Every club encounters challenges over the course of its history, regardless of size, location, service level, culture or the scope of its amenities. The difference in outcomes—whether they are positive or negative—is determined in large part by how the club responds to those challenges. Are club leaders inclined to act and apply the resources necessary to address the challenge head-on, or do they succumb to fear and inertia, kicking the can down the road to be dealt with by future boards?
Inertia is defined as “inertness, especially with regard to effort, motion, action and the like; inactivity; sluggishness.” Breaking it down further, inertness means “having no inherent power of action, motion or resistance.” In the context of club leadership, it suggests a scenario where board and management are stuck on a particular path, lacking the collective power to act.
In our experience, smaller clubs are the ones that most often get trapped by inertia, but we have also seen it happen in larger clubs. Getting stuck in an unhealthy cycle of inertia leaves clubs vulnerable to corrosive issues like high member attrition, frequent turnover on the management team, poor board alignment and anemic balance sheets. Boards and management teams in smaller clubs can get mired in the assumption that small equals weak and the notion that because they are small they “can’t afford” to take the steps necessary to address critical issues. Ironically, clubs that are “stuck” are the ones that can least afford to keep kicking the can down the road, but how do you break the cycle?
As a former general manager for two relatively small clubs (each under $5M in annual operating revenue), I can relate to that “too small” mindset, and understand how perception can become the reality over time. I am also happy to attest to the fact that even clubs with limited resources can muster the will to take action, overcome challenges and begin to build positive momentum.
It starts by understanding that knowledge is power. For the clubs we serve (and in my own experience) the transition from inertia to action begins with the process of fully understanding your club’s current financial position and the context behind it. That may be a scary proposition, especially for board members or managers who are afraid of pulling back the curtain on hard truths about the club’s current position or having the limitations of their own financial acumen exposed, but it is a necessary and important step that will benefit the club immensely in the long run.
For managers who are questioning their ability to lead the board through a shift toward transparency and actionable insight that will break the inertia and effect change, I would issue a personal challenge. As a steward of the club, if you feel you lack the financial acumen to speak with confidence about key financial concepts, take a deep breath and make a commitment to bridge that gap by instituting regular education sessions for you and for your board. Teaching and training are a large part of what our team does every day, and speaking from firsthand experience, the dynamic in the boardroom changes dramatically when the club’s general manager can speak confidently and accurately about the club’s finances.
Once the facts are on the table, the club’s leaders can work as a team to move away from decisions shaped by emotion and speculation and turn their focus to productive, data-driven discussions about the challenges that arise. With facts in hand, conversations with members about realistic funding of the club’s operating and capital ledgers take on a different tone. Education and access to relevant data instills confidence and empowers the entire club community to make more informed decisions, track and measure the impact of those decisions and turn the dialogue from “we can’t afford to fix the problem right now” to “we can’t afford not to!”
Christopher Barron, CCM, is executive director of Club Benchmarking. He can be reached at [email protected].