Whether you use the word “bouncer”, or the more up-to-date equivalents such as “Door Supervisor” or “Security Guard”, to describe someone who provides front-of-house security at a venue – particularly one where alcohol is served, but not exclusively so – the image conjured in your mind is probably not too far from the archetype – a strong, burly individual with biceps like tree trunks and possibly a shaved head. Such images are most people’s idea of the prototype security guard, and the advantages of such a look are pretty clear. However, it would be a mistake to assume that someone who does not conform to the stereotype must necessarily be a poor security guard. Often, they are a lot more effective than some would assume.
The thing to remember when dealing with a door supervisor who appears to not fit the stereotype is that appearances can be deceiving. The person in front of you does after all have an SIA Licence and has been judged competent to do the job. If they have convinced someone to give them a job as a Security Guard or Door Supervisor despite what may be considered certain limitations, then you should consider why this is. Remember, most people’s opinion will be that a Door Supervisor should be tall, broad and strong. If the one standing in front of you is none of these things, chances are that they know a few tricks that will make up for the absence of those attributes.
There is a school of thought which believes that a smaller person will carry around a bigger grudge. This is not, by and large, true in any more cases than those where it is not true. However, they may well have learnt over the years that a certain tenacity and courage pays off in ways that brute strength simply cannot compete with. They may not be able to lift a miscreant above their head, but they will still be able to make them feel very apologetic in one way or another. This may have absolutely nothing to do with physical intervention – SIA training tends to advise that any kind of physical intervention should only ever be a last resort. What can be achieved before you need to resort to that, through a simple authoritative bearing, is a prevailing opinion that misbehaving will be a mistake.
Being a good Door Supervisor often means that you will never have to involve yourself in a confrontation – but that if it does become necessary, that you do so within the bounds of the law and to the minimum extent necessary to stop and defuse the situation. This means you need to be assertive without being violent, and use your brain more than any physical recourse. Sure, it may help if you are built like a rugby player, but there is definitely nothing written down that says you need to be. What is much more important is that you know how to do your job well and effectively every time.
