Is Your Club Still Right For You?

When you think of your club, you probably don’t often ask yourself how truly happy you are as a General Manager. After all, you work at a golf course. Many would dream of a job coupled with beauty, the freedom of being outside all day, not being cooped up in an office, and working with customers that are mostly happy to be where they are.

But what happens when the “club culture” and “core values” of your club conflict with your own personal core values? That is what Norm Spitzig is asking anyway. Spitzig is a senior partner with Master Club Advisors, an executive search firm for the private golf club industry, and publishes two newsletters on the subject.

In his article entitled, “When Values Collide,” Spitzig talks about something rarely discussed when working in the golf course industry. He talks about listening to one’s inner self to discover if you are fundamentally unhappy with your club.

It’s quite important, he suggests, to be truthful with yourself and to maintain your core values. Or, rather “leave that environment and strike out anew.”

With all the variables that go into finding another club; e.g. submitting resumes, supporting your family, location, skills, experience, comfort, compatibility, overall fear of the unknown, etc., it’s important to be open and direct when looking at your own values?

Spitzig presents the following core questions to “help you really be honest with yourself in coming to the right decision” and how you truly feel about your club:

* Do too many people in the club community in question act as if the good of the individual is more important than the good of the many?

* Do too many people behave as if club rules exist to be frivolously tested and/or maliciously broken rather than respected and adhered to?

* Do too many people act as if the retention of talented, loyal, and reasonably compensated employees is less important than constant turnover and the perceived opportunity to hire cheaper?

* Do too many members treat the staff in a servile, condescending manner rather than as "ladies and gentlemen, serving ladies and gentlemen?"

* Are the number of egregious behavioral problems sufficiently large and ongoing to require some sort of formal grievance committee?

* Are those in power more interested in their own personal agendas rather than addressing the operational, social, and athletic needs of the entire membership?

* Do too many people lack the basic "club sense" necessary for a successful, enjoyable, and quality club operation?

Have you answered yes to any of these questions? If so, Spitzig contends that ignoring it will cause that awareness to “only come back and haunt you...”

“As the horrific and life-changing events of Sept. 11 have reaffirmed to us all, life should be cherished and savored with those we love and respect. This applies to your home and the members of the worldwide private club community. If you are currently with the right club for you, then enjoy it and proclaim it to anyone who will listen. But if your gut tells you that the club that you are with no longer feels like home, then the choice is clear -- it's time to leave. By doing so, you'll be happier and more productive in the long run,” he explains.

Click here to learn more about Master Club Advisors their approach in placing General Managers.