are used as specified, business owners may apply to have the loan forgiven.

Here’s what you need to know about loan forgiveness under the PPP: COVERED PERIOD The loan covers eight weeks (56 days) of payroll, rent, mortgage interest and utility expenses; however, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (PPPFA) allows PPP loan borrowers that received loans before June 5th the option to extend the covered period to 24 weeks. The original June 30 deadline for rehiring workers and spending the PPP funds has also been extended to December 31 to allow for the 24-week period.

BY SEAN DEVER SEAN DEVER CPA & ASSOCIATES

Generally, the first day of the covered period is the same day as the loan disbursement.

For example, if the loan proceeds were received on Wednesday, April 22, that is the first day of the covered period. The last day of the covered eight-week period, for example, would then be Tuesday, June 16.

Alternate Payroll Covered Period. If you pay your employees weekly or bi-weekly, you may elect to have the eight-week (56-day) period - or 24-week period - begin on the first day of the first pay period following the PPP loan disbursement date. In the case of an eight-week period, if the loan proceeds were received on Wednesday, April 22, and the first day of the first pay period following the loan disbursement is Monday, April 27, the first day of the Alternative Payroll Covered Period is April 27 and the last day of the Alternative Payroll Covered Period is Sunday, June 21.

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ELIGIBLE EXPENSES PPP loans cover both payroll costs and nonpayroll costs; however, to be eligible for loan forgiveness, 60 percent of the PPP loan proceeds must go toward payroll costs (previously 75 percent), with the remaining 40 percent to be used toward nonpayroll costs.

• If your business does not meet the 60 percent requirement, there will be a proportionate reduction in loan forgiveness - not a complete loss.

Here’s an example using the eight-week covered period: A business owner that received loan proceeds of $250,000 must use $150,000 of that amount on payroll costs to be eligible for loan forgiveness.

The remaining $100,000 can be used to pay nonpayroll costs as specified below.

• Under the PPPFA, businesses that received PPP loan funds are now able to delay payment of their payroll taxes.

This was previously prohibited under the CARES Act. Eligible payroll costs. Payroll costs include costs for employee vacation, parental, family, medical, and sick leave.

The total amount of cash compensation payroll costs paid and payroll costs incurred - for each individual employee may not exceed $15,385 for the covered period of eight weeks (56 days) based on an annualized salary of $100,000. If the borrower chooses a covered period of 24 weeks, then each individual employee may not exceed $46,154 for the covered period of 24 weeks based on an annualized salary of $100,000. Bonuses can be included as long as this threshold amount is not exceeded.

Payroll expenses for independent contractors or sole proprietors only include wages, commissions, income, or net earnings from self-employment, or similar compensation. PPP loan funds can be used to cover the owner compensation costs for eight weeks (8/52) of 2019 profit only - up to a maximum of $15,385. However, if the 24-week covered period is chosen, it is limited to 2.5 months (2.5/12) of 2019 net profit from Form 1040 Schedule C - up to a maximum of $20,833.

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• To count toward eligible payroll expenses, employer contributions for retirement plans as well as health insurance must be paid during the covered period.

Loan forgiveness is based on full-time equivalent (FTE) workers and a standard 40-hour work week. A simplified method allows 1.0 FTE for 40 hour work weeks and 0.5 FTE for less than 40 hour work weeks. Calculations can be done using either method to determine which one is most advantageous to the employer.

Special rules apply for workers whose salary has been reduced by 25 percent or more. Please call if you have any questions about this.

• Businesses that received PPP loans can exclude laid-off employees from loan forgiveness reduction calculations if the employees turn down a written offer to be rehired.

Eligible nonpayroll costs. Specific nonpayroll costs are also eligible for forgiveness; however, they cannot exceed 40 percent of the total forgiveness amount. They must be paid or incurred during the covered period and paid on or before the next regular billing date, even if the billing date is after the covered period and can include costs that were paid and incurred one time.

• Payments of interest on any business mortgage obligation on real or personal property incurred before February 15, 2020. These amounts do not include any prepayment or payment of principal • Business rent or lease payments (including leases for vehicles and office machinery) entered into force before February 15, 2020; and • Business utility payments for services begun before February 15, 2020 such as electricity, gas, water, transportation, telephone, or internet access.

• Interest payments on debt obligations incurred before February 15, 2020

• Refinancing an SBA EIDL loan made between January 31, 2020, and April 3, 2020 Self-employed individuals can use PPP loan funds to cover interest, rent and utility payments are also eligible as long as these amounts are deductible on Form 1040 Schedule C. LOAN AMOUNTS NOT FORGIVEN Any amounts that aren’t forgiven must be repaid at an interest rate of 1 percent, which begins to accrue upon loan disbursement. Payments, however, are deferred for six months once the SBA makes a determination of forgiveness.

Under the PPPFA borrowers now have five years to repay new loans approved on or after June 5, 2020 (previously it was two years). Borrowers with loans disbursed prior to June 5, will still need to abide by the two-year loan period unless the lender agrees to extend it to five years.

TRACKING EXPENSES Business owners need to keep accurate records of how PPP loans are used.

Failing to document or falsely claiming eligible expenses could lead to criminal penalties.

DON’T DELAY. START PLANNING NOW TO MAXIMIZE PPP LOAN FORGIVENESS Applications for forgiveness must be submitted within 10 months of the date of receiving the loan or it won’t be forgiven. If you’ve received a PPP loan and want to make sure your loan is forgiven, help is just a phone call away.

Express Payroll is part of Sean Dever, CPA & Associates, an accounting firm which provides services such as: Small Business Accounting; Tax Preparation & Planning, Business Valuation, Succession Planning and Payroll Service. Sean focuses the firm’s services towards the children’s sports education industry, including swimming, gymnastics, dance and cheerleading. For more information, email sean@devercpa.com or visit www. devercpa.com. Reprinted with permission.

STOP DROWNING NOW’S

PANDEMIC ACTIVITY

BY DAVID GORMAN SDN BOARD OF DIRECTORS

SDN thanks all swim school members for their continued support through the pandemic. Whether members have needed to cancel, pause, or downgrade their membership, or have made the vital choice to continue financial support for SDN, your generosity is key to continued work to arrest and stop drowning.

Thank you once more.

We are thrilled to welcome franchisor British Swim School to the SDN family as continued commitment to their vision as a cause-based business SDN will work with both the parent franchisor and franchisees across North American and beyond to use the SDN suite of tools in their communities. BSS recognizes the essential need for drowning prevention education, and the benefits to BSS franchisees as leaders in their communities. If you are a BSS franchisee, please look forward to some gratitude calls from SDN BOD members to help with brainstorming and education on how to employ the SDN tools both directly in the community as well as with local media channels.

The SDN BOD and team members largely paused work during the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. As things have improved in many parts of the US, we are able to reinitiate activity on programming, national media outreach and legislative projects. All three are significantly challenged given the highly-critical priorities that schools, media organizations and lawmakers face. But the time and relationships we invest now on the part of both SDN and swim schools continues to lay the foundation for future progress and success.

Lastly, SDN is pursuing grants and gifts that may be attracted to our cause. One way that any USSSA or SDN supporter can help drowning prevention charities is to refer potential donors. While it may seem almost impossible in times like this, wealthy individuals and private foundations can be even more generous because they know funding from events and other sources may have evaporated. The key thing to look for is any individual or organization that supports children’s health causes. They may not specifically have drowning on their radar, but a referral from you can help kick off the education cycle that will eventually lead to support. Potential idea sources include elected officials, houses of worship, professional networks and even your own friends and neighbors.

Again, SDN thanks you for your support. Championing drowning prevention is a team sport, and we will make progress together.

USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG | 35

THREE STEPS TO INCREASING AFRICAN AMERICAN PARTICIPATION IN LEARN TO SWIM CLASSES

Black Kids Swim is a Maryland-based non-profit charity dedicated to increasing Black participation in the sport of competitive swimming. In 2019, BKS interviewed 140 Black swim parents to identify a path toward “Improving the Competitive Swim Experience for Black Swimmers.” Our goal was to define how Black swim families entered the world of competitive swimming, and their experiences. Their responses were both enlightening and surprising, which led our organization to formulate a method for creating and maintaining safe spaces for Black competitive and non-competitive swimmers. This formula informed our consulting service methodology which we offer to aquatics facilities, competitive swim teams, and learn-to-swim schools. The following gives some insight into what we learned and offers suggestions to learn to swim organizations and schools interested in improving their outreach to the African-American community.

BY EBONY ROSEMOND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF BLACK KIDS SWIM

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Diversify Yourself For organizations looking to diversify their audience and membership, the first thing to do is diversify yourself. Diversify your staff. All levels of your organization should reflect your commitment to diversity; including management, instructors, community outreach, and customer service staff. Making one ‘diversity hire’ in today’s politically charged climate will be seen as a false and temporary gesture and may do more harm than good. Next, take the time to invest time in all employees equally, ensuring they receive the professional development and leadership opportunities required to ascend within your organization and as aquatics professionals.

Keep the Education Going In our survey, the vast majority of respondents strongly agreed that they wanted to take a swim class that “included elements of African-American culture and history.” Black swim families clearly expressed a desire for a service that is not typically offered by Learn to swim businesses. We encourage you to fill the gap. Your business can accomplish this in several ways: 1. Spotlight relevant athletes, groups, and historic figures at the start and/or end of each class 2. Incorporate motivational stories of these groups and individuals into various exercises 3. Play music and have fun!

Here’s a great idea for adults and kids alike: The Harlem Honeys and Bears is an African-American synchronized swimming group for seniors 55 and over based in New York City. At the end of class, share some information about this amazing organization and have students float on their backs and link ankles to attempt to make a star while playing “Shining Star” by Earth Wind and Fire. (https://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/ short-film-showcase/0000014f-290a-d37e-a7dfaf8bd7b90000)

Recommend and Create Immediately after completing your curriculum, take time to lead an in-depth conversation outlining all of the activities your students should consider as proficient swimmers. Discuss things like competitive vs non-competitive teams,

water polo, synchronized swimming and any other outlet that can keep new swimmers healthy, happy and in the water. Also, create activities that extend your relationship with former students.

Invite former students and community residents to special day (pool volleyball in the deep end) or evening (bubbles and dancing couples night) events that allow new swimmers to use their skills and remember how much fun it is to be in the water.

For deeper insight into the Black swim community and formal assistance, visit Black Kids Swim’s website at BlackKidsSwim.com/advocacy or email us at info@blackkidsswim.com.

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MAKING ESSENTIAL CONNECTIONS My advice is to start or continue to connect with all the key people in your circle. Connect with members in our association. I am so blessed to know so many amazing and talented people in the USSSA!

BY JEFFERY PURCHIN 5 CITIES SWIM SCHOOL

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Making connections in your community is so important to your success and future.

Without connections you will be jumping through more hoops. There will be so many obstacles when trying to reach your goals without knowing key people in your community.

Running your business always faces challenges. You may not need help this moment, but I guarantee that if you do not need help right now, you will in the future.

Let’s start with what we just had to go through recently. Most of us were scrambling to get the PPP Loan and/or an SBA Loan. Could your bank back you and fund your loan promptly? Could they execute your loan, or did they put you out in the pasture?

I had that key relationship with my bank manager. When she was hired a couple of years ago as Branch Manager, I quickly introduced myself to her. I built up the relationship right away. (Side note‌I have been in business in our community for the past 36 years. My swim school is debt free with our property and building totally paid for.

I have no outstanding loans.) So why should I build a relationship with our banker?

Why should I invite her to our swim school? Why should I spend time giving her a tour of our facility and telling the story on what we actually do as a business and the community? For exactly the reason regarding what just happened to all small businesses in the US. Totally unexpected circumstances causing small businesses to need financial help. I was in my Bank Managers office the day before the PPP application came out and she put me on top of her list to get the application to me. With all the hundreds of small businesses the 5 Cities Swim School was on top of her list because

of the good relationship we had. As the loan was being administered, she continued to update me and assured me I was going to get funded for the PPP Loan.

I know of so many small businesses who scrambled trying to find a bank that would allow them to apply for the SBA Loans. I have always shown my loyalty to my bank. If it’s bringing in homemade cookies for the bank tellers, or just starting a conversation to build a relationship. The connections with my bank have paid off and will continue to do so in the future.

I did not stop there. I made sure we had a picture of us thanking our bank for the PPP Loan with our staff showing appreciation to our bank. We posted this on social media pages and also posted it on the bank’s social media site. The bank manager was filled with gratitude for our posts and she made sure the President of the bank saw it too.

I remember when I was going through the permit process to build our swim school. I needed as much help as possible to get the project to move fast. At that time, we were making hefty payments on our commercial property. I went to our city officials and asked who is the most influential person in our city. The response which came up over and over was the Fire Chief. I made an appointment with the Fire Chief. I spoke about the history of our swim school and now was the time to build our own facility and stop leasing. I also communicated to him that time was of the essence and we had to get this project built quickly. After he heard my plea and saw my passion, he was willing to give his strong opinion. I still remember this from years ago, “Jeff, if you want this project to move quickly you must hire an architect and a contractor that I recommend. If you don’t your project will take a lot longer to build.” I had no choice. l had to go with his recommendations even though I felt like I knew very qualified people to do the job. Again, I sent him

a handwritten note of appreciation. The swim school, which is indoors, 4,500 square feet, was built and opened in four months.

What were the two major keys for our swim school opening up after we were closed due to the COVID-19 virus? First was the connection with our local health department. I have always had a good relationship with our health department.

The inspectors know me. They respect my knowledge of our chemicals and our pool systems. I realize that I know more than they do with regards to our pool operations, however, I never make them feel inferior. I always show respect to all health inspectors.

Next, your connection with your accountant is very important. I have had a business relationship with my accountant for the past 41 years when I started my first swim school in Los Angeles. We meet twice a month to go over payroll, payroll taxes, any new tax laws, spending strategies and financial game plans. Your relationship with your accountant adds to success. We do have our disagreements and battles. Over all, it’s been a successful relationship. To date I have never been audited. If you use your accountant for year-end tax purposes only you are losing out on an important relationship. One key strategy in the past few years was his strong opinion on our swim school purchasing solar panels. Not only are they fantastic for the environment, they were also one of the biggest tax saving expense the year we purchased them.

We had a tax write-off of over 13% that year. We also save over 65% on our power bill every year. This year, since we have been shut down for months, our low utility electric bill of $22 per month has been a huge financial burden off my shoulders.

This all came about a few years ago with meetings with my accountant.

As soon as we were shut down, I reached out to the Health Department staff member who oversees the swimming pools in our county. In the beginning the head of that department was not sure of what the new regulations would look like. As the weeks went on, I continued the relationship to learn about what our swim school would have to do. Because of our relationship I was able to get through to the head of pools in our County with a letter our California Swim Schools put together. The letter was also received by Continued on next page...

USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG | 39

the County’s Head Public Health Officer.

When the Guideline Phases were presented on when we could open, we were put in a category of Public Pools which was in phase three. Our health department had their hands tied and could not move us from the category of Public Pools. Every single swim school in California knew that phase three would be devastating and it would delay opening.

After time went on, and being closed for two full months, frustration was mounting. I realized that I was friends with our County Sheriff on Facebook. I privately messaged him on Facebook explaining who we were and that we are a private swim school and not a public pool. He connected right away with the legal counsel of our health department and they agreed that we are a private pool and not a public pool. Because of both connections with the health department and the sheriff’s office we were able to get the green light to open up. I believe we were one of the first swim schools in California to get the approval to open legally. This is all because of connections I made.

Being a member of your local Chamber of Commerce is an asset for you. They will support your business.

Local businesses will support your swim school. You can partner up with businesses and support each other.

When new families move into your area

40 | USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG

and inquire about swimming lessons your swim school will be the one they will refer. We have been a member of our Chamber of Commerce since 1984.

Connecting to a financial advisor is another asset. I have to admit I do all of my own stock investments. Most do not care to delve into the world of trading stocks. If you have a relationship with a financial advisor on a regular basis you can stay on top of your financial goals.

My feeling is that you all work so hard you need to know where and how your investments are doing. (FYI if you need advice or help on investing on your own, I’m happy to help you) Connecting to members of our association has always been a huge benefit to me. I have been a member since 1990. I have so many good friends from USSSA. The most recent and meaningful connection of support just happened to all of us during the virus shutdown. Daily, over the last three months, I have been on countless zoom calls and webinars all put on by our association. All the private phone calls with countless members sharing ideas and giving each other advice and support. Had I not been a member of USSSA the last few months would have been a lot tougher.

In 2006, my first term serving on the Board of Directors of our Association, I offered to call all of the new members who joined USSSA. The Board gave

me the go ahead to do this. Seventeen years later I continue to call our new members to welcome them and to mentor them if they need it. I love connecting to our members. I have been on numerous committees for the association. I encourage you to do the same. I have served on the Board of Directors for 2 terms. I encourage that if you have the time and desire, I would recommend for you to run for a seat on the board. The connections you will make are invaluable. Where else in any other field can you call so many owners or managers and even instructors to get answers and support? We have a very special group of members. We all have learned so much from each other. If you are not involved, I encourage you to go to a conference. Look up the USSSA Executive Group Facebook Page and connect with the members. These are the simple ways you can receive a 100% benefit of being a member. I always stress there is no way I would have been so successful with my swim school without being a member of the US Swim School Association.

Other connections are making sure your local police department knows about your swim school as well as your local fire department. If you can connect with a local attorney do so. Touch base with your local congressman. All of these key people can circle back to you in the future and help support you.

The essential connections in my community have always been an asset to me. I am very grateful to those who have supported me. If one of my connections goes out of their way to help me, I have always sent them a handwritten note.

That note goes a long way.

My advice is to start or continue to connect with all the key people in your circle. Connect with members in our association. I am so blessed to know so many amazing and talented people in the USSSA!

REGISTRATION IS OPEN FOR ASSA VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

CONNECT, ENGAGE & REIMAGINE The Australian Swim Schools Association will bring you this year’s annual event VIRTUALLY. The event kicks off July 27-31 so now is the time to lock the dates in your calendars and organize your registrations.

The program has been designed to provide the most value for you and your business for only one low registration fee and no travel costs or other expenditures. PLUS, the ability to re-watch the sessions after they conclude at your leisure for 3 months!

Key areas that we will focus on are Leadership, Product, People, Promotion and Performance. We will have no less than 20 incredible industry and non-industry experts to deliver these topics that will inspire and engage.

As our collective businesses around the world consider how we can return from the last 4-months, it is critical for our business leaders to find resolve, resilience, reimagination and reform to become future proof.

In order to come back stronger, companies will REIMAGINE their business model as they return to full speed. The moment is not to be lost on those who step up their game, they will be better off and far more ready to confront the challenges and opportunities of the next normal, than those who do not.

Adapting our thinking around recovering our revenue, rebuilding our operations, rethinking our organization and accelerating the adoption of digital solutions, will show us that the future is not what it used to be, so it’s time to REIMAGINE together.

Learn more and register direct at usswimschools.org/events.

JULY 27-31, 2021

ASSA VIRTUAL EVENT HIGHLIGHTS 15 SESSIONS LIVE ROUND TABLE SESSIONS NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES A RANGE OF WORLD CLASS PRESENTERS

PLUS!

3 MONTHS TO RE-WATCH THE SESSIONS AT YOUR LEISURE

usswimschools.org/events

BY BY EMILY MCNEILL AUSTRALIAN SWIM SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION

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COURAGE AND WISDOM We live in uncertain and challenging times. But then again, throughout history most people have. And it’s been a nearly universal discovery by the wisest individuals in all those previous times that the most important human quality amid turbulence and confusion may be courage. Compassion might be its match. But without courage, we won’t show our compassion well in situations of risk. So again, it comes back to courage wisely deployed into the world. Perhaps then, it’s wise, compassionate courage that should lead us in all things.

There’s a crucial point to make about this vital core attribute. Courage has nothing to do with a lack of fear or anxiety. It’s all about how we react to all the negative emotions we naturally feel in the face of any danger, including the unknowns of radical uncertainty. Do we feed the fires of fear, do we allow anxiety to grow, or do we act inwardly to redirect our emotions, attitudes, and actions in more positive directions? Courage means doing what’s most deeply right for both you and the other people who are around you. It means prioritizing your values properly, letting go of what’s not necessary, and protecting what’s most valuable. This is the wisdom of the great philosophers. And they’ve also wisely shown us how to follow them and be philosophers ourselves.

Every one of us capable of extended thought is by nature a philosopher, whether we realize it or not. Every one of us has a basic worldview, however well or badly developed. The only question that remains is whether we’ll be good philosophers or bad ones—which is to say, whether we’ll live from the resources of a powerful and productive worldview or a poor one. We all need a sound philosophy of life or a basic worldview that will allow us to respond wisely to the ups and downs of our experience with a measure of inner peace. And this is one thing that any deep and useful philosophy will teach us: Anything positive that you think anxiety may help you to achieve can be had without its intervention, as a gift from wisdom alone and without the worry.

Let me share two quick pictures philosophy gives us that can be quite useful in thinking about this. First, imagine life as like a big wagon wheel, rolling and bouncing down the road of time, and picture yourself as a tiny creature clinging to a part of the wheel. If you live out near the far edge of the rim, then as the wheel turns, you’ll be lifted high and plunged low in rapid and dizzying succession. But if you can move in closer to the hub, then as the wheel continues to turn, you won’t be whipped about to such dizzying heights of exuberance or forced down to such low points of despair. Wisdom is what can place you closer to the hub of the wheel, with the greater measure of stability that will involve.

Picture Number Two. Imagine an old telescope, perhaps like the one you saw as a kid, an old pirate style spy-glass you could hold in your hand and peer through.

If you look through the small end like everyone does, it will of course make things look bigger and closer and more imposing than they really are. Turn it around then to look through the big end, and you’ll be surprised how the telescope shrinks things down, moves them farther away, and perhaps makes them look much less imposing. Here’s the point. We all have in our hearts and minds an emotional version of that telescope. When something bad happens, we most often tend to look through the small end of our inner telescope, like most everyone else, and 42 | USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG

BY TOM MORRIS

that can make things appear much worse than they in fact are. We may find it useful to turn the telescope around and peer through the big end instead, shrinking the appearance of things down a bit, to give ourselves the measure of inner relief and calm we need to make good and wise decisions.

Or, we can just become more aware of our tendency to pick up that telescope in the first place, and simply choose to put it down with confidence that we’ve come into this world big enough in soul or spirit to handle whatever size challenge comes our way, if we’ll just proceed with wisdom, courage, and compassion in everything we do.

In our unusual time right now, we have the need and the opportunity to examine our personal philosophies of life and ask whether they’re up to the challenge we face today and could well encounter in different forms in

future years. The courage to engage in self-examination, to seek new self-knowledge, and to work toward developing a robust philosophy of life that can give us both guidance and inner peace will repay us in many benefits for as long as we live, and perhaps even beyond those bounds.

And it will involve showing ourselves a little compassion that we can then pass on well to others.

Tom Morris, PhD, is a public philosopher serving the world of business through his books, talks, advice, and executive counsel. He can be found any time at www.TomVMorris.com. Tom’s the author of books like True Success, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Philosophy for Dummies, The Stoic Art of Living, If Harry Potter Ran General Electric, the highly praised short novel, The Oasis Within, a book about Steve Jobs called Socrates in Silicon Valley, and his latest, just out, which is a book about dealing with difficult and disruptive change—or what to do when life hands you very big lemons: It’s called Plato’s Lemonade Stand.

Reprinted with permission.

ASK AL

BY ALVARO G. MENDOZA COMMERCIAL ENERGY SPECIALISTS, INC.

IS YOUR SWIM SCHOOL POOL HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY? WE’VE BEEN ABLE TO REOPEN OUR SWIM SCHOOL FACILITY, BUT OUR REVENUES ARE LOWER THAN NORMAL AS WE ARE SLOWLY BUILDING THE BUSINESS BACK UP TO WHERE IT WAS. WE NEED TO BALANCE THE BUDGET AND CUT COSTS WHEREVER POSSIBLE BUT CANNOT TAKE ANY SHORTCUTS IN QUALITY. WHAT CAN WE DO?

Welcome back to our “Ask the Expert” feature designed to assist you with issues related to swimming pool water, mechanical equipment, space conditioning, and code compliance.

Ask a question, and we will try to answer to the best of our ability.

Congratulations on being able to reopen, but we’re all faced with a tremendous dilemma. Namely, how do we provide the safest and most appealing facility, while keeping our costs low.

In order to provide cost savings, we must look at the largest typical expenditures for a school and see what efficiencies can be generated.

HERE ARE A COUPLE OF THOUGHTS ON THE TOP 5 COSTS: Power: Some of the top energy consumers include pool pumps, dehumidification and electric pool heaters.

• Pool Pumps: One must first look at local health codes to verify what CAN be done. In many codes, some codes allow pool pumps to be shut off completely 3 hours after closing as long as they are turned back on 3 hours before opening.

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A total shut down is not recommended in swim schools, as nighttime recovery of water quality is a very important part of maintaining pristine conditions for students and instructors. Also, some filters, mainly vacuum DE, require some flow to keep the media on the grids. Most codes DO allow “turndown” of flow in off peak hours.

Again, we would recommend the 3-hour window be maintained to help enhance water quality.

Turning down the pumps will require the use of a three-phase pump connected to a VFD-device and is best operated by some sort of intelligent controller. Many leading swim schools have utilized this strategy over the past 10-15 years, but it is a simple self-funding conversion that can be retrofitted into any school and will serve the owners well after the COVID pandemic passes.

If the controller runs the pool by direct flow, we’ve seen swim schools operating at 25% of normal power when filters are clean, up to 50% of normal power once filters get soiled.

If you are interested in this, you would need to supply a vendor with your pump HP size and local cost of power, and make sure that they are experienced in those types of conversions. The load on the pools water should be lower than normal, given the lower occupancy, so one may need to tweak the schedule in order to maximize savings, while still maintaining great water quality.

• Dehumidification Systems: These systems use compressors to help control the moisture and help maintain proper indoor air temperature, water temperature, and relative humidity. They are BIG power users, but you really can’t turn them off, as the damage to the interior space may far outweigh any potential savings. What can you do?

The best way to cut costs is to use a pool cover during off peak times. A cover will cut evaporation by 90%, preventing the moist air from entering the building envelope, where the dehumidification system

would work feverishly to lower the humidity again.

Even if your school was not equipped with a permanent insulated cover, you can purchase an inexpensive bubble cover and use it as a shortterm solution. Be careful to remove the cover completely before opening the pool to patrons.

Another potential cost saving solution is to lower the amount of fresh air brought into the pool area during off-peak times (codes dictate your fresh air input while occupied), and you can reach out to your HVAC support company to see if this is a viable alternative in your facility.

Labor: Proper staffing of your pool facility is paramount to maintain quality control.

As a general rule, in-house operations are a lot less costly than outsourcing, but require some training, certifications, and some commitment on the owner’s part.

Also, the more automated your facility, the lower your service cost will be.

• Mechanical Systems: Some leading schools can monitor and operate their entire mechanical system remotely, only applying additional labor when they receive a critical alarm condition capable of canceling a lesson (normally temperature, chemistry or flow). This type of control & communication system is reliable, affordable, and easy to retrofit. A school can cut overtime hours, and commonly can even operate a normally complex system with a mechanically inclined instructor or manager, and a good support company.

• Physical Cleaning: The successful post COVID swim school will surely need to provide a pristine aquatic venture and effectively promote its safety and cleanliness to patrons.

A reliable robotic vacuum, preferably with active brushing system, can save thousands of dollars a year over manual brushing and vacuuming.

Brushing, while sometimes seemingly a lost art, is critical in keeping the pool finish free from harmful chlorine resistant bacteria and organisms.

• Cleaning and Sterilizing of Pool Area and Equipment: The pandemic raised awareness of the need to control the spread of diseases via clean surfaces. Many schools have adopted new protocols for cleaning pool decks, toys, etc., daily or after every session. This is paramount to assuring parents that their families are safe at your facility but can be labor intensive. Some swim schools have adopted a simple spray system, such as Wysiwash, to provide a “rated” sanitizer to simply hose deck and equipment, with a minimum of labor.

Fuel: Fuel can be your next highest cost depending on facility design. If your dehumidification system recycles your pool heat, you’re well ahead of the game.

If not, and you rely on a gas or electricpowered heater, you can minimize your costs by trimming your temperature, while still keeping your patrons happy.

As a rule of thumb every (one) degree of temperature will save the facility 10% in annual heating costs. So, 90F will generally cost you 20% less than holding 92F, etc.

Regardless, the recommendations in the power section above will help you maintain optimum swim school conditions at a minimum cost.

Chemicals: Health codes mandate certain chemical levels be maintained, and many authorities recommend a 2.0 PPM chlorine residual as a minimum.

However, a sick pool, with high chlorine demand, uses more chemicals. How can you tell if your pool water is sick? You can look at the relationship between ORP (hopefully you monitor ORP!) and your PPM residual. A high ORP (780-850) with low PPM (<2.0) = clean pool. High PPM (4.0 PPM) with low ORP (<650) = sick pool. To clean up pool water and lower chemical consumption, you can shock the pool (many use a Peroxolyte non-chlorine shock) and make corrections to your system to prevent re-occurrence.

Water: As a general rule, it is a bad idea to save lots of water in a swim school pool. You will get irritation complaints from instructors (first) and students. Water is relatively cheap, and poor water quality or irritation can cost you customers. This can be expensive to your bottom line.

Continued on next page...

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Conclusion: We are living in difficult times, indeed, and are having to balance safety and cleanliness with great customer service, while controlling costs and retaining key employees.

In any event, identifying where costs are being incurred, usually in the categories listed above, is the first step in formulating a game plan to keep costs at a minimum.

Some of the recommendations above can provide simple relief without tremendous investment. Others will require upgrades to mechanical systems, which can cost thousands of dollars. Fortunately, many of those upgrades can be, and have been, implemented in many leading schools, on a lease program where they are typically self-funding with savings in labor, chemicals, maintenance and liability.

Hope that helps! Please feel free to forward your questions and comments through the Association office, or directly to me, via email at amendoza@ ceswaterquality.com.

Best Regards, Alvaro G. Mendoza

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WHY ATTEND A USSSA CONFERENCE? RECOLLECTIONS FROM AN AQUATICS AUSSIE IN THE USA.

BY ROSS GAGE AUSSIE AQUATICS

First time to the USA: Pumped!

Therese (then wife) and first-born Emma (nearly 12 months) onboard.

Driving on the wrong side of the road – same with the steering wheel.

Donuts for breakfast. Squirrels running around. Got to be America.

September 1993. The occasion: Recipient of the Australian Swim Coaches Association’s first Scholarship for Study in Learn to Swim. Specifically, participating in the World Aquatic Babies Congress Conference at UCLA and then the National Swim Schools Association (now USSSA) Conference in Orange County. The WABC was certainly an experience – lead by quite a few underwater birthing videos and a very ‘different’ Russian character. Perhaps more on this another time.

I love participating in the USSSA Conferences – my favourite time of the year.

Stimulation, relaxation, education, new friends and catching up with now virtually lifetime friends. And it all started on this trip. Each part of this series, I will touch on just some of the highly significant people I meet at these conferences – highlighting lessons learnt. Back to 1993, in Disneyland territory.

Ross Speaking at the 2017 USSSA Orlando National Conference 48 | USSWIMSCHOOLS.ORG

John Coutts: A Kiwi (from New Zealand) that was wise enough to adopt Australia as home. Forever grateful to John for introducing me to all sorts of wonderful people.

John is a great networker, terrific listener, probing questioner, insightful commenter, generous benefactor (think Coutts Family Swim Schools Scholarships). And good for a shout at the bar.

Johnny Johnson: Synonymous with Blue Buoy Swim School, gentle baby teaching, the importance of balance in swimming skill development, Stop Drowning Now ( formerly Safer 3), humility, graciousness, due casualness, passion. Gave the most moving address as President at the Awards Gala during the Conference in Washington, D.C. - recalling his visit earlier in the day to his father’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery.

Cindy Johnson: When it was penned that ‘behind every great man is a great woman’ – it could have been Cindy that they had in mind. Cindy was already well down the road of a highly successful professional career when she ‘pivoted’ (nothing new!) to ensure Blue Buoy Swim School would be, and still is, an outstanding brand in their community.

Also, a tireless, selfless giver to Stop Drowning Now (formerly Safer 3) and the NDPA.

Johnny Johnson presents John Coutts with USSSA Hall of Fame in 2015

All three: super approachable. Reach out to people at USSSA Conferences – you will be amazed at how welcomed you will be.

In conclusion; John, Johnny and Cindy all epitomize why there are plenty of Sunny Days Ahead for the teaching of swimming and water safety … and the USSSA. Till next time; onwards and upwards.

Ross A little bit about Aussie Aquatics: A company that I started in 1998. It has been the ‘behind the scenes’ contractor used to conceptualise, start, develop and operate the likes of Swim Australia, SwimSAFER, Australian Swim Schools Association (ASSA), Australian Swim Schools Hall of Fame, the International Swim Schools Spectacular, national conferences and sponsor procurement. Just finished an amazing stint providing ‘General Manager’ services to Carlile Swimming. Brought on partly by COVID-19, now pivoting into new roles (not sure what yet!) using my skill set and network.

Johnny and Cindy Johnson at Blue Buoy Swim School

Cindy Johnson at the Stop Drowning Now Exhibitor Booth during a USSSA Event.

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