What’s most important in building and growing the PADI organization’s success and future? People. The primary investment PADI makes is finding and hiring talented and experienced staff with the right skills and a heart for serving PADI Members. Regardless of their respective roles, the focus is on service – effectively providing what PADI Members and divers need. PADI culture focuses on relationships. Forecasting plans for supporting the growth of PADI Members is about how we can serve PADI Members better. What builds a promising future? Investing in reliable, talented, dedicated and quality staff to serve the PADI Membership. 

The future of your business and the collective dive industry relies on measurable growth – bringing in more divers. And, because diving is a social, people/learner-centric activity and business, this can only happen when we have the right people at all levels. Everyone who potential divers or new divers interact with – you, me or the exhausted divemaster who’s still smiling and friendly while filling cylinders after a long day on the water – influences whether they become or stay divers or take up some other activity. It is supremely important to bring in new customers, as is keeping our existing customers engaged.

Unquestionably, we all must invest in diving’s growth so our businesses thrive. We have bills to pay. We have families to support. Those are important. But, bringing in divers is likely even more important for the future of the world in which we live. 

As you’ve heard me say many times, diving is uniquely positioned to positively influence how humanity interacts with the seas, pushing societal trends toward thoughtful and pragmatic ocean conservation and long-term ocean viability. Diving is uniquely positioned as a personal positive force amid the challenges we all face in life. The PADI organization’s voice is already being heard by business and government leaders, and each new diver we bring in makes that voice louder and more influential. We are already removing and documenting debris, freeing entangled marine animals, farming coral and adopting dive sites. We are already bringing diving’s healing power to bear against stress; the physical and mental challenges we all face to varying degrees. Each new diver adds to our ability to lift the seas, and to lift each other.

Investing in good people correlates directly to mission, and to getting more people to seek adventure and save the ocean. It is good for the PADI Membership ecosystem and for shaping a brighter future. 

Sincerely,

Drew Richardson
President & CEO

The post Straight Talk from PADI CEO: Investing in Others appeared first on PADI Pros.

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