The Level of Club Does Not Determine the Quality of Leader

Before I get into the specifics, my intent with what I share is always to generate conversation and thought among my audience. And though this is primarily focused on the club industry, I’d assume that it applies to other industries … especially those where public perception, demographics and stature plays a role in recruitment decisions.

In a recent conversation I was having with a peer on the topic of executive recruitment in clubs, he said something to me about a fairly high-end club that was looking for their next General Manager and Chief Operating Officer. Early in the process this club ruled out a highly recommended and very strong leader. In fact a first interview wasn’t even offered.

“They probably have a case of PR phobia,” he told me. He went on to explain that that the board or search committee was probably envisioning push back and questions from their membership or the surrounding community if they had to announce their next executive leader is joining them most recently from a B or C level club.

Joe Smith, General Manager/COO

Of course, this is all speculation, who knows what really went on behind the scenes and in the boardroom.

It took a while for me to digest this, but the more I thought about, the more I was able to relate to situations where something like this happened. Either having heard about it in other clubs or having dealt with it in my own career. Some of my very best hires over the years were questioned by members before they even started … “They worked at that club? Our club is higher end. Are you sure they can deliver?”

That said, I think it is a common occurrence and in today’s age where we preach so much about “it doesn’t matter what others think,” it shouldn’t happen. Primarily because clubs potentially miss out on quality leaders who can make a substantial difference in the culture and future of the club.

I’m not saying that where you’ve worked or what type of club you’ve led isn’t important. I’m not discounting experience at top tier clubs at all. It most certainly is important, and I will always believe that a candidate’s past experience should be greatly considered. But where someone has led most recently is only a small piece of the puzzle and should be considered as such. In other words, top-tier leaders can lead B-level clubs. Furthermore, the sooner clubs realize that there is value in the person’s experience regardless of the type of clubs they’ve been at, the sooner clubs will start to find better and more long-lasting alignment and success in their executive leaders.

I’ll use myself as an example. When I was recruited to my current role, I was given an interview, but not invited back for a second (how I ended up with an offer is another story). The reason being, all my experience was on the corporate/developer side of our business and I had never worked directly for the members. Any of you who have worked for developers or management companies and have made the transition to member-owned clubs know this is a very real hurdle to overcome.

Meanwhile, six years later and my corporate experience has allowed us to build a team of professionals that have delivered the highest member satisfaction scores in the club’s 37-year history. My corporate experiences with cost reductions, cash management and downturns led the club very successfully through the pandemic and nearly all of the practices implemented came from my experience going through bankruptcy during the housing downturn. My corporate experience kept us on track with our strategic plan and capital infusion as I implemented strict targets and metrics for keeping the club on track with an aggressive (and much needed) improvement plan. My corporate experience with negotiating large purchase agreements and multi-unit buying programs has saved this club 100s of thousands of dollars in various equipment and infrastructure costs. Simply put, the very thing that almost caused me to get overlooked, is the very thing that added so much value to my current club.

These are just a few examples, and I know there are so many others out there. And this oversight in recruitment happens all the time. From an operations standpoint, the fact that is truly ironic is that the lower tier clubs, many times, have higher expectations with less resources to deliver those expectations and many more moving parts requiring leaders to be more adaptable and effective. Leaders with corporate backgrounds are accustomed to much stricter performance metrics and financial targets. There’s value in all of that. Value that would help any club.

You see at the end of the day it’s about people. And whether you’re a leader at a bundled HOA club, a dining club, city club or you’re leading an exclusive invite-only, six-figure initiation fee golf club, it’s about people and how you make others feel. Whether you’ve worked for a developer, a management company, a hotel chain or the like; it’s about people. It’s about hospitality.

I say this all the time; “the right person can seat you in a $20 plastic folding chair and make you feel like the most important person in the world. The wrong person can seat you in a $1,500 designer dining room chair and make you feel invisible.” And another fact that often goes unlooked is that chair is the same chair whether it’s in your member dining room or your employee breakroom. The person sitting in it, whether a member or an employee, deserves to feel important and the wrong leader, regardless of what clubs they’ve led at, might struggle to do that.

So what’s the point? What’s the awareness or message I’m trying to get across? Like I said earlier – it’s about people. And if you’re on a search committee, be aware of the tendency and the possibility of “PR anxiety.” If your initial reason to disqualify a candidate is because of the type of club they’re presently leading, let that be the reason to offer them an interview – it could be the best decision you make for your members and employees. Chances are, that guy or girl who knows how to make someone feel special in a $20 plastic folding chair knows people, knows how to treat people and knows that people deserve to feel important regardless of the level of club.