Chances are if you ask any consultant to identify the number one complaint from boards about their general manager, it would be poor communication. This is also true for most memberships at large. Communication is central to organizational success, yet most of us struggle to implement effective communication tactics. While each GM has his or her own communication style, following are some tactics that might assist you in your attempts to communicate, influence and guide your board.
Conduct a New President’s Orientation
Most GMs report to the club president, and to a large degree, their success hinges on the relationship they have with that president. It is paramount that GMs sit down with their president and ask him (for simplicity I will refer to the president as “he/him”) how he prefers to communicate (face-to-face, by email, by phone, etc.), the frequency and timing of communication, and the highest- priority communication touchstones.
As general manager at Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Ill., one of the first tasks that I perform while onboarding a new slate of board members is to meet for an in-depth orientation with the incoming president, prior to his taking office. The president’s orientation meeting is critical for many reasons. First, it allows me to immediately establish a relationship with my incoming president. During this orientation, we cover a multitude of items, from the very basic, such as times and formats of board meetings, seating arrangements, meal preferences, rules for calling and confirming rules of conducting board meetings, to more significant items, such as discussing chairs for the various committees and their goals and objectives—and ensuring they are in alignment with the club’s strategic plan. We also discuss the board goals and objectives for the current year and upcoming year, to ensure that the presidential goals and objectives are in line with the club’s strategic plan.
Finally, it’s also important to confirm that my team’s goals and mine are in line with the board and the strategic plan, and to take time to share this with the president. One of the challenges at Medinah is that our operating fiscal year is not in alignment with our board year, and so we have an additional task of trying to sync both of these elements at mid-year. Fortunately, our president serves for two years, which establishes some continuity.
I typically finish the president’s orientation by asking one very important question, “How will we disagree?” The reason I ask this question is to establish some sort of understanding of the methods of communication we are going to use when he and I don’t see eye-to-eye.
Meet Weekly with Your President
The GM and the president should meet on a regular basis, ideally each week. To both prepare for and document our conversation, I keep an Excel file with columns for subject matter, issue and follow up. As I add items to the running list, I document our decision process, and hide completed items on the sheet. Before each meeting, I develop an agenda based on the spreadsheet to guide us through each conversation. This spreadsheet helps us both to stay on task, and importantly, I have documentation on what was agreed upon so, if we have any confusion months later about a decision that was made, I can easily refer back notes to how we arrived at our decision.
Conduct a New Board Member Orientation
Our current board consists of 12 board members with three-year terms, with three new incoming board members each year. Before these new members take office, the president invites them to attend two board meetings as observers of the currently seated board. This exercise gives them a good understanding of how the board format works, and better equips them to be contributors upon attending their first meeting. Two months prior to the board meeting, I, along with the president and secretary of the board, conduct a new board member orientation. Our board orientation template covers a wide range items in order to prepare them for their first board meeting. In addition to receiving the orientation document, each new board member receives two years of GM updates, every executive white paper written by the leadership team, copies of our strategic plan, the responsibility matrix and the board policy manual. New members are given ample time to read and digest this material during the orientation, which typically lasts two to three hours. All this material gives them vital information on how the club is positioned as their term begins so they can hit the ground running.
Submit Your Board Reports in Writing
For many years, I believed that all GMs submitted written board reports in advance of a board meeting. I only recently discovered that this assumption was incorrect. Apparently, the majority provides a verbal report at the meeting, with only some documentation to serve as reference. My board updates are, on average, 10 pages. Why so long? My template covers the monthly activities of every operational department of the club; recaps the most salient points from each committee meeting, safety issues and member incidents; recaps the month’s member and guest events; includes a personal summary from me; and, of course, financial data for each month. Remember my comment about the number one complaint boards have of their GMs? Board members and presidents want to know everything that is going on in the club so that they will not be caught off guard by member questions. No board member wants to appear uninformed. The board report also gives them a closer look at operational challenges. No news is bad news. If you are keeping pertinent information from your board, you are sheltering yourself, not them.
Start Writing White Papers
Gregg Patterson, one of my mentors and former CMAA Club Executive of the Year, would tell club managers about the construction of “white papers” and how they may be used to communicate the manager’s point of view, and to assist in steering the manager’s agenda. Patterson was gracious in providing me with approximately 30 different white papers as examples, which gave me a basic understanding on how to effectively write about a complex subject matter. It wasn’t until some years later that I began to appreciate the significance of the white paper, and the effect it had on educating my board. At first, writing was difficult, but with time it became easier and my writing style improved. So, how do I use the white papers?
Establish Credibility. Do you ever get upset when a board decides to bring in an “expert” to offer advice on a “problem area”? Your board should view you—and your team—as the resident experts on all matters at the club. During my president’s and board’s orientations, I respectfully ask that we do not call in any consultants until my team is given the first opportunity to identify the problem and come up with a recommended solution.
Unfortunately, board members don’t fully appreciate how intelligent or proficient the senior staff team is by observation only. Have you ever wondered why they hold golf pros, tennis pros or chefs in such high regard? It’s because members constantly witness, first-hand, the technical prowess of these individuals, and through their tutelage, members improve their skills, knowledge or proficiency. As managers, you and I don’t have that luxury. They don’t come to us to learn club management, leadership or strategy. As business people, they believe they know these topics thoroughly and don’t need to learn more, especially from you and me. Not the same with sports, cooking or wine.
By writing white papers, you have the opportunity to demonstrate some of your proficiency (and their knowledge gaps) about club management, as well as substantiate that you are their consultant. Like many of you, I have been in the club business for a long time; I’ve been mentored by some of the best general managers in the country, while working at some of the best clubs in the country. I have an MBA and continue to learn through my associations (CMAA and NCA); however, that means little to my board unless I continuously demonstrate what I know and how much I know. The search committee that hired you thought you were a superstar, and couldn’t wait to put you in front of the membership, but with time, new presidents and board members forget the value of your skillset. Now they see you as the guy who runs the club.
Provide Framework. Have you ever been in a board meeting, discussing significant issues that have arisen, whether strategic or political, wholly absent of facts, history or framework? As a result, the conversation is circular and accomplishes little. Soon, the meeting turns unruly, board members begin to take sides and become resistant to new ideas or motions. Often, what looks like resistance is actually a lack of framework—and the more difficult or complex the subject, the greater the need for framework. At Medinah, we do not discuss certain significant issues until a member of the leadership team writes a white paper on the subject to provide the all-important framework. Only after the paper has been written and studied by all involved, committees included, do we bring the subject for discussion. The paper typically has four parts:
1. An introduction that outlines the challenge and what we are trying to solve.
2. Background to include historical facts or issues that have occurred in the past that are relevant to what we are talking about today.
3. The idea, where we outline all the options, with pros and cons for each option.
4. Finally, there is a conclusion, and sometimes, a recommendation.
Shape the Path. Influencing a board is not an easy task, nor is it something that should be taken lightly. Trying to persuade or influence nine to 13 individuals during a board meeting can be difficult. It requires a tremendous amount of time and effort to accurately and consistently articulate an issue, potential solutions and recommendations in your board meeting. This is why a well-written board report, prior to any given board meeting, is so important.
Telling the board what they should do is not a strategy that has ever been successful for me. I believe in influence and coaching. Board members don’t like to be pushed into making a decision: They need to come to conclusions on their own. Utilizing a white paper allows me to confidently provide guidance on an issue while respecting the intelligence and experience of my board members. Once you and your board members are on the same page regarding the issue, make a recommendation (if you choose to do so). A word of caution about recommendations: In most cases, I don’t write them out in the white paper. I don’t want future readers (committee members, future board members and presidents) believing that the reason a policy changed was because of me. Instead, I make my recommendation to the board privately, and they decide whether to take it. I am more interested in affecting change than I am in taking credit for it.
Training Document for Future Board Members. Many clubs welcome three or four new board members each year, and most of these clubs will conduct a new board member orientation. Absent of your white papers, you will have to rely on past minutes to explain both current or past issues, as well as the outcomes. In addition, you will be able to verbally explain what transpired and why. I recommend providing each new board member with copies of all white papers prior to the orientation, helping them gain a historical perspective of issues and on how prior boards arrived at their decisions. More importantly, by reading white papers, the new board members will better understand that you are a subject matter expert, supporting your credibility.
Formalize Board Motions. In addition to strategic thinking, one of the primary responsibilities for any board of directors is to improve policies for the club. Did you ever sit in a board meeting where a motion was raised and then, somewhere during the discussion, you ended up talking about cold French fries—ultimately forgetting what the motion was to begin with? Or perhaps you have watched a motion pass, only to realize board members have a different recollection of the wording, and therefore the meaning, of the motion. For the club to make educated decisions on approving policies, we have a template that we use for every board motion. A senior manager, working with their respective chairs, is required to fill out a board motion for consideration. Motions are first vetted by me, and then passed to the president, who discusses it with the executive committee before it is placed on the agenda. This way we can make sure all the facts are included in the motion prior to the vote. Ideally, no motion should be raised at the board meeting without going through this process. Motions require the answers to the following questions:
- What is the background on this issue?
- Why are you being asked to vote?
- What do you need to know about this issue?
- What is the board motion?
Review Your Board Policy Manual. According to a McMahon Group study, only 56 percent of clubs have a written board policy manual (BPM). If you are one of the 44 percent that does not—help your board to develop one. Medinah’s BPM contains all board policies and practices. As a general manager, this is a very important document, as it takes away any ambiguity as to what role each one of us plays in the governance model. Keep in mind the BPM is a living document that needs to be reviewed regularly.
Develop and Implement a Responsibility Matrix. As part of our BPM, we also have a responsibility matrix. This tool identifies the roles, responsibilities and the authority for each governing body: the board of directors, executive committee, committees and general manager. This document is included in the new board member orientation to help them understand their role and responsibilities. One great benefit to the matrix is that it is nonpolitical. Regardless of your philosophical view of how the club should be run, one only needs to look at the rows and columns to quickly grasp the concept.
Guard Your President and Board. While not in any job description, a key role that every general manager plays is to be the club president’s and board members’ cheerleader and confidant. You owe it to yourself to ensure that your president and board are successful; if they fail, you will also likely fail. We have already established that club presidents and board members may not have the expertise we possess to successfully manage a club. These folks are not immune to member criticism, whether it be in person, in writing, or in the form of the rumor mill. It is your job to insulate them from these negative forces through your program of education and communication with them. You need to establish that you are one team. Not the general manager/operating team vs. the board, but instead a collective captaincy steering the ship through turbulent waters. This status is easily achievable through solid communication and guidance.
A thorough and transparent communications strategy is critical to a successful governance program. With that, let me share this final thought, “Be not afraid of what your president and board knows; but be very afraid of what they do not know.”
Robert Sereci, CCM is the general manager/COO of Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Ill. He can be reached at [email protected].