Management

BE GREAT, HAVE FUN

By Robert D. Podley, CCM, CAM • General Manager Colonial Country Club • Fort Myers, Fla.

ALL I EVER NEEDED to know, I learned at Colonial CC in Fort Myers.

And so it was, nearly eight years to the day, I returned home to where my Troon career began … Colonial Country Club of Fort Myers, Fla., albeit in a different role. Where I left as Clubhouse Manager, I returned as the new General Manager. A new title, yes, but surrounded by the support of familiar faces and names.

While the title and office may have changed, there are intangibles that have changed with time as well. As eight years of life experience will hopefully do to any of us, perspectives have broadened, approaches have softened and most importantly, appreciation has deepened.

A question that stood out to me in the Colonial interview was one in which I was asked for an explanation on how my leadership style may have changed over the last 5-10 years. That inquiry led me into a thought process that went much further back than a decade. In fact, it took me back to my first club leadership gig when two mentors took a chance on me at a time that I was barely old enough to consume an adult beverage. I have no doubt they regretted that decision on more than one occasion. I was a young, low-emotional IQ individual that didn’t assume, but worse, believed that the club and the business of people could be effectively led while behaving like a tyrant. “Who needs relationships at work?” and “This is meant to be work, not fun,” were thoughts that came to mind at the time. Of course, we can all predict how that ended up … a lot of lessons were learned, but not enough.

It took observing how team members responded to other managers, several more jobs of increasing responsibility, blending a family, a pandemic, aging in general, deaths of loved ones and a sign from above to provide the lessons that I believe are ultimately needed to be successful in today’s clubs … a mix of the old, along with a healthy blend of empathy, kindness and fun.

As to that sign from above … I wasn’t referring to something spiritual. No, this was in fact a metal sign that hung on a wall above the loading dock door at Colonial CC so that every associate would see it on their way into the club. The sign’s message was simple yet powerful and stated “Be Great, Have Fun.” I wouldn’t grow to fully appreciate its message until long after I left.

Fun is at the core of what we do as club leaders. It doesn’t matter what demographics your club serves or how large your facilities are or how robust the membership is. Golf, racquets, dining and more are of high interest to current and prospective members because they provide a break from the real world along with its daily news cycle. It is our job to facilitate that fun.

Perhaps more importantly, it is our job to make sure that those who are tasked with providing the fun are having fun themselves. When we can’t be there to shake hands, provide a round of applause, ask about an associate’s day or facilitate a random act of kindness, perhaps we can still find a way to make sure each associate has a reminder that while we want to be a bit better every day, we aren’t trying to colonize Mars with Elon. In its simplest form, we are hitting balls and slinging food/drinks in some of the most beautiful surroundings in the country. If we can’t have fun while doing that, how can we fully expect a fun experience to be delivered to our membership?

So how has my style changed? Perhaps it’s a blend of the old and the new. A little bit of structure and accountability combined with kindness, empathy and a strong desire to have fun with what we do and who we do it with. While Colonial’s original sign disappeared in their multi-million dollar remodel, it will certainly be making its triumphant return, once again reminding all and inspiring other future leaders to have fun. As it turns out, even though I left Colonial CC to continue strengthening my skillset as a leader, much of what I needed to know to successfully lead a team was already staring me in the face every day.

“A question that stood out to me in the

Colonial interview was one in which I was asked for an explanation on how my leadership style may have changed over the last 5-10 years. ”