At the first meeting between Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant following the latter’s appointment as Lieutenant General over all U.S. Armies, Grant in his autobiography recalled Lincoln saying “he did not care to know what I was to do, only to know what I wanted; that I should have all I required. He wished me to beat Lee, how I did it was my own duty. He said he did not wish to know my plans or exercise any scrutiny over my plans; so long as I beat the rebel army he was satisfied.” True to human nature, Lincoln then unfurled a map and “suggested” strategies and routes Grant should pursue to achieve final victory. That, in a nutshell, reflects the on-going tussle between governance and management, and in many ways, the life of a club manager; “do what you think is best, but consider doing it my way.”
Our exploration into club leadership identifies best practices, but it also shows that there are multiple pathways to success. Your club’s “best” approach will reflect its culture and situation. For example, many board members and managers suggest the key to success is continuity in leadership, pointing to stellar performers like Merion Golf Club outside Philadelphia, where the president serves a four-year term. But what about a great club like Skokie Country Club on the North Shore of Chicago, where presidents serve only one-year terms and individual board terms are for only two years? Their system is light on continuity, but highly successful.
Others suggest the key to outperformance is in the club’s rules and bylaws, especially if they provide the board wide latitude to do what it feels is right—the so-called benevolent dictator model. It’s true that the membership often has little control in many storied clubs, yet at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago, the membership has significant say in these matters to the point of voting on the operating and capital budgets and any dues increases. Still others point to board size, thinking smaller boards are more effective than larger ones. True in part, as evidenced by the 7-member board at the excellently governed and managed Meadow Club in Fairfax, Calif.; except Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, Va., with its multiple locations, 7,000-plus members and successful new clubhouse has a 40-member board.
Those looking for a rules-based guide for governing a private club may be disappointed by these contrasting examples, but this suggests the human aspect is more important than the governance structure. Great clubs achieve greatness under different systems and formats. A small board can micro-manage just as much as a large one and we can find continuity in boards where presidents have short tenures and inconsistency in ones with multi-year terms for the president. In turn, a manager who fails to establish support for their operating plan or fails to act on it is going to be micro-managed. Governing and managing a club successfully is the result of common characteristics and practices within the divergent approaches described above.
Following are key traits from successful boards:
The Enlightened Board: The enlightened board recognizes they are there to put more than a rubber stamp on the wishes of the president and executive, yet understands they are governors, not operators. They provide counsel for the president and executive committee and guidance, advice and support to the GM/COO. They focus on the success of the club overall, not individual agendas. Most importantly, they engage in constructive debate, eliminating from board service those who bring only complaints or self-serving agendas to the table. Great boards have a culture that is open to diverse viewpoints, but they also have a process for deliberating on these issues and acting in a concerted manner when the debate is concluded.
Clarity of Purpose: Successful clubs know who they are and where they are going. The club board has a complete understanding of why the club exists and what it aspires to become. They work consistently to this end and know how to shut down distractions and misdirection.
An Informed Membership: Many boards are terrified of meeting with their membership. They are fearful of reprisals or criticisms, often lobbed in from the vocal minority, or they cite concerns that members will act in some irrational way if they knew more about the club’s actual standing. This reticence to engage and inform the members feeds the rumor mill and increases member frustration. By continually informing the membership about key issues and goals, effective boards build understanding within the member community and this understanding is the basis for concerted effort. It is necessary in a club with rules like Medinah’s to hold several informational meetings each year, so the members have accurate information about what is driving the board’s recommendations and the call to action for the members. This can be labor intensive for the volunteers, but the derivative is an informed and engaged membership.
Walk the Talk: Successful boards and clubs support the purpose they’ve clearly defined, and they reject people and practices that conflict with this direction. Over the last couple of years, I’ve been engaged with a club with clearly dysfunctional leadership. There is a well-deserved lack of trust among the membership as prior boards took significant actions that were a clear circumvention of the bylaws. One board member has a rogue agenda and behaves poorly in meetings. He is in violation of essential element number one—encourage and engage in constructive debate, and the rest of the board break best practice number four—walk the talk—by allowing his behavior. This person would be coached through these histrionics in a work setting, or they would be terminated. One of the benefits of the rotating leadership posts at Skokie Country Club is that one-third or more of the members have been on the board at one time or another. They understand and trust the model. It is probably one of the best-aligned clubs, and this exposure forms a discipline that keeps the club unified.
Following are practices that grow this culture:
Nominating Committee: Most clubs vet prospective new members, ever-cautious for how mismatched members might negatively impact the club’s culture and membership. They should apply an even greater level of due diligence to new board members, where a rogue actor could spoil the performance and working relationship of this small body and negatively impact the club for years to come. Over the past decade, more clubs have transitioned away from contested elections and now rely on the Nominating Committee to present to the members a slate of directors who have proven their value to the club through work on committees or they bring a skill set that is essential to the leadership team. For this system to work, the Nominating Committee must function in a way that builds trust, which is an outgrowth of effective communications, outreach to all members interested in participating in governance (not only an inner circle), and establishing criteria to objectively rank candidates. The Nominating Committee should be the stewards for governance training and development, functioning year-round, not just at election time.
Get Off to a Great Start: A thorough orientation for new directors is a critical element in building a better functioning board. This should take place well-before they participate in a board meeting. More clubs are staggering the election and turnover of board members, so the incoming class can monitor several board meetings before they officially take their seat on the board. An effective orientation will cover the board’s role as governors and working processes, as well as reviews of history, mission and vision and their role in serving the membership. Only about 60 percent of clubs have a defined orientation process and a written board orientation manual. If the first thing a newly elected director does is attend a board meeting, your program is poorly structured.
Strategic Plans and Annual Workshops: After essential fiduciary duties, a board’s chief role is to define and enforce the club’s goals. The board serves as the strategist for the club—assuming the responsibility of strategic planning for clarity of purpose. The key issues derived from the planning program must become part of the board’s regular meeting discussions and at least once a year it should be reviewed, challenged and updated by the board at an off-site workshop. Board meetings are where you discuss tactics, policies and operations. The annual retreat or strategic planning meeting is the forum for wider ranging discussions on mission and purpose and decision making on key issues that will affect the club over the next five years.
Small at the Top: Many volunteer boards are scaling back. The old school notion was that a large board would reflect the attitudes and interests of the membership and create consensus for action. Performance suggests something altogether different. As detailed by business management writer Patrick Lencioni in his book, The Advantage, the challenge with large groups is a lack of listening, since everyone around the table is waiting for their precious few minutes to talk. Everyone ultimately functions as an advocate for their agenda, which prevents resolution of issues. Many troubled clubs across the country got that way because of inaction. This is often the result of overly large, deliberative boards finding ways to delay making difficult decisions.
Engage Your Committees: Committees are where the goals of leadership and desires of the membership intersect. They provide the frontline input the board and management needs and wants to provide a relevant membership experience. This group of members has volunteered to help the club, and the board should make sure they are listening to this input. They should also be providing them the information they need to make informed decisions and use them as a conduit to push out information to the membership at large. Most committees continue to function in a vacuum, without insight into the club’s overall strategy and the role they can play in executing toward the plan. As with your board members, committee members will benefit from an orientation on the club’s strategic plan, a review of the job description for their committee and the themes and ideas they will be studying for the year ahead. Committees must be chaired by a sitting board member so there is action on their recommendations at the board table, and by exposing up and comers to established leaders, serve as a proving ground for future leaders. Successful performance on a committee must be a stepping stone to board service.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate: Unless your members complain that the board is over-communicating, you are most likely not communicating enough. Many of the challenges clubs face can be traced back to poor communications and their failure to build alignment and understanding among the membership. Building a record of information in the password protected governance tab on the club’s website is an important tool for developing an aligned and supportive membership.
Key to Effective Governance
Clubs can be successful under varied governance models. It is ultimately not the system each club uses that drives it success, but how well their approach leads to an open, collegial debate on the facts and how well the board keeps the membership informed about direction and required actions that carries the day. Whatever the format, there must be clarity about the organization’s direction and an ongoing process to monitor performance toward that goal.
Club Trends Fall 2017