FROM THE DESK OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR “ Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.” PAUL THEROUX
As we enter the winter season and the end of another year of ups and downs, now does seem like a good time to take some time to recover and make preparations for the next year to come. I hope you are able to find some time this holiday season to spend the most precious of your assets, your time, with your friends and family. As Laura Vanderkam points out in the article, “Treat Time Like It Matters,” it’s up to you to be a wise steward of your time and is an important lesson to learn in both life and in business. Alex Faust from the Grown Institute encourages us to practice coaching staff, rather than doing it ourselves in his article, “Being lazy is a good thing.” A good reminder to protect your time and energy for what is most important that only you can do and step away from handling things you could train others to do. If we’ve learned anything over the last couple of years it’s the importance of being adaptable. And as we look to the years ahead, it will continue to be important as a business and a leader to be adaptable, agile and nimble in order to survive in today’s marketplace. John Spence examines four core elements for personal adaptability in the article “How to Develop AQ.” And how will you find those staff members who can take things off of your plate? This issue includes an article on “The 4 Components of a Great Hiring Process” written by CareerPlug to help you make adjustments to your hiring process in this competitive market. And if you missed the session presented by Melissa McGarvey at National Conference on what the data is saying about trends in the hiring process, be sure to check it out in our Member Resource Pool at my.usswimschools.org for even more tips and trends. There are a number of exciting things in the works for the learn to swim industry in the coming year, the USSSA creation of a fundamental swim instructor certification, establishment of minimum membership standards as well as an updated dues structure to help us get a better understanding of the scope of members we serve. In addition, internationally there is new research on babies’ relationship with water and you can learn more in the article “Why Babies Drown?” by Carolina Burnay. She has plans to further continue her research to provide data that could possibly create additional understanding around layers of protection for drowning prevention in infants. Remember to take time for you and your mental wellbeing as well as make preparations for another year of growth, learning and leading.
LISA M. ZARDA, CAE, CNAP Executive Director | US Swim School Association
