Archive for December, 2009

How effectively we manage our careers and surrounding lives will determine not only the quality of our lives but, also, what opportunity (outside of transferring wealth) we give our children to succeed in and enjoy their lives. In reality, life is a seamless continuum where a family’s lifestyle inexorably shapes each following generation’s family lifestyle – far more stealthfully than we realize, or are often willing to admit.

…too few parents understand that their role model responsibilities extend throughout every waking hour of every living day…

The imperative lesson to note here is that our children learn more from what they see their parents doing on a daily 24/7 basis than from being told by their parents from time to time what to do in life. This, of course, re-brands the parents’ historic retort, “Do what I say and not what I do” as pure hypocrisy. The reality of the situation is that too few parents understand that their role model responsibilities extend throughout every waking hour of every living day. Yes, parents generally preach the obvious intangibles of be good, avoid evil, be honest and take care of your fellow man, etc. to their children. However, this is the equivalent to seeing the tip of an iceberg relative to identifying with the full spectrum of parental role model responsibility.

What lies below the surface is a mass of infrequently considered parental role model focal points; for example – following is a sampling of the parental behavior elements our children inherently react to (positively and negatively) in their daily lives that parents often fail to see in themselves:

…resolve to perfect your role model living patterns a little each day because this is the most effective and rewarding ‘home schooling’ available to your children…

To what degree our children constructively emulate the above listed parental behavior patterns will to a large degree determine the ultimate quality of their lives. Because it is New Year’s resolution time of the year, resolve to perfect your role model living patterns a little each day because this is the most effective and rewarding “home schooling” available to your children.

In this era of golf course maintenance budget cutting, your job could depend on what gets cut, or stays in your operating budget. I remind you that when every industry-wide survey known to man has asked America’s golfers in recent years what they felt was the single most important factor that kept them coming back to play their “home” golf courses – the universal answer has always been golf course conditioning.

Therefore, it behooves golf course superintendents to honor this player mandate when defunding their coming years’ operating budgets. Accordingly, near future golf course maintenance budgets should focus attention on the following priorities:

Green Quality: Commit to maintaining the highest quality standard for your 18 greens and their surrounds per golf course. Green quality contributes to the playability quality of a golf course more than any other course element; and, furthermore, is a dominant factor in determining what level of pride a golfer develops in his/her golf course. Additionally, green quality is the single biggest factor that earns golf course superintendents professional respect throughout their regional golf communities.

“Once superintendents allow green quality to suffer, they will be voluntarily undermining their job security . . .

If you have earned a reputation for good greens don’t give it away for budget cutting reasons; i.e., protect this well-earned invaluable standing by pinching budget dollars elsewhere. If you have not earned this reputation, commit to doing something about it; i.e., solicit counseling; spend a few more dollars, etc. If and when a decision is made to reduce mowing schedules throughout your golf course, continue a full green mowing schedule because this is imperative to maintaining green speeds/quality. Once superintendents allow green quality to suffer, they will be voluntarily undermining their job security.

“Providing playable, crisp and tidy bunkering is essential to a superintendent’s job security . . .

Bunker Care: Because bunker care is labor intensive and, therefore, relatively expensive – superintendents have a tendency to de-prioritize this program. I strongly recommend against this practice because when golfers see side-by-side high quality green care and low quality green side bunker care the only conclusion they can come to is that the superintendent manages inconsistently and, therefore, poorly. Providing playable, crisp and tidy bunkering is essential to a superintendent’s job security.

Cost: Will it be possible to maintain top quality level greens and bunkers if and when the time comes to cut budgets from 5% to 15+% annually? The answer is “yes” – with the understanding that superintendents will have to go somewhat on-line to monitor and ensure the tightest possible program management; that budget-eating non-essential cultural practices will have to be minimized or shut down thereby reducing labor and related costs; and that expensive to maintain lush green golf courses will be allowed to go “brown” and firm (as they should be) and so on. You know the drill.

Yes, it will be necessary that superintendents be creative, take fiscal control of their programs and to communicate their intended course maintenance priorities to their constituencies to succeed in these above described endeavors in this economy. Is there a better way for golf course superintendents to demonstrate their indispensable management skills? I don’t think so.

Several times within recent blog messages I have recommended that golf course superintendents manage their maintenance programs defensively to minimize the risk of job loss. The purpose of this message is to define specifically what “managing defensively” means and why it is necessary.

Before going further, it is important to note that responsible nationwide opinion suggests that today’s economy will get worse and not recover anytime soon as long as the federal government keeps spending beyond its means and continues to build to unsustainable debt levels. So, deeper this recession will go.

“The higher your salary, the more frequently it will be scrutinized. Job losses are happening from the top down in this economy . . .

As long as this accelerated spending continues, more superintendents’ jobs will be put at risk – including the jobs of the more experienced better-paid superintendents who have traditionally been entitled to presume ultimate job security. The higher your salary, the more frequently it will be scrutinized. Job losses are happening from the top down in this economy.

Furthermore, don’t count on written contracts to protect jobs this time around because economically pressured employers have a too familiar habit of breaching employment agreements at will and then daring superintendents to file lawsuits to recover, which is an impossible task. Accordingly, every superintendent should manage defensively by adopting the following credo:

“Do it right, on time, within budget and by documenting everything possible; i.e., don’t give anyone a reason to question your value to the team. “

The core essence of defensive managing is to document everything possible. Because adopting a defensive management mode is a guaranteed “win-win” / nothing to lose proposition for every golf course superintendent, I recommend the following:

1.   Be visible throughout the workweek because employers will find it easier to dismiss superintendents that are routinely AWOL; no more early afternoon departures, or three-day weekends. Use the club/course web site to communicate effectively throughout your operation.

2.   Make sure you have an annually updated job description that is circulated to all parties with an interest in your job performance. Trusting that those you answer to job-wise know what your job mission is has cost many superintendents their jobs.

3.   Request/require an annual season-ending evaluation meeting where formal minutes would be taken; where your recent season’s job performance would be constructively critiqued; where your job description would be updated as necessary; and where the coming year’s program priorities would be discussed and formalized.

4.   Always have an annually updated multi-year Long Range Plan that keeps pace with national economy mandates in place – using computer graphics to present “best case / worse case” scenarios for the coming years’ pro forma budget data. Circulate this Plan where and when necessary.

If and when the reality of austerity budgeting begins to surface, superintendents should look to assume/confirm fiscal leadership of their programs and not hesitate to volunteer to take the same percentage cut in salary as is being recommended for the department’s overall operating budget. Clearly, it is better to have a job at roughly 80% of a former peak salary than have no job at all.

5.   Use e-mail messages to ask (with a return acknowledgement requested) for new authority to change budget bottom lines, or specific line item numbers. No more assumed authority to spend more or less here and there provided the bottom line remains constant.

6.   Continue to review the Job Ensuring Tips presented in this series of blog messages.

Will defensive managing insure your job? Possibly, but nothing close to a guarantee here! What it will do is give your job better traction on whatever slippery slope it might be on, buy time waiting for the economy to recover and bring some peace of mind to your world. You can’t do better!