The fallout from the recession, combined with seismic shifts in the nature of the club business, have created a new urgency for effective leadership and a new formula for management-driven success.
Ned Welc’s phone started ringing almost as soon as the idea was revealed. As General Manager/Chief Operating Officer of The Mayfield Sand Ridge Club, formed in 2006 from a merger of three Cleveland-area private clubs (Mayfield CC, Sand Ridge GC and The Oakwood Club), Welc heard from colleagues and club directors from around the country who sought insights into how such a strategy could be pursued. “I fielded lots and lots of calls,” says Welc, who came back from The Sanctuary in Florida to Cleveland, where he had started his career at Mayfield CC, to help direct the merged entity into its new life.
As the recession ramped up, so did the incoming-call activity on Ned Welc’s phone—and the degree of anxious urgency that he often heard on the other end. Coverage of the novel approach—including a C&RB cover story in March 2009 (“Merger on Mayfield”) caught the attention of an industry desperate to find new ways to create operating efficiencies, stem the tide of member defections and position their properties for the future.
Traits of Detroit Athletic Club Leadership 1. Integrity in all relationships and responsibilities 2. Honest and Loyal 3. Respectful and Polite to everyone 4. A Team Member who can work in concert with peers 5. Disciplined and Dependable 6. Optimistic and Upbeat 7. Honorable in speech 8. A Peacemaker 9. Possesses a good sense of Humor 10. Develops Staff to grow personally and professionally |
There was no doubt from the start that the Mayfield Sand Ridge approach made economic sense; combining staff and systems led to a streamlined operation and a “financial home run,” Welc says, immediately producing savings on the order of $350,000 per year. The added appeal of the expanded amenities offered by the combined properties also yielded a significant increase in applicants, confirming that the decision to put Mayfield Sand Ridge together had led to an important edge in the challenging Northeast Ohio market, at a time when clubs everywhere were being put to their greatest tests ever.
But while he and his staff were now managing operations at two locations that had both gone from being “under-utilized to bursting at the seams,” over time Welc became more aware of a lingering aftereffect to the merger that still needed to be addressed. While the memberships and staffs of the three previous clubs had been combined in terms of name and activity—and a new, fourth club identity had also started to emerge from among those members and staff who came onto the scene after the merger—it was still evident that the various groups had not been brought together completely.
“There was acceptance [of the merger], but apathy about some of the exciting new possibilities it was designed to create,” says Welc. “We now had full dining rooms and golf courses at all locations, but there was some emptiness, both during daily activities and at special events, with many people from the various clubs still staying together in their own pockets.”
Welc knew that the Mayfield Sand Ridge merger would not be complete if this aspect of the new organization’s health was not addressed. With no examples existing within the club industry that he could call on to benchmark the situation against, Welc decided to explore an approach, “appreciative inquiry,” that was brought to his attention by someone with connections to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
Appreciative inquiry (AI) was developed in 1979 by a Case Western doctoral student for a project with the renowned Cleveland Clinic medical facility. It has since been applied in a wide variety of institutions and organizations, including large hotel chains—but Mayfield Sand Ridge, to Welc’s knowledge, would be the first private club to try to use it to lead everyone involved with the new club, from management to staff to directors and members, into a new, unified direction.
Accentuating the Positive
As its name indicates, the appreciative inquiry process revolves around getting everyone in an organization engaged in asking the usual questions designed to determine where that organization currently stands, and where it wants to go—with the key distinction being that all of those inquiries are conducted in a positive fashion. For Mayfield Sand Ridge, Welc says, this was especially critical, to turn staff and members alike away from continuing to live in the past and discuss how things used to be at their “old” club, and instead focus on what was good about the new Mayfield Sand Ridge organization and on how those positives could be maximized going forward.
Advancing Ideas These training, team-building and management and leadership techniques were highlighted in entries at the Club Managers Association of America Idea Fair that were displayed earlier this year at the CMAA’s World Conference in San Diego.Woodfield CC developed an internal Position Orientation and Certification Program to refine the process of bringing new hires on board. A position-specific orientation checklist was designed by the club’s HR staff and department heads, covering everything from member interaction to basic job duties. To be certified, new hires must now be taken through the checklist and properly demonstrate the knowledge and tasks essential to their positions. The program has become an effective way to help new hires fully understand their duties, the club reports, while also helping the club keep track of the training they have received.Before new employees begin work in the golf operation at St. Andrews CC, they watch a New Employee Video created by current employees, who discuss a club standard and explain what it means to them.To alleviate the learning curve for new employees taking part in large events, the Kansas City Country Club developed a Standardize Your Annual Events process to make the transition smoother and reduce the time spent communicating expectations. Using a PowerPoint, the club communicates photos of the different event areas and details the setup requirements that make up each station. The Country Club of Virginia incorporated a competition/team-building exercise where employees were assigned the task of creating a new drink for the Poolside Café. All ingredients were made available and teams had 30 minutes to create the drink, provide the list of ingredients, and name it. The winning drink, named Platinum Punch, was added to the menu. At the Chevy Chase Club, “Terrace Hold ‘Em” is designed to recognize and reward staff for their commitment to exceeding member expectations. Players accumulate points or chips when exhibiting certain competencies (such as enthusiasm, menu knowledge or professionalism), and the player with the most chips at the end of the week is recognized and awarded a small prize. The top three players at the end of the month are recognized with a certificate and monetary bonus. Through a Helping Hands Tournament at Cherokee Town and Country Club, employees in financial need receive help. Around 140 participants attend the golf tournament, which typically raises around $7,000 and has prevented numerous foreclosures, evictions and repossessions. Local vendors are also invited to participate. For a fair and unbiased employee incentive, the General Manager of Biltmore Forest Country Club distributes pre-printed lottery-style tickets to any employee for good deeds or to show appreciation for their efforts. An employee may recognize another employee by requesting a ticket from the GM. On the last Friday of each month, a random Employee Lottery drawing chooses a winner for a monetary prize; all other tickets are entered into a second drawing for one lucky winner at the end of the year. To help staff remember service standards, menu items and selection, members’ names, wine and alcohol, Sailfish Point implements Daily Contests, Puzzles or Games. Through Server Bingo, Word Scramble and Pictionary, the club helps reinforce staff knowledge and confidence. Prizes range from dinner off the menu to bottles of wine and Sailfish Bucks, which can be redeemed for movie tickets, gift cards and gas cards. At Carolina Country Club, Employee Boot Camp is a free, high-intensity interval training program geared to increase strength, cardio, flexibility and mobility. It is designed to be a scalable program to benefit employees of all fitness levels. It is offered 4 days a week with sessions lasting 30-40 minutes and employees who show up regularly have lost weight, burned fat, gained muscle and improved overall fitness—the club even lowered insurance rates as a result of the program. During slow times (summer) for clubs in South Florida, the Co-Ed Country Club Softball League lifts morale of employees with competition among eight local clubs (Ibis G&CC, CC at Mirasol, Frenchman’s Creek Beach & CC, Admirals Cove, Eastpointe CC, Mayacoo Lakes, BallenIsles and Frenchman’s Reserve) every Monday night. The result is great teambuilding, networking with other clubs and exposure for international staff to an American game. To model the wide range and appeal of member fitness classes, Ocean Reef Club offers a full calendar of complimentary Associate Fitness Classes available to all associates. The schedule includes morning and evening classes, five days a week to accommodate various shifts and schedules. |
“A big part of our organizational health challenge was that many people—staff and members alike—still routinely made references to ‘Mayfield people,’ ‘Sand Ridge people’ or ‘Oakwood people,’ ” Welc says. “[The AI process] was the best way to address that, by making it clear we wanted to think only about what Mayfield Sand Ridge now was, and would be in the future. ”
After Welc and his staff undertook an honest appraisal of where their post-merger club stood competitively in several key categories as compared to the Northeast Ohio club market as a whole, they began a process that started with staff members conducting one-on-one interviews with selected club members, and eventually grew into larger “summit meetings” that drew over 100 members each time.
In all cases, Welc says, the emphasis was on “asking positive questions, to identify what was good about the new club and what people liked about their experiences here.” Getting staff members involved with the process in this way had several benefits, he notes.
“We made it clear this wasn’t a Board initiative, and members were impressed that the staff cared enough to do this on their own and in such a personal way, rather than through e-mails. It quickly grew to where people who weren’t involved wanted to be included, and it also had a positive impact on staff morale and unity, as they each saw how they were valued by the members and how their roles contributed to members’ positive experiences.”
Appreciative inquiry soon had Mayfield Sand Ridge managers and members working effectively together to create “a new image for the club and its future,” Welc says. Most significantly, it helped all involved identify a shared desire to increase age diversity in the club, leading to an initiative designed to attract more junior members.
In 2012 and 2013, Welc reports, that campaign brought over 200 new members to Mayfield Sand Ridge and helped to drop the 750-member club’s average member age from 64 to 56. Even better, the new members were immediately welcomed and engaged by existing members and staff, who were now eager to show them how to best enjoy the new club, rather than think in terms, or make allusions to, how its once-separate parts had existed prior to the merger.
“By focusing on developing a new identity and new solutions rather than trying to ‘fix problems,’ which just gets you back to the norm, our value equation was greatly improved,” Welc says. “[Appreciative inquiry] helped both members and managers believe in the new club, and helped a truly new brand emerge. And everyone became ambassadors of the change that we needed to make to move forward.”
Learning from the Leaders
At the end of September, Welc related his experiences with appreciative inquiry at a day-long “Masters Roundtable” seminar that was held at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md. It was the second year in a row that the special program had been presented by the Washington, D.C.-area (National Capital) chapter of the CMAA, and arrangements and speaker commitments are already well in place for next fall’s event, to continue what is now planned as an ongoing annual opportunity for emerging club managers to learn from a “Who’s Who” of the industry’s most accomplished leaders.
“The idea is to aim at the highest level and showcase the industry’s best examples of leadership, to give tomorrow’s managers an opportunity to absorb and learn from those leaders’ experiences and connect with those who are implementing some of the most innovative management concepts in the business,” says Eric Dietz, CCM, PGA, who helped to develop and launch the Masters Roundtable events while General Manager/CEO of Lakewood Country Club in Rockville, Md. (after the first of the year, Dietz will relocate to Edina, Minn. to succeed the retiring George Carroll, CCM, CCE, as Interlachen Country Club’s new General Manager).
“It’s vitally important for the future of our industry, especially with the recent challenges we’ve all had and those that lie ahead, to expose tomorrow’s managers not only to best practices, but also the best managers behind those practices,” says Dietz. “The value of programs like [the Masters Roundtable] goes well beyond what [attendees] hear in the presentations—it’s the opportunity to develop contacts and mentorships they can draw on as they face their own challenges going forward.”
In addition to Welc, the speaker lineup from this year’s Masters Roundtable included many other top club managers who have already faced unique challenges—and in all cases, their messages to the group emphasized that “organizational health” is joined at the hip to effective leadership that must be implemented not just from the top, but at all levels:
• Christine Pooler, General Manager/COO of Merion Golf Club, Ardmore, Pa., shared that her significant career achievements, which include being entrusted as a female manager with Merion’s storied traditions and then leading the club’s successful performance this year as host of the U.S. Open, have all been rooted in a leadership philosophy which recognizes that “success is tied to the active participation of many; leaders are never successful in a solo performance.” Pooler prescribed a three-step approach to effective leadership: 1) Provide staff with tools needed to be successful; 2) Move the rock so the path is clear; and 3) Praise jobs well done, encourage those who are struggling, and educate those who are lost.
• Tom Wallace, CCM, ECM, General Manager/CEO of The Club at Mediterra in Naples, Fla., (“Well-Groomed Approach,” C&RB, May 2012), described how implementing “leveraged leadership” that understands and engages all levels through techniques such as the “Think Tank” can help “build an organization that will build itself.” Leveraged leaders are more effective than “hero leaders,” Wallace said, because they know how to “teach others to believe in themselves, which is the true sign of leadership.”
• Jeffrey Kreafle, General Manager/COO of Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis, Mo., emphasized how understanding failure, and openly sharing personal experiences involving it, is also an important aspect of leadership. “Approached correctly, failure is an opportunity to refine and develop skills that can lead to more opportunities,” Kreafle said. “No failure leads to no success—but knowing failure leads to knowing success.”
• As Executive Manager of the Detroit Athletic Club, Ted Gillary, CCM, CCE, has directed perhaps the most shining example of how a club property can be steered through a series of daunting challenges. Gillary shared the full list of leadership traits that have helped the DAC continue to prosper and stand out as a symbol of civic pride and spirit for the Michigan city throughout its difficulties. The basic leadership philosophy that Gillary has ingrained in the DAC staff to ensure ongoing success, he related, has been to “never relieve ourselves of the responsibility for the well-being of the club.”
• Rick Bayliss, CCM, CCE, General Manager/COO of the Lost Tree Club in North Palm Beach, Fla., and current President of the CMAA, concluded the Masters Roundtable program by stressing how club managers must learn to distinguish between the active leadership that is needed to work with others on the management team, and the ‘consultative’ leadership required among member constituents. Bayliss also stressed the importance of good leadership skills as a primary qualification for all managers in today’s club business. “Don’t permit bad leaders to hide behind good numbers!” he counseled.
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