Over the past several months I have addressed a series of issues that all lead to the conclusion that chapters are the sole resource available in this job-threatening economy to direct an effective jobs securing campaign through the hiring of business-savvy, affordable Executive Directors.

While the good news is that a dozen or so chapters have begun to consider hiring an Executive Director (with more to follow in due course), the bad news is that these chapters are falling prey to the natural impulse of trying to hire an Executive Director on their own; i.e., without outside professional counseling. Such an approach is doomed to fail because hiring an Executive Director is not like selecting a car to buy where every civilian knows the process and the appropriate price range.

Rather, the situation is quite different because chapters seeking to hire an Executive Director on their own would routinely find themselves lacking the necessary experience: (i) to judge the quality of candidates brought to the interview process; (ii) to know which discerning questions to ask candidates during interviews; and (iii) to be able to judge how effectively candidates would be able to transfer their private sector/military experience (i.e., skill sets) into the non-profit world of association management.

Clearly, going on their own would limit chapters to selecting winning candidates based solely on superficial findings; i.e., a guaranteed path to failure and the absolute waste of one-time available funding.

Therefore, the key question that must be asked and answered is: “Where should chapters look to find the professional outside counseling support needed to successfully hire qualified Executive Directors?” Because there is no quick, easy answer to this question, I suggest chapters adopt the following approach:

1. Understand that by necessity that hiring an Executive Director must be a deliberative process; i.e., it might/should take up to a year of effective due diligence homework before a chapter can adequately prepare itself to commit to the hiring of a qualified Executive Director. Clearly, haste will make waste if the process is hurried.

2. Then, before doing anything else – establish a new/revitalized long range planning program that would be given the primary mandate of identifying the criteria that would be used to guide a chapter’s decision whether to hire a qualified Executive Director, or not; and if so – when.

In this regard, chapter LRP committees should particularly note/review the following three recent blog messages:

• March 4, 2010 - Introducing the Private Sector
• March 16th, 2010 – Model Executive Directors Job Description, and
• March 25, 2010 – The Executive Director Search Process.

3. Look to bring private sector management expertise to the chapter LRP program through the appointment of +/- two personnel-oriented committee persons (capable of counseling Search Committees through the search and interviewing processes) from within the local golf community. Such people are available and would cherish the opportunity to serve golf in this manner.

Chapters should not let the challenge involved with hiring a qualified executive Director dissuade them from pursuing the imperative objective of securing jobs.

As I said recently, it is time for leaders to lead and begin to enjoy the process of helping to advance their fellow superintendents’ careers.

Chapters wanting to qualify to participate in a pilot “Executive Director Hiring Program” should e-mail me (golfguide@roadrunner.com) to initiate discussion on this topic. Pilot
program results will be documented and shared with all chapters. No fee will be charged to participate in the program.

FYI: A newly hired Executive Director would not replace a presently employed Executive Secretary. In fact, it would be easier to hire an Executive Director with an Executive Secretary in place.

Because pressure on superintendents’ jobs and compensation packages will definitely increase next year as the Bush tax cuts expire and further undermine an already weak economy, the profession is at a pivotal crossroads decision point: either superintendents collectively commit now to securing their jobs through the coming years, or this window of opportunity will inevitably close.

Having said this, there are reasons to be optimistic about the profession’s future for the following two encouraging circumstances:

1. Because the profession has yet to confront employment issues throughout its past, its track record is clean in this regard and not burdened by a discouraging pall of defeatism.
2. Because the profession would be selling the greatest asset the game of golf has to offer; i.e., the indispensable work and person of the golf course superintendent.

In summary, it would appear that should the profession elect to engage on the job security issue now it would advance the cause effectively – provided this “jobs campaign” is intelligently waged through proper channels.

Traditionally, golf course superintendents have consistently looked to GCSAA to address industry-wide problems on their behalf. Is this another time to call on GCSAA?

Unfortunately not – because GCSAA can’t effectively champion the cause of job security – not because it is not qualified per se – rather, because it is too geographically removed from the core body of the country’s 16,000-plus golf courses to be effective.

While conversely, each of the 100-plus regional chapters operates 24/7 in the very backyards of the nation’s golf courses. Note the opportunity this presents:

• Chapter leaders and staff (i.e., Executive Directors) will have every opportunity to communicate with, educate and widely interact with regional golf course operations through their newsletter, magazine and web site communications – as well as through personal attendance at annually scheduled golf tournaments, workshops and regional/state golf association forums.
• Conversely, because GCSAA’s contact with the nation’s golf course administrations is essentially limited to GIS attendance, 30-second TV spot ads and association magazine/web site communications, with little opportunity to personally interact with individual golf course operations personnel – it can not directly impact the job security issue. This circumstance should not, however, dissuade GCSAA from the all-important task of using these same communications vehicles to support chapter job-securing initiatives.

Clearly, chapter-driven initiatives present the only meaningful opportunity the profession will have to effectively address the haunting job security issues. If you doubt this…

. . . note how the PGA has so effectively established a regional culture of job protectionism for its members; i.e., exclusively through the commitment and dedication of its regional Sections and not the national PGA, etc.

No jobs initiative will prove to be perfect. But, such programs can significantly reduce the summary job dismissals and the abuse superintendents too often face. This would be a huge beachhead to establish in due course.

Then, once across-the-board professional rapport is established between superintendents and their employers on a region-by-region basis through chapter initiatives – the opportunity for economy-tolerant written contracts will begin to emerge throughout the profession.

Nothing will happen until the chapters – one by one through the coming months and years – elect to rewrite their mission statements to acknowledge that their primary responsibility is to enhance and protect the jobs of their members through the engagement of always affordable professional Executive Directors.

While the world of the golf course superintendent has advanced considerably educationally, technically and therefore performance-wise through the years…

…the profession has done little, if anything, from Day One to stem the tide of widespread job insecurity and abuse throughout its ranks.

When the question is asked “why” this has been allowed to happen, the not so obvious answer has to be because there has been a lack of personal leadership throughout the superintendents’ ranks for all these years, which translated means that the superintendents have been waiting a long time for somebody else to solve this problem for them.

As a result, nothing happens, and until the natural born leaders (i.e., within the general membership and including past, present and future Board members) mobilize their respective chapters (through an effective up-to-date Long Range Planning concept) to address the many employment inequities that superintendents will continue to face year in and year out, the idea of job security will eventually become a faint memory and a difficult concept to re-constitute – especially within an economy that will continue to punish the job environment for some time to come.

This will not be an easy task to address because there is a lot of long-standing inertia to overcome. Nevertheless, my short six-part “Chapter Update” blog series (January 16th through March 25th) provides a solid starting “plan of action” for those aspiring to help lead their profession out of the present employment malaise to identify and get underway with quickly.

Until each chapter has modified its mission statement to include the following:

…the primary function of a regional chapter is to promote the career welfare and to enhance the job security of its members…

…nothing constructive will be accomplished job-wise within its membership base. (See my January 26th blog message for a complete presentation of a model chapter mission statement; also see my March 16th and 25th blog messages to identify the pivotal role an Executive Director should play within a job securing scenario.)

If superintendents do not stand up to fight for better employment conditions now; if they do not learn how to secure their own jobs through collective chapter initiatives – they will soon default from the position of being considered golf’s proudest and “noblest” profession to that of a complaining crowd. Clearly, it is time for leaders to lead.

(My next blog message will state why only the chapters can lead the charge to effectively address job security issues; and why GCSAA’s role remains critically important, but in a supportive position.)