How many times have we found ourselves in a situation where we were “out of the loop” and unaware of a significant social, political or personal event? We all remember such incidents. Usually, they’re simple, humorous lapses, but sometimes, these moments become significant and embarrassing social or work-related gaffes.
In our personal lives, we have resources—phone calls, newspapers, television, and social events—that keep us in contact and abreast of information and issues important to us. Surely the same should hold true in our professional lives as club leaders.
However, club managers are perpetually challenged to balance day-to-day operations and administrative demands against long-term, big-picture governance and strategic leadership issues. They’re expected to be aware of current legislative, legal, regulatory and political issues affecting our industry—and this expectation is particularly acute when our own clubs are affected. Further, they’re charged with ensuring that governing documents and employment polices and practices are continually up to date.
In juggling all these responsibilities and more, despite our best efforts, it’s easy to miss out on important, industry-wide developments affecting our clubs—and our careers.
Keeping Current
Like most managers, my workday is necessarily and rightly focused on the immediate pressures of operations and member services, with little discretionary time to keep up with the myriad and complex issues coming from local, state and national levels and from political, legislative, legal and social angles. For club directors, whose role in the club is an avocation, there is even less time in their lives for such efforts.
Thus, the question: how can club managers and leaders realistically stay on top of issues and developments? Over the years, I have found my club and I benefit greatly from having a selection of respected resources on which we rely for information and ideas and deliberately using those resources to fuel routine reevaluations of our governance and operations and to stay current.
Among the many trade and association publications we receive, Club Director, Private Club Advisor, and the California State Club Association newsletters are routinely circulated among staff as required reading and distributed to our directors and select committee chairs.
Industry trade shows and conferences are also important. Each year, we send at least one delegate to NCA’s National Club Conference. His/her responsibility is to report back to our board on current issues and ideas along with relevant suggestions for amendments to our operations and governance.
These resources help us in key ways. For instance, instead of trying to be on top of every issue and nuance, we’ve found it more effective to budget and plan for specific review points. And instead of trying to react to challenges and mandates as they arise, we’re able to anticipate and plan for changes at our own pace. Based on Club Conference recommendations, we develop action plans and schedules for implementation of changes to bylaws, policies and operations. These plans are then incorporated into budgets, managerial goals, and committee assignments.
What About Management Development?
Speaking of managerial goals, club managers frequently are conflicted about whether to apply resources to the manager’s career development objectives or to their club’s governance interests. Although a distinct difference exists, both need to be valued and nurtured and will ideally be synonymous in many ways.
Career skill and educational development are important and one’s club benefits directly from such investment. There are also important governance issues affecting the club itself and warranting serious attention by club leaders, for example, the importance of knowing about new regulations regarding pool drain safety. While knowing the latest regulations is of obvious merit for good club governance, it is incumbent upon the manager to find sources to stay abreast of the issues.
In my experience, my professional interests are best served by addressing my club’s interests as well as my own. Case in point: Each year, I attend the National Club Conference. I view the resources allocated to attend this conference as an investment by the club for the club. The skills I learn from attending this conference and others not only help me personally as a club leader but also help my club on a number of levels. These include networking with other club leaders, learning best practices, and keeping abreast of the latest trends, legislation and regulations.
Career development objectives and club governance objectives are not mutually exclusive, but to pit one against the other means both will suffer. In my experience, my professional interests have been best served by taking my club’s best interests as my own and focusing my energies thereon.
The National Club Conference
NCA’s National Club Conference is one resource that serves both the manager’s and club’s best interests by updating club leaders on current issues, giving them a forum in which they can discuss management development, and providing new ways to handle operational concerns. From my viewpoint, any club that takes its governance and planning seriously should send at least one delegate.
After all, the primary role of leadership is a “big picture” approach to strategy, governance and oversight. By allocating resources to ensure awareness of the legal, political and legislative environment in which we operate, we gain the opportunity to take assertive and self-determined actions. Those who do so will always be in a stronger position than those who do not. The choice to be “proactive” is always going to prevent more problems and better prepare the club to deal with problems that do arise. A choice to forego such knowledge places one’s club in a persistently reactive and potentially negligent mode.
Although theoretically club leaders can glean this “big picture” information elsewhere, the National Club Conference provides a structured opportunity for these updates. Also, for club leaders who attend with their manager, this is an opportunity to develop a shared vision of the challenges ahead. Additionally, the educational program content includes issue analysis, legislative information and programming ideas presented by experts in an interactive forum.
Because the conference’s information is directly applicable and easily translated into action plans and operational goals, every year I’ve returned to my club with new data and ideas affecting the entire operation. We’ve made significant changes to our governance standards based directly on the conference content.
For example, information from the Club Conference led directly to modifications to our crisis management and disaster preparedness plans; adding candidate disclaimer agreements to our admission procedures; a review of member discipline provisions to ensure compliance with state corporations codes; adding a code of ethics to our employment policies; implementing a conflict-of-interest policy for directors; initiating a test audit for compliance with IRS recordkeeping requirements; expanding our D&O coverage; and, implementing formal committee guidelines.
Making Time
Our busy workdays can preclude active participation in every association or time to avail ourselves of the many educational seminars for which we are constantly solicited. When it comes to national conferences and their travel demands, the ability to plan ahead and take time out from our operations is often a low priority. However, even when time is precious, professionals owe it to themselves and their clubs to select those opportunities that give us and our clubs the most return relative to the time invested.
In light of all I’ve said, the National Club Conference is the perfect answer for this time challenge. Its focused agenda is perfectly designed for the busy executive to get in, get updated on important issues and network with the experts, with minimal disruption to home and office. There is no other conference in America with this specific objective.
Managers are also sensitive to the fiscal constraints on available funds for education and travel, especially when such travel is perceived mistakenly as a management perk. In my opinion, planned and budgeted investment in good governance education is, in the long run, more cost effective and energy efficient than dealing with problems later. Of the conferences I attend annually, I’ve found NCA’s Club Conference to be my club’s most valuable investment in terms of time, content and value for the dollar.
Our industry offers multiple opportunities for personal and professional development throughout the year, but from my point of view, the National Club Association is the best, most affordable and most comprehensive source of both day-to-day and big-picture information for today’s private club leaders.
Thomas E. Gaston Jr., CCM, is the general manager of The Pacific-Union Club in San Francisco and serves on NCA’s board of directors.