WHEN A CLUB’S volunteer leadership is made up of individuals with extensive experience sitting on and leading corporate or nonprofit boards, general managers can be at a disadvantage in the boardroom. The relationship between manager and board is critical, but such disparate backgrounds can make it challenging to establish the foundation of trust and respect required for a manager to influence the board’s focus. Add in strong personalities and tightly held opinions and things can (and often do) run off course quickly. Leveraging the board’s strengths and making the most of limited time in each meeting requires GMs to create a game plan for success that begins with setting appropriately focused agendas.
Look through your board binders and consider the agendas for the last 12 meetings. How many of the items on the list focus on past performance versus forward-looking topics that will shape the future of the club? Based on extensive research, management consulting firm McKinsey & Company has observed that governance suffers most when boards spend too much time looking at the past and not enough time focusing on the future, and we couldn’t agree more with that statement. Agendas dominated by reports on departmental operations and committee updates are reflective and take precious time away from forward-thinking strategic issues such as capital planning, membership growth, the competitive landscape beyond the club gates, risk management and evolution of the club’s governance model.
As the club’s CEO/COO, the general manager can influence the board’s focus by proactively mapping out board agendas to ensure balanced and appropriate focus. It is a practice that sets the tone for the year and establishes an expectation that the board will function strategically, stay focused on the road ahead, and leave dayto-day operational matters to the professional management team.
Jim Butler, PhD, CCM, is CEO of Club Benchmarking. Building on the groundwork laid by Founders Ray Cronin and Russ Conde, his mission as CEO is to position the company to develop and deliver a range of new products and services designed to help clubs meet the future with confidence. He can be reached at [email protected] or visit clubbenchmarking.com.