Board members charged with maintaining sound governance and trusted leadership are awash in duties and responsibilities, along with planning and directing club strategy. And that is before listening to voice messages, reading member emails or looking at social media accounts. While the issues are varied
On March 12, 1933, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt began his first of 20-some fireside chats simply stating, “I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking.” Roosevelt faced a bone-crushing economic depression that caused distrust in
Most clubs have now adopted the “gold standard” of club governance with a carefully prepared Board Policy Manual (BPM). Throughout travels across the country, we have seen that having a BPM—and using it properly—are two different propositions. To help you avoid the most common miscues,
Ladies and gentlemen, we are all on the same team. What an important message this is when trying to bridge the gap between boards and management. It is worth repeating: We are on the same team. A natural tension exists between club boards and management.
The founder of the Boy Scouts, an English solider named Robert Baden-Powell, coined the phrase “Be Prepared” in his 1908 handbook, “Scouting for Boys.” In his mind, if you are prepared, you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do
FEATURES Once More Unto the Break: Revisiting the Board Policies Manual How a Club Works: Back to Basics Getting to What Matters in Member Satisfaction Executive Sessions: What, When, How and Why The Brave New World of Online Voting
How many private club boards include executive sessions as part of their board meetings? Not enough in our view. Although executive sessions can play an important role in a board’s relationship with the general manager* and their staff, too few boards have a policy relating to
If the noise associated with the 2020 and 2024 national elections is any indication, there is no shortage of public distrust of electronic voting systems, which have been around for more than six decades, starting with the use of punched card systems. Claims of stolen
There is no way to make every member happy. No matter what a club does, someone will always be unhappy. Some members will never be satisfied. These are all common sentiments in the club industry, as member satisfaction is a complex topic, even on the
When our children were young, they had an endless stream of questions, often beginning with the words “how” and “why.” One day, we bought them a book entitled, “How Things Work.” It was a hit with its basic diagrams and simple explanations, and it great-