It is our job to help members have fun each and every time they visit our club.

Growing up on a farm in a small rural area  in the midwest teaches you perspective rather quickly. You learn the value of hard work and a hot meal as a reward for the days accomplishments.

I can remember my father paying me one penny per weed that I would remove from the corn field.  I also recall our neighbor paying us one penny per bale of straw that we took out of the field and put into his barn.  It was hard work in the hot sun, but that was what we did on the farm.

At that point in my young life, the game of golf and all that is associated with the game had not even entered my mind.  But what I did learn was a great work ethic and how to treat people fairly and honestly.  It also serves as a good reminder to me that treating people right takes work.

In the club business, each of us is only as good as his/her word and we must continually work on good communication with our staffs and with our members/guests.  Just the other day, I handled a member complaint poorly.  It did not matter if our staff was right or the member was right; I should have taken the member at his word.  For the next day or two, I thought about my actions and how I could have handled it better.  As luck would have it the member came to me and asked for another word about the matter.  He promptly expressed his displeasure with my handling of the issue. After I let him vent his frustrations, I told him that I could not agree with him more and that I did not handle the issue well and that I hoped he would let me apologize.  At first he appeared stunned that I would admit to not treating him correctly.  He then took pity on my lapse of judgement and thanked me for owning up to my poor response.  He felt better about the issue and I felt much better about my actions.

The moral of this story is that no matter how hard you try, you are going to make mistakes when dealing with human interactions.  I have learned and will continue to learn that it is best to just own up to your actions and ask for forgiveness when you screw up.  At the end of the day, we all are truly blessed to work in an industry that provides us with a great environment in which to run our business.  We get to work with chefs, golf professionals and superintendents that love coming to work every day.  We get to associate with great members and customers that choose to spend their relaxation time with us.  It is our job to help them have fun each and every time they visit our business.

Each of us came from somewhere, take what you learned along the way and use it to make each day better for your club.